A STUDY of DNA from the largest evolutionary group of birds has revealed their Australian origins. There are around 5700 species of passerines or 鈥減erching birds鈥�, which includes songbirds.
Researchers had thought that songbirds could be split into an Australasian group and a Eurasian group that evolved in parallel. But a study of 144 passerine species has revealed a more complex picture. The research, led by Keith Barker of the University of Minnesota, St Pauls, suggests that the passerines began diversifying about 82 million years ago, when New Zealand split from Australia (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0401892101).
A major split within the lineage, between songbirds and a second group, came around 65 million years ago. The songbirds later spread from Australia through Asia, while the others, a group containing flycatchers and ant birds, spread across South America.
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