Talk:Near passerine
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By whose/what standard is the term "near passerine" defined? Is there any official definition?
For example, how many of these orders have the characteristic foot shape of the passerines - three toes forward, one back? And how much variation is there in the relative lengths of the toes? -- Smjg 16:46, 14 August 2005 (UTC)
- I don't know if there is an official definition, but it's commonly used to describe land birds other than the raptors, ie those that could be mistaken for passerines jimfbleak 17:13, 14 August 2005 (UTC)
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- I'd have too look whether there ever was an official definition. The passeriform toe arrangement is a plesiomorphy in Aves (it is the foot and lower leg bones that are peculiar), but the "near passerine" assemblage does have a wide range of foot morphologies; I think everything except didactyly that is found in modern birds can be found among them.
- FWIW, molecular analyses do support, albeit tentatively, a "passeromorph" clade. But this page needs to be worked over; I'll look into the publications and do it in the next months. Dysmorodrepanis 08:10, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
