Pelecanimorphae Explained

Pelecanimorphae is a clade of aequornithean birds that comprises the orders Ciconiiformes, Suliformes and Pelecaniformes.^{[1] [2]} In the past the name has been used as a homonym for Pelecaniformes. Pelecanimorphae is defined in the PhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive clade containing Pelecanus onocrotalus, Sula leucogaster, and Ciconia ciconia".^[3] The less inclusive clade Pelecanes was named by Sangster et al, 2022 to unite Pelecaniformes and Suliformes and defined in the PhyloCode as the "least inclusive crown clade containing Pelecanus onocrotalus and Sula leucogaster".^[4]

Notes and References

1. Jarvis . E.D. . etal . 2014 . Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds . Science . 346 . 6215. 1320–1331 . 10.1126/science.1253451 . 25504713 . 4405904 . 2014Sci...346.1320J.
2. Prum. Richard O.. Berv. Jacob S.. Dornburg. Alex. Field. Daniel J.. Townsend. Jeffrey P.. Lemmon. Emily Moriarty. Lemmon. Alan R.. A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing . Nature. 526. 7574. 2015. 569–573. 0028-0836. 10.1038/nature15697. 26444237. 2015Natur.526..569P. 205246158.
3. Sangster . George . Braun . Edward L. . Johansson . Ulf S. . Kimball . Rebecca T. . Mayr . Gerald . Suh . Alexander . 2022-01-01 . Phylogenetic definitions for 25 higher-level clade names of birds . Avian Research . 13 . 100027 . 10.1016/j.avrs.2022.100027 . 2053-7166. free . 2022AvRes..1300027S .
4. Sangster . George . Braun . Edward L. . Johansson . Ulf S. . Kimball . Rebecca T. . Mayr . Gerald . Suh . Alexander . 2022-01-01 . Phylogenetic definitions for 25 higher-level clade names of birds . Avian Research . 13 . 100027 . 10.1016/j.avrs.2022.100027 . 2053-7166. free . 2022AvRes..1300027S .