Tyranni

Many birds live in South America. There are over 1,000 kinds of these birds. They have a special way to sing. They use different parts of their throat to make sound. These birds are very old. They lived in South America long ago. Some of them even flew to Europe. Many kinds live in warm, leafy lands. They are very interesting to see.

The Tyranni are a large group of birds. They are also called suboscines. This name comes from how they sing. They have different throat muscles than songbirds. There are more than 1,000 species in this group. Most of them live in South America. These birds started in South America 50 million years ago. Some moved to the Old World by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists found fossils of these birds in Europe.

The group is split into two main parts. The first part is the Eurylaimides. These birds live mostly near the Indian Ocean. They live in warm, tropical areas. The second part is the Tyrannides. This group includes almost all the suboscines in the Americas. It has many families. One family is the Pipridae. These are called manakins. Another family is the Tyrannidae. These are tyrant-flycatchers. There are also antbirds and ovenbirds in this group. Scientists use DNA to study how these birds are related. This helps them learn about the history of these birds.

The Tyranni are a large group of birds. People often call them suboscines. This group includes more than 1,000 different species. Most of these birds live in South America. They are very important to study to learn about bird history. They are different from songbirds in a special way. Their throat muscles are built differently. This is how they make their sounds.

These birds have a special way of making noise. They use a part of the throat called a syrinx. In songbirds, the syrinx has a different muscle setup. In suboscines, the muscles are arranged in a different way. This change in anatomy is how we tell them apart. Scientists look at these tiny parts to group the birds. It helps them see how one group changed over time. This is a key way to study bird life.

We can look back in time to see where they came from. These birds likely began in South America. This happened about 50 million years ago. Later, they moved to other parts of the world. They likely traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. We know they reached Europe a long time ago. Scientists found fossil specimens in Europe to prove this. These fossils show they lived there during the Oligocene period.

Scientists divide the Tyranni into two main groups. The first group is called the Eurylaimides. These birds live mostly in warm areas near the Indian Ocean. They include families like the pittas and broadbills. The second group is called the Tyrannides. This group has almost all the suboscines in the Americas. It includes many families like manakins and tyrant-flycatchers. It also includes antbirds and ovenbirds. These families are organized by how they are related.

Learning about birds is like solving a big puzzle. Scientists use DNA to find the pieces. A large study by Carl Oliveros in 2019 used DNA to help. This study showed how the different families connect. It helped clarify which birds are close relatives. Some older ideas about these groups were not quite right. Now, we use genetic studies to see the true family tree. This helps us understand the amazing world of birds.

The Tyranni are a diverse suborder of passerine birds. They are often called suboscines by scientists. This group contains more than 1,000 different species. Most of these birds live in South America. They are important for understanding how birds spread across the world. The name Tyranni comes from the genus Tyrannus. This group is distinct from the larger suborder Passeri, which contains the songbirds.

What makes suboscines different from songbirds is their anatomy. Specifically, they have a different structure in their syrinx musculature. The syrinx is the part of the throat used to produce sound. Because of this physical difference, scientists use the term suboscines. This anatomical distinction helps researchers classify these birds into their own unique group. It is a fundamental way to tell them apart from other passerines.

Scientists can trace the history of these birds back millions of years. The Tyranni likely originated in South America about 50 million years ago. Later, they spread to other parts of the world. They likely used a trans-Atlantic route to reach the Old World. This movement occurred during the Oligocene epoch. Fossil specimens found in Europe provide evidence of their presence during the early Oligocene.

Today, the suborder Tyranni is divided into two main infraorders. The first is the Eurylaimides. These birds are mostly found in tropical regions around the Indian Ocean. They include families such as the Pittidae, known as pittas. They also include the Philepittidae, or asities. Another group in this infraorder is the Calyptomenidae, which are African and green broadbills. The Eurylaimides also include the Sapayoidae, which contains only one American species: the broad-billed sapayoa.

The second main group is the Tyrannides. This group contains almost all the suboscines found in the Americas. It is a large group with many different families. One part of this group is the Tyrannoidea clade. This includes the Pipridae, or manakins, and the Cotingidae, or cotingas. It also includes the Tityridae, which contains tityras, sharpbills, and becards. The namesake family of this clade is the Tyrannidae, which are the tyrant-flycatchers.

Another major part of the Tyrannides is the group known as the tracheophones. This group contains several families like the Thamnophilidae, or antbirds. It also includes the Formicariidae, which are antthrushes. Other families in this clade are the Furnariidae, which include ovenbirds and woodcreepers. The Conopophagidae, or gnateaters, are also part of this group. There are also the Grallariidae, known as antpittas, and the Rhinocryptidae, known as tapaculos. Scientists once used a different arrangement for these birds. Sibley and Ahlquist used DNA:DNA hybridization to study them. However, that method did not reliably resolve the phylogeny, or the evolutionary tree. They originally suggested a more complex structure for the tracheophones.

Modern science uses molecular genetics to create more accurate family trees. A large molecular genetic study was published in 2019 by Carl Oliveros and his collaborators. This study used DNA to show the true relationships between the 16 families in the suborder. The results helped clarify the connections between the different clades. For example, it helped show a simple dichotomy between the antbirds and their allies and the tyrant-flycatchers and their allies. Understanding these genetic links is essential for modern ornithology. It allows scientists to see how these 1,000 species evolved from their common ancestors.