A reassessment of Eocene parrotlike fossils indicates a previously undetected radiation of zygodactyl stem group representatives of passerines (Passeriformes)

Abstract

In the past years, various Eocene fossil birds were described as stem group representatives of the zygodactyl Psittaciformes (parrots). These birds show quite disparate morphologies, which cast some doubt on the correct assignment of all of them to the psittaciform stem group. A reassessment of their affinities is further needed, because it was recently proposed that among extant birds, Psittaciformes and Passeriformes (passerines) form a clade and that passerines possibly derived from a zygodactyl ancestor. Here, phylogenetic analyses are performed, which for the first time also include representatives of the Zygodactylidae, the extinct zygodactyl sister taxon of the Passeriformes. The early Eocene Psittacopes was originally described as a stem group representative of Psittaciformes. However, none of the present analyses supported psittaciform affinities for Psittacopes and instead recovered this taxon in a clade together with zygodactylids and passerines. Also part of this clade are the early Eocene taxa Pumiliornis and Morsoravis, and it is detailed that Psittacopes and the long‐beaked and presumably nectarivorous Pumiliornis, with which it has not yet been compared, are very similar in their postcranial osteology. The present analysis corroborates the hypothesis of a zygodactyl stem species of passerines. To account for these results, Psittacopes is here assigned to a new higher‐level taxon and a new name is also introduced for the clade including Zygodactylidae and Passeriformes.