From Opus

Order: Apodiformes

[edit] Description

This order includes Swifts, Treeswifts, and Hummingbirds. Similarities between these groups are especially found in the structure of the wing, with both arm and forearm very short while the hand is elongated.

[edit] Taxonomy

Apodiformes is an order in the class Aves. The closest relatives to this order are the Owlet-nightjars, Aegothelidae, a family in the order Caprimulgiformes which contains Nightjars, Frogmouths, Potoos, and the Oilbird. This creates a taxonomic problem for which there are three possible solutions:

• 1 Transfer Owlet-nightjars to Apodiformes,
• 2 Make a new overriding taxon that contains Apodiformes and Aegothelidae, OR
• 3 Embed Apodiformes within the nightjars (Caprimulgiformes)

[edit] References

1. Abstract of a paper describing the phylogeny of Caprimulgiformes and Apodiformes: Michael J. Braun and Christopher J. Huddleston (in print 2009). A molecular phylogenetic survey of caprimulgiform nightbirds illustrates the utility of non-coding sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution