Convergent evolution in dippers (Aves, Cinclidae): The only wing-propelled diving songbirds.

ABSTRACT: Of the more than 6,000 members of the most speciose avian clade, Passeriformes (perching birds), only the five species of dippers (Cinclidae, Cinclus) use their wings to swim underwater. Among nonpasserine wing-propelled divers (alcids, diving petrels, penguins, and plotopterids), convergent evolution of morphological characteristics related to this highly derived method of locomotion have been well-documented, suggesting that the demands of this behavior exert strong selective pressure. However, despite their unique anatomical attributes, dippers have been the focus of comparatively few studies and potential convergence between dippers and nonpasseriform wing-propelled divers has not been previously examined. In this study, a suite of characteristics that are shared among many wing-propel

SUBMITTER: Smith NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9298897 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature