| Emberizoids | |
|---|---|
_(34888569141).jpg) | |
| Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) | |
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| Golden-chevroned tanager (Thraupis ornata) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Parvorder: | Passerida |
| Superfamily: | Emberizoidea Vigors, 1831 |
| Type species | |
| Emberiza citrinella | |
| Families | |
Emberizoidea is a superfamily ofpasserines that are referred to as theNew World nine-primaried oscines that includes majority ofendemics which are exclusive to theNew World. Nearly 892 species belong to this group as it includesbuntings,American sparrows, theNew World blackbirds, theparulid warblers, thecardinals, and thetanagers.
The group originated after a rapid speciation event inNorth America after arriving fromEurasia via theBering Strait during theMiocene epoch. Two groups from within the emberizoids diversified further in the Neotropics, where one clade comprised several smallCaribbean endemic species and the other, the tanager-cardinal group, inSouth America. Another two families, theEmberizidae (buntings) and theCalcariidae (longspurs and snow buntings), returned to Eurasia and colonized.[1]
The interrelationships among the emberizoids has been a source of contention as several genera have been shifted around in many phylogenetic studies. The cladogram of the emberizoids shown below is based on the analysis of Carl Oliveros and colleagues published in 2019.[2][a]
The Oliveros at al (2019) study consideredSpindalidae andNesospingidae to both be part ofPhaenicophilidae, andIcteriidae as being a part ofIcteridae, but they are shown as distinct in this tree.[2] In addition, whileTeretistridae was not analyzed in that study, previous studies recovered them allied withIcteridae orZeledoniidae.[5][1]