| Psittacopasserae | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| House sparrow,Passer domesticus | |
 | |
| Grey parrot,Psittacus erithacus | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Eufalconimorphae |
| Clade: | Psittacopasseres Suhet al., 2011 |
| Subtaxa | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
PsittacopasseresSuh et al., 2011 | |
Psittacopasserae is ataxon ofbirds consisting of the Passeriformes (passerines, a large group of perching birds) and Psittaciformes (parrots).[3] Per Ericson and colleagues, in analysing genomic DNA, revealed a lineage comprising passerines, psittacines andFalconiformes.[4] The group was proposed following an alignment of nuclear intron sequences by Shannon Hackett et al. in 2008.[5] It was formally named asPsittacopasserae in a 2011Nature Communications article by Alexander Suh and other authors working with Jürgen Schmitz's group,[6] based on genetic analysis of the insertion ofretroposons into the genomes of key avian lineages over the course of evolution during theMesozoic Era. This clade was defined in thePhyloCode by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as the least inclusive crown clade containingPsittacus erithacus andPasser domesticus.[3][clarification needed]
Passerines are renowned assongbirds (technically this word refers to a clade of passerines), and parrots share a capacity forvocal learning. Thus it is possible that vocal learning, and the corresponding variety of song, was present in a psittacopasseran ancestor.[6]