Mousebird

he **mousebirds** (family Coliidae, order Coliiformes) are a family of birds. They are the sister group to the clade Eucavitaves, which includes the cuckoo roller (Leptosomiformes), trogons (Trogoniformes), Bucerotiformes, Coraciformes and Piciformes. The mousebirds are therefore given order status as **Coliiformes**. This group is now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, and it is the only bird order confined entirely to that continent, with the possible exception of Turacos which are considered by some as the distinct Order Musophagiformes. Mousebirds had a wider range in prehistoric times, with a widespread distribution in Europe and North America during the Paleocene.

## Contents

* 1Description
* 2Behaviour and ecology
* 3Systematics and evolution
* 4Taxonomy
* 5Footnotes
* 6References
* 7External links

## Description[edit]

They are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body feathers. They are typically about 10 cm in body length, with a long, thin tail a further 20–24 cm in length, and weigh 45–55 grams. They are arboreal and scurry through the leaves like rodents, in search of berries, fruit and buds. This habit, and their legs, gives rise to the group's English name. They are acrobatic, and can feed upside down. All species have strong claws and reversible outer toes (pamprodactyl feet). They also have crests and stubby bills.

## Behaviour and ecology[edit]

Mousebirds are gregarious, again reinforcing the analogy with mice, and are found in bands of about 20 in lightly wooded country. These birds build cup-shaped twig nests in trees, which are lined with grasses. Two to four eggs are typically laid, hatching to give altricial young which develop quickly and soon leave the nest and acquire flight.[*citation needed*]

## Systematics and evolution[edit]

The mousebirds could be considered "living fossils" as the 6 species extant today are merely the survivors of a lineage that was massively more diverse in the early Paleogene and Miocene. There are comparatively abundant fossils of Coliiformes, but it has not been easy to assemble a robust phylogeny. The family is documented to exist from the Early Paleocene onwards; by at least the Late Eocene, two families are known to have existed, the extant **Coliidae** and the longer-billed prehistorically extinct **Sandcoleidae**.

The latter were previously a separate order, but eventually it was realized that they had come to group ancestral Coraciiformes, the actual sandcoleids and forms like *Neanis* together in a paraphyletic assemblage. Even though the sandcoleids are now assumed to be monophyletic following the removal of these taxa, many forms cannot be conclusively assigned to one family or the other. The genus *Selmes*, for example, is probably a coliid, but only distantly related to the modern genera.

## Taxonomy[edit]

**Order COLIIFORMES**

* Genus †*Botauroides parvus* Shufeldt 1915 (Eocene of Wyoming, US)
* Genus †*Eobucco brodkorbi* Feduccia & Martin 1976 - sandcoleid?
* Genus †*Eocolius walkeri* Dyke & Waterhouse 2001 (London Clay Early Eocene of Walton-on-the-Naze, England) - sandcoleid or coliid
* Genus †*Limnatornis* Milne-Edwards 1871 (Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France) - coliid? (*Urocolius*?)
	+ †*L. consobrinus* Milne-Edwards 1871 [*Picus consobrinus*; *Urocolius consobrinus*]
	+ †*L. paludicola* Milne-Edwards 1871 [*Urocolius paludicola*]
	+ †*L. archiaci* [*Picus archiaci*; *Urocolius archiaci*] (Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France)
* Coliiformes gen. et sp. indet. (Late Miocene of Kohfidisch, Austria)
* Genus †*Uintornis* Marsh 1872 - sandcoleid?
	+ †*U. lucaris* Brodkorb 1971
	+ †*U. marionae* Feduccia & Martin 1976
* **Family †Chascacocoliidae** Zelenkov & Dyke 2008
	+ Genus †*Chascacocolius* Houde & Olson 1992 (Late Paleocene ?- Early Eocene) - basal? sandcoleid?
		- †*C. oscitans* Houde & Olson 1992
		- †*C. cacicirostris* Mayr 2005
* **Family †Selmeidae** Zelenkov & Dyke 2008
	+ Genus †*Selmes absurdipes* Peters 1999 (Middle Eocene ?-Late Oligocene of C Europe) - coliid? (synonym of *Primocolius*?)
* **Family †Sandcoleidae** Houde & Olson 1992 sensu Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2004
	+ Genus †*Sandcoleus copiosus* Houde & Olson 1992 (Paleocene)
	+ Genus †*Anneavis anneae* Houde & Olson 1992
	+ Genus †*Eoglaucidium pallas* Fischer 1987
	+ Genus †*Tsidiiyazhi abini* Ksepka *et al.*, 2017
* **Family Coliidae** Swainson 1837 sensu Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2004
	+ Genus †*Primocolius* Mourer-Chauviré 1988 (Late Eocene/Oligocene of Quercy, France)
		- †*P. sigei* Mourer-Chauviré 1988
		- †*P. minor* Mourer-Chauviré 1988
	+ Genus †*Oligocolius* Mayr 2000 (Early Oligocene of Frauenweiler, Germany)
		- †*O. brevitarsus* Mayr 2000
		- †*O. psittacocephalon* Mayr 2013
	+ Genus †*Masillacolius brevidactylus* Mayr & Peters 1998 (middle Eocene of Messel, Germany)
	+ **Subfamily Coliinae**
		- Genus *Urocolius* (2 species)
			* *U. indicus* (Latham 1790) (Red-faced mousebird)
			* *U. macrourus* (Linnaeus 1766) (Blue-naped mousebird)
		- Genus *Colius* [*Necrornis* Milne-Edwards 1871] (4 species)
			* †*C. hendeyi* Vickers-Rich & Haarhoff 1985
			* †*C. palustris* (Milne-Edwards 1871) Ballmann 1969 [*Necrornis palustris* Milne-Edwards 1871]
			* *C. castanotus* Verreaux & Verreaux 1855 (Red-backed mousebird)
			* *C. colius* (Linnaeus 1766) (White-backed mousebird)
			* *C. leucocephalus* Reichenow 1879 (White-headed mousebird)
			* *C. striatus* Gmelin 1789 (Speckled mousebird)
		- The only known species of *Necrornis* (Milne-Edwards, 1871) (Middle Miocene of Sansan, La Grive-Saint-Alban, France) was redescribed by Peter Ballmann as *Colius palustris* in 1969. This treatment was approved by Olson in 1985.