Table 5 Fossil calibrations. All internal calibrations for Neornithes are treated as minimum ages. External calibrations are treated as bounded (lower, upper) constraints. See [57] for fossil citations and details. See Figure 2 for placement of calibrations in the alternative trees.
From: Strong mitochondrial DNA support for a Cretaceous origin of modern avian lineages
Fossil ID | Calibration | Age (MY) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Crown Pici | 30 | [57] |
2 | Stem Upupidae + Phoeniculidae | 47.5 | [57] |
3 | Stem Coraciidae + Brachypteraciidae | 47.5 | [57] |
4 | Stem Trogoniformes | 53 | [57] |
5 | Stem Coliiformes | 55 | [57] |
6 | Stem Strigiformes | 55 | [57] |
7 | Crown Pandionidae | 37 | [57] |
8 | Stem Anatidae | 66 | [10] |
9 | Crown Sulidae | 33 | [57] |
10 | Stem Fregatidae | 53 | [57] |
11 | Stem Sphenisciformes | 62 | [24] |
12 | Stem Jacanidae | 30 | [57] |
13 | Stem Apodiformes | 53 | [57] |
14 | Stem Trochilidae | 30 | [109] |
15 | Crown Pteroclididae | 30 | [57] |
16 | Stem Phoenicopteriformes | 30 | [57] |
17 | Stem Phaethontidae | 55 | [57] |
18 | Stem Gruidae | 30 | [57] |
20 | Alligator-caiman | 66–71 | [91] |
21 | Bird-crocodile | 243–251 | [91] |