The Relationships of the Lyrebirds

Abstract

Sibley, C. G. 1973. The relationships of the lyrebirds. Emu 74: 65–79. From the time of the discovery of Menura superba in 1798 until about 1853 the lyrebirds were usually thought to be allied either to the galliforms or to the birds-of-paradise. For the past century the two species have been placed in the Passeriformes but segregated as the family Menuridae in the suborder Menurae, one of the four passerine suborders usually recognized. The only other birds assigned to the Menurae are the scrub-birds Atrichornis also placed in their own family, Atrichornithidae. The suborder Menurae has been based primarily upon differences in syringcal structure in comparison with the typical oscines (Passeres). New evidence from studies of the egg white proteins indicated that Menura is actually related to the cluster of Australo-Papuan endemics that includes birds-of-paradise and bowerbirds. This discovery prompted a re-evaluation of the anatomical characters long used as the basis for the subordinal separation of the Menurae, The syringes of the Menurae and Passeres were found to differ in degree only and the syrinx of Atrichornis is intermediate between that of Menura and those of the typical oscines. Several other anatomical and behavioural characters support an alliance between the Menurae and the bowerbird-bird-of-paradise assemblage. It was concluded that the suborder Menurae should be dropped from the classification and that the families Menuridae and Atrichornithidae should be placed near the Ptilonorhynchidae and Paradisaeidae.