Biochemical Systematics of the Charadriiformes (Shorebirds) - Relationships Between the Charadrii, Scolopaci and Lari

Electrophoretic variation at 29 presumptive protein loci was examined among 30 species of Charadriiformes. Phenetic and cladistic analyses consistently identified three major lineages. The first included the Charadriidae (plovers, dotterels and lapwings), Burhinidae (stone-curlews), Recurvirostridae (avocets and stilts) and Haematopodidae (oystercatchers); the second the Scolopacidae (sandpipers, curlews and godwits); and the third the Lari (gulls and terns) and, arguably, the Glareolidae (coursers and pratincoles). The position of the Jacanidae (jacanas) was ambivalent, either clustering loosely with the Scolopacidae or as a separate lineage. The results of these analyses agree in many areas with those obtained from previous studies based upon skeletal morphology and DNA-DNA hybridisation, yet they differ also in relationships found both within and between the four lineages. The significance of these differences is discussed.