Galbuli


Galbuli is one of the two suborders of the order Piciformes and includes two families Bucconidae and Galbulidae. The other suborder Pici is a global group of piciforms, puffbirds and jacamars are only found in the Neotropics.

Systematics

It was thought the jacamars and puffbirds were not closely related to toucans and woodpeckers, but instead related to the order Coraciiformes. However, analysis of nuclear DNA in a 2003 study placed them as sister group to Pici, also showing that the groups had developed zygodactyl feet before separating. Per Ericson and colleagues, in analysing genomic DNA, confirmed that puffbirds and jacamars were sister groups and their place in Piciformes. The lineage is sometimes elevated to order level as Galbuliformes, first proposed by Sibley and Ahlquist in 1990.

Taxonomy

The following arrangement of taxa is based on Witt.