A map of the hummingbird family tree -- reconstructed from analysis of 284 of the world's 338 known species -- shows rapid diversification from 22 million years ago.[7] Part of hummingbirds' evolutionary success lies in the formation of nine main clades defining their relationship to nectar-bearing flowering plants, and the birds' continued spread into new geographic areas.[7]
While all hummingbirds depend on flower nectar to fuel their high metabolisms and hovering flight, coordinated changes in flower and bill shape stimulated the formation of new species of both hummingbirds and plants. Due to this exceptional evolutionary pattern, as many as 25 hummingbird species are able to coexist in specific regions because their food needs are the same.[7]
The hummingbird evolutionary tree shows that ancestral hummingbirds splitting from insectivorous swifts (family Apodidae) and treeswifts (family Hemiprocnidae) about 42 million years ago, probably in Eurasia.[7] One key evolutionary factor appears to be an altered taste receptor that enabled hummingbirds to seek nectar.[8] By 22 million years ago, the ancestral species of current hummingbirds became established in South America where environmental conditions stimulated further diversification.[7]
The Andes Mountains appear to be a particularly rich environment for hummingbird evolution (140 hummingbird species live in the Andes today) because diversification occurred simultaneously with mountain eruption over the past 10 million years.[7]
Hummingbirds remain in dynamic diversification inhabiting ecological regions across North America, South America, and the Caribbean, indicating an enlarging evolutionary radiation.[7]
A map of the hummingbird family tree -- reconstructed from analysis of 284 of the world's 338 known species -- shows rapid diversification from 22 million years ago.[7] Part of hummingbirds' evolutionary success lies in the formation of nine main clades defining their relationship to nectar-bearing flowering plants, and the birds' continued spread into new geographic areas.[7]While all hummingbirds depend on flower nectar to fuel their high metabolisms and hovering flight, coordinated changes in flower and bill shape stimulated the formation of new species of both hummingbirds and plants. Due to this exceptional evolutionary pattern, as many as 25 hummingbird species are able to coexist in specific regions because their food needs are the same.[7]The hummingbird evolutionary tree shows that ancestral hummingbirds splitting from insectivorous swifts (family Apodidae) and treeswifts (family Hemiprocnidae) about 42 million years ago, probably in Eurasia.[7] One key evolutionary factor appears to be an altered taste receptor that enabled hummingbirds to seek nectar.[8] By 22 million years ago, the ancestral species of current hummingbirds became established in South America where environmental conditions stimulated further diversification.[7]The Andes Mountains appear to be a particularly rich environment for hummingbird evolution (140 hummingbird species live in the Andes today) because diversification occurred simultaneously with mountain eruption over the past 10 million years.[7]Hummingbirds remain in dynamic diversification inhabiting ecological regions across North America, South America, and the Caribbean, indicating an enlarging evolutionary radiation.[7]
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