Apodimorphae is a clade of
strisorean birds that include the extant families
Trochilidae (hummingbirds),
Hemiprocnidae (treeswifts),
Apodidae (swifts),
Aegothelidae (owlet-nightjars), and many fossil families. This grouping of birds has been supported in a variety of recent studies.
There are two higher classification schemes that have been proposed for the apodimorph families. One is all strisorean birds are classified in the order
Caprimulgiformes
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called bugeaters, their primary source of food ...
,
while the other is the strisorean birds are split into several distinct orders. In this case Apodimorphae is a subclade of Strisores that includes the orders
Aegotheliformes
Owlet-nightjars are small crepuscular birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths. Most are native to New Guinea, but some species extend to Australia, the Moluccas, and New Caledonia. A flightless bird, flightless species from New Zealand is e ...
(only including the owlet-nightjars of
Australasia
Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...
) and the
Apodiformes
The Apodiformes is an Order (biology), order, or Taxonomy, taxonomic grouping, of Bird, birds which traditionally contained three living Family (biology), families—the Swift (bird), Apodidae (swifts), the Treeswift, Hemiprocnidae (treeswifts), ...
(the swifts, treeswifts, and hummingbirds which have a global distribution).
The name Daedalornithes
has also been used for the clade comprising owlet-nightjars, hummingbirds, and swifts. Daedalornithes and Apodimorphae have different definitions. Daedalornithes is defined as the crown group (the least inclusive clade that includes ''Aegotheles cristatus'' and ''Apus apus'')
whereas Apodimorphae referring the total-group (the most inclusive clade including ''
Aegotheles cristatus'' and ''
Apus apus
The common swift (''Apus apus'') is a medium-sized bird, superficially similar to the barn swallow or house martin but somewhat larger, though not stemming from those passerine species, being in the order Apodiformes. The resemblances between t ...
'' but not ''
Caprimulgus europaeus
The European nightjar (''Caprimulgus europaeus''), common goatsucker, Eurasian nightjar or just nightjar is a crepuscular and nocturnality, nocturnal bird in the nightjar family that breeds across most of Europe and the Palearctic to Mongolia ...
'', ''
Steatornis caripensis'', ''
Nyctibius grandis
The great potoo or grand potoo (''Nyctibius grandis'') is the largest potoo species and is widely distributed in Central and South America.
Much like owls, this species is nocturnal. It preys on large insects and small vertebrates, which it capt ...
'', or ''
Podargus strigoides'', a definition that includes fossil lineages more closely related to Daedalornithes than they are to other Strisores)
References
Neognathae
{{bird-stub