__NOTOC__ Malaconotoidea is a superfamily of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

birds. They contain a vast diversity of omnivorous and carnivorous

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

s widespread in Africa and Australia, many of which superficially resemble

shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera. The family name, and that of the larger genus, '' Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also known ...

s. It was defined and named by Cacraft and colleagues in 2004 and contains the bushshrikes (Malaconotidae),

helmetshrike Helmetshrikes are the eight species of smallish to mid-sized songbirds in the genus ''Prionops''. They were previously included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such a ...

s (Prionopidae),

iora The ioras are a small family, Aegithinidae, of four passerine bird species found in south and southeast Asia. The family is composed of a single genus, ''Aegithina''. They were formerly grouped with the leafbirds and fairy-bluebirds, in the fam ...

s (Aegithinidae),

vanga The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family o ...

s (Vangidae) and the Australian butcherbirds, magpies, currawongs and woodswallows (

Artamidae Artamidae is a family of passerine birds found in Australia, the Indo-Pacific region, and Southern Asia. It includes 24 extant species in six genera and three subfamilies: Peltopsinae (with one genus, '' Peltops''), Artaminae (with one genus con ...

). Molecular analysis in 2006 added the Bornean bristlehead to the group, though its position in the Malconotoidea is unclear. It was initially thought related to the butcherbirds and woodswallows but now is thought to be an early offshoot. In 2012, Jerome Fuchs and colleagues extensively analysed the Malaconotoidea (called by them Malaconotidea), using both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. The resulting tree suggested that the group originated in Australasia and prolifically diversified in Africa after an ancestor crossed to Africa between 45 and 33.7 million years ago during the late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

. This is based on the basal position of group comprising the woodswallows and butcherbirds and allies and (most likely) the boatbills. Complicating the picture is that some Malaysian species such as the Bornean bristlehead, flycatcher-shrikes, the ''Philentoma''s, and woodshrikes appear to be more closely related to African species. A cladistic study of the bony characteristics of the skulls of various Malaconotoidea and relatives, and focussing on vangas, published in 2008, found broad agreement in the inclusion of woodswallows, butcherbirds and vangas in Malaconotoidea, but also yielded some results at odds with other studies—the

red-backed shrike The red-backed shrike (''Lanius collurio'') is a carnivorous passerine bird and member of the shrike family, Laniidae. Its breeding range stretches from Western Europe east to central Russia. It is migratory and winters in the eastern areas of ...

, crested drongo and

magpie-lark The magpie-lark (''Grallina cyanoleuca''), also known as wee magpie, peewee, peewit, mudlark or Murray magpie, is a passerine bird native to Australia, Timor and southern New Guinea. The male and female both have black and white plumage, though ...

were nested within the group. The authors conceded that there were not enough data to conclude these species should be placed here. The superfamily contains eight families: *

Machaerirhynchidae ''Machaerirhynchus'' is a genus of passerine birds with affinities to woodswallows and butcherbirds. The two species are known as boatbills. The genus is distributed across New Guinea and northern Queensland. The species are: * Black-breasted b ...

– boatbills *

– woodswallows, butcherbirds, currawongs, and Australian magpie * Rhagologidae – mottled berryhunter * Malaconotidae – puffback shrikes, bush shrikes, tchagras, and boubous *

Pityriaseidae The Bornean bristlehead (''Pityriasis gymnocephala''), also variously known as the bristled shrike, bald-headed crow or the bald-headed wood-shrike, is the only member of the passerine family (biology), family Pityriasidae and genus ''Pityriasis ...

– bristlehead * Aegithinidae – ioras * Platysteiridae – wattle-eyes and batises *

Vangidae The family Vangidae (from ''vanga'', Malagasy language, Malagasy for the hook-billed vanga, ''Vanga curvirostris'') comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to ...

– vangas

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16985089 Bird superfamilies Passeri