Swifts and Swallows

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stevehapp
stevehapp's picture
Swifts and Swallows

I have been wondering why Swifts and Swallows are not together in my bird book. i.e. are not in the same family.
So I googled it and found this:
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"
The swifts are a family, Apodidae, of highly aerial birds. They are superficially similar to swallows but are actually not closely related to those passerine species at all; swifts are in the separate order Apodiformes, which they share with the hummingbirds.
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The resemblances between swifts and swallows are due to convergent evolution reflecting similar life styles based on catching insects in flight.
"
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Maybe someone else was wondering that as well.
Convergent Evolution was the answer that I was looking for.
,
cheers,
steve

bushanwater
bushanwater's picture

Good on you steve, a bit of research never goes astray. I would have thought they were closer related.

See Yez
Trev

stevehapp
stevehapp's picture

yeah, me too. Until I saw them so far separated in the book.
and that got me wondering.
,
cheers,
steve

marj
marj's picture

Convergent evolution huh? I can use that to explain a lot of things!!

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