Phylogenetic placement: Passeri: Passerides: Passerida: Estrildoidea

Distribution: Africa and Madagascar, Arabian Peninsula, Asia

Number of extant genera: ~15

Number of extant species: ~120

References

De Silva TN, Peterson AT, Bates JM, Fernando SW, and Girard MG (2017), Phylogenetic relationships of weaverbirds (Aves: Ploveidae): A first robust phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 109, 21-32. (journal abstract) (author pdf)

De Silva TN, Peterson AT, and Perktas U (2019), An extensive molecular phylogeny of weaverbirds (Aves: Ploceidae) unveils broad nonmonophyly of traditional genera and new relationships, Auk 136, e:ukz041. (free pdf)

Kuhl H, Frankl-Vilches C, Bakker A, Mayr G, Nikolaus G, Boerno ST, Klages S, Timmermann B, and Gahr M (2021), An unbiased molecular approach using 3'UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life, Mol. Biol. Evol. 38, 108-127. (pdf)

Moyle RG, Oliveros CH, Andersen MJ, Hosner PA, Benz BW, Manthey JD, Travers SL, Brown RM, and Faircloth BC (2016), Tectonic collision and uplift of Wallacea triggered the global songbird radiation, Nat. Commun. 7, e:12709. (free pdf)

Oliveros CH, Field DJ, Ksepka DT, Barker KF, Aleixo A, Andersen MJ, Alström P, Benz BW, Braun EL, Braun MJ, Bravo GA, Brumfield RT, Chesser RT, Claramunt S, Cracraft J, Cuervo AM, Derryberry EP, Glenn TC, Harvey MG, Hosner PA, Joseph L, Kimball RT, Mack AL, Miskelly CM, Peterson AT, Robbins MB, Sheldon FH, Silveira LF, Smith BT, White ND, Moyle RG, and Faircloth BC (2019), Earth history and the passerine superradiation, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 116, 7915-25. (pdf)

Olsson U, and Alström P (2020), A comprehensive phylogeny and taxonomic evaluation of the waxbills (Aves: Estrildidae), Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 146, e:106757. (free reading)

Päckert M, Martens J, Sun YH, and Srutzenberger P (2016), The phylogenetic relationships of Przevalski’s Finch Urocynchramus pylzowi, the most ancient Tibetan endemic passerine known to date, Ibis 158, 530-540. (abstract)

Stiller J, Feng S, Chowdhury AA, Rivas-González I, Duchêne DA, Fang Q, Deng Y, Kozlov A, Stamatakis A, Claramunt S, Nguyen JMT, Ho SYW, Faircloth BC, Haag J, Houde P, Cracraft J, Balaban M, Mai U, Chen G, Gao R, Zhou C, Xie Y, Huang Z, Cao Z, Yan Z, Ogilvie HA, Nakhleh L, Lindow B, Morel B, Fjeldså J, Hosner PA, da Fonseca RR, Petersen B, Tobias JA, Székely T, Kennedy JD, Reeve AH, Liker A, Stervander M, Antunes A, Tietze DT, Bertelsen M, Lei F, Rahbek C, Graves GR, Schierup MH, Warnow T, Braun EL, Gilbert MTP, Jarvis ED, Mirarab S, and Zhang G (2024), Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes, Nature (view pdf)

Warren BH, Bermingham E, Bourgeois Y, Estep LK, Prys-Jones RP, Strasberg D, and Thébaud C (2012), Hybridization and barriers to gene flow in an island bird radiation, Evolution 66, 1490-1505. (free pdf)