What's old is new again: newly discovered songbird family is ancient
Scientists analysing songbird DNA discovered that the spotted wren-babbler is neither a wren nor a wren-babbler, nor even a babbler.
Spotted wren-babbler, Elachura formosa (previously Spelaeornis formosus).
(Credit: Per Alström / SLU).
A newly published study has uncovered a previously unknown family of songbirds that is represented by just one species. After analyzing one of the largest and most comprehensive songbird DNA databases amassed so far, researchers recovered ten distinct a…
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