The Relationships of the Australo-Papuan Sittellas Daphoenositta as Indicated by DNA-DNA Hybridization

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Abstract
The taxonomic relationships of Daphoenositta were examined by comparing the single-copy DNA sequences of 125I-labeled DNA of the varied sittella D. chrysoptera with the DNA of 38 other spp., representing 35 labeled genera, of oscine passerine birds (Passeres). Of the taxa examined, Daphoenositta was found to be most closely related to Pachycephala, Pitohui, Colluricincla, Monarcha and other members of a large, primarily Australo-Papuan, assemblage which also includes such morphologically diverse taxa as the birds of paradise, crows, drongos, quail-thrushes, cuckoo-shrikes, fantails, scrub-robins Drymodes, lyrebirds, scrub-birds and bowerbirds. There is no convincing evidence that the sittellas are closely related to the nuthatches Sitta, the Holarctic creepers Certhia, the Philippine creepers Rhabdornis, the Afro-Asian creeper Salpornis, the Australo-Papuan tree creepers Climacteris, the Eurasian wallcreeper Tichodroma, or the coral-billed nuthatch Hypositta of Madagascar. Some Australo-Papuan taxa that are members of a separate major assemblage are Malurus, Sericornis, Acanthiza, the honeyeaters Meliphagidae and the Australian chats Ephthianura.