The Relationships of the Starlings (Sturnidae: Sturnini) and the Mockingbirds (Sturnidae: Mimini)

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Abstract
Old World starlings have been thought to be related to crows and their allies, to weaverbirds, or to New World troupials. New World mockingbirds and thrashers have usually been placed near the thrushes and/or wrens. DNA-DNA hybridization data indicated that starlings and mockingbirds are more closely related to each other than either is to any other living taxon. Some avian systematists doubted this conclusion. Therefore, a more extensive DNA hybridization study was conducted, and a successful search was made for other evidence of the relationship between starlings and mockingbirds. The results support our original conclusion that the two groups diverged from a common ancestor in the late Oligocene or early Miocene, about 23-28 million years ago, and that their relationship may be expressed in our passerine classification, based on DNA comparisons, by placing them as sister tribes in the Family Sturnidae, Superfamily Turdoidea, Parvorder Muscicapae, Suborder Passeres. Their next nearest relatives are the members of the Turdidae, including the typical thrushes, erithacine chats, and muscicapine flycatchers.