Editing Mesite

{{short description|Family of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Mesites
| taxon = Mesitornithidae
| image = Subdesert Mesite.jpg
| image_caption = [[Subdesert mesite]] (''Monias benschi'')
| display_parents = 2
| parent_authority = [[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1960
| authority = [[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]], 1960
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
*''[[Mesitornis]]''
*''[[Monias]]''
| range_map = Madagaskar-mesites-06.jpg
| range_map_upright = 0.8
| range_map_caption = Respective ranges: [[brown mesite]] in orange, [[white-breasted mesite]] in green and [[subdesert mesite]] in blue
}}

The '''mesites''' ('''Mesitornithidae''') are a [[family (biology)|family]] of [[bird]]s that are part of a [[clade]] ([[Columbimorphae]]) that include [[Columbiformes]] and [[Pterocliformes]].<ref name=Jarvis2014>{{cite journal | last1 = Jarvis | first1 = E.D. |display-authors=etal  | year = 2014 | title = Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds | url= | journal = Science | volume = 346 | issue = 6215| pages = 1320–1331 | doi=10.1126/science.1253451 | pmid=25504713 | pmc=4405904| bibcode = 2014Sci...346.1320J }}</ref> They are somewhat small-bodied, [[Flightless bird|flightless or near flightless birds]] endemic to [[Madagascar]]. All the species of this clade are listed as [[Vulnerable species|vulnerable]].

== Description ==
The mesites are [[forest]] and [[scrubland]] birds that [[Insectivore|feed on insects]] and [[Seed predation|seeds]]; brown and white-breasted mesites [[Foraging|forage]] on the ground, gleaning insects from underneath [[leaf litter|leaves]] as well as low vegetation. The subdesert mesite uses its long bill to probe in the soil. Other birds, such as [[drongo]]s and [[Old World flycatcher|flycatcher]]s, will follow mesites to catch any insects they flush out or miss. Mesites are vocal birds, with [[Bird vocalization|calls]] similar to that of a [[passerine]]'s song, which are used for [[Territory (animal)|territorial]] defence. Two or three white eggs are laid in a stick-built nest located in a bush or on a low branch.<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Archibald, George W.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 100–101|isbn= 978-1-85391-186-6}}</ref> The ''Mesitornis'' species are [[Monogamy in animals|monogamous]]<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4|doi = 10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4|title = Delayed juvenile dispersal and monogamy, but no cooperative breeding in white-breasted mesites (Mesitornis variegatus)|year = 2014|last1 = Gamero|first1 = Anna|last2 = Székely|first2 = Tamás|last3 = Kappeler|first3 = Peter M.|journal = Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|volume = 68|pages = 73–83|s2cid = 17145658|url-access = subscription}}</ref> while ''Monias benschi'' is [[Animal sexual behaviour#Polygamy|polygamous]] and, unlike the other two, shows significant [[sexual dichromatism]].

== Systematics ==

There are two genera, ''Mesitornis'' (2 species) and ''Monias'' (subdesert mesite).<ref>[[IOC World Bird List]] v6.3 [http://www.worldbirdnames.org/]. {{cite web | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/IOC_Names_File_Plus-6.3.xlsx | title=''IOC Names File Plus 6.3'' | access-date=30 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | website=Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement | title=Part 7- Vertebrates | url=http://mave.tweakdsl.nl/tn/genera7.html | display-authors=etal | access-date=30 June 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005114629/http://mave.tweakdsl.nl/tn/genera7.html | archive-date=5 October 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|-
! Image
! Genus
!Species
|-
|[[File:Subdesert Mesite.jpg|175px]]
|''[[Monias]]'' <small>Oustalet & Grandidier, 1903</small>
|
* [[Subdesert mesite]] ''Monias benschi'' <small>Oustalet & Grandidier, 1903</small>
|-
|[[File:White-breasted Mesite - Ankarafantsika - Madagascar S4E9441 (15297364032).jpg|175px]]
|''[[Mesitornis]]'' <small>Bonaparte, 1855</small> [''Mesites'' <small>Geoffroy, 1838 non Schoenherr, 1838</small>; ''Mesoenas'' <small>Reichenbach, 1861</small>]
|
* [[White-breasted mesite]], ''Mesitornis variegatus'' <small>(Saint-Hilaire, 1838)</small>
* [[Brown mesite]], ''Mesitornis unicolor'' <small>(Des Murs, 1845)</small>
|-
|}

Historically, mesites' [[Phylogenetics|phylogenetic]] relationships were not very clear; they have been allied ([[clade]]d) with the [[Gruiformes]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sibley |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Sibley |author2=Jon Edward Ahlquist |year=1990 |title=Phylogeny and classification of birds |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-04085-7|author2-link=Jon Edward Ahlquist }}</ref> [[Turniciformes]]<ref name="Theropoda">{{Cite journal |date=January 2007 | title=Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy. II. Analysis and discussion | journal=[[Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society]] | volume=149 | issue=1 | pages=1–95 | doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00293.x | pmid=18784798 | last1=Livezey | first1=Bradley C. | last2=Zusi | first2=RL | pmc=2517308}}</ref> and [[Columbiformes]].<ref name=Hackett>{{cite journal | url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1157704 | doi=10.1126/science.1157704 | title=A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History | year=2008 | last1=Hackett | first1=Shannon J. | last2=Kimball | first2=Rebecca T. | last3=Reddy | first3=Sushma | last4=Bowie | first4=Rauri C. K. | last5=Braun | first5=Edward L. | last6=Braun | first6=Michael J. | last7=Chojnowski | first7=Jena L. | last8=Cox | first8=W. Andrew | last9=Han | first9=Kin-Lan | last10=Harshman | first10=John | last11=Huddleston | first11=Christopher J. | last12=Marks | first12=Ben D. | last13=Miglia | first13=Kathleen J. | last14=Moore | first14=William S. | last15=Sheldon | first15=Frederick H. | last16=Steadman | first16=David W. | last17=Witt | first17=Christopher C. | last18=Yuri | first18=Tamaki | journal=Science | volume=320 | issue=5884 | pages=1763–1768 | pmid=18583609 | bibcode=2008Sci...320.1763H | s2cid=6472805 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Some phylogenomic studies support [[Pterocliformes]] (sandgrouse) as the sister group of mesites<ref name=Jarvis2014/><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Fain, Matthew G. |author2=Houde, Peter |year=2004 |title=Parallel radiations in the primary clades of birds |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=58 |issue=11 |pages=2558–2573 |doi=10.1554/04-235 |pmid=15612298 |s2cid=1296408 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Yuri | first1 = T.| year = 2013 | title = Parsimony and Model-Based Analyses of Indels in Avian Nuclear Genes Reveal Congruent and Incongruent Phylogenetic Signals | journal = Biology | volume = 2 | issue = 1| pages = 419–444 | doi = 10.3390/biology2010419 |display-authors=etal | pmid=24832669 | pmc=4009869| doi-access = free}}</ref> while others place this [[clade]] with another clade constituted of Columbiformes and [[Cuculiformes]] (cuckoos).<ref name="kuhl2020">H Kuhl, C Frankl-Vilches, A Bakker, G Mayr, G Nikolaus, S T Boerno, S Klages, B Timmermann, M Gahr (2020) [https://academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-article/doi/10.1093/molbev/msaa191/5891114 An unbiased molecular approach using 3’UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life]. ''Molecular Biology and Evolution'', https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa191</ref>

{{Cladogram
|caption=Phylogenetic relationship of the mesites within [[Neoaves]] according to Stiller and colleagues (2024).<ref name=Stiller-2024>{{cite journal |last1=Stiller |first1=J. |last2=Feng |first2=S. |last3=Chowdhury |first3=A-A. |display-authors=etal |title=Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes |journal=Nature |year=2024 |volume=629 |issue=8013 |pages=851–860 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07323-1|doi-access=free |pmid=38560995 |pmc=11111414 |bibcode=2024Natur.629..851S }}</ref>
|align=center
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%;width:420px;
|1={{clade
   |1=[[Columbiformes]] (pigeons)
   |2={{clade
      |1=[[Pterocliformes]] (sandgrouses)
      |2='''Mesitornithiformes''' (mesites)
      }}
   }}
  }}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Birds}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q659657}}

[[Category:Mesitornithidae| ]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Alexander Wetmore]]
[[Category:Endemic birds of Madagascar]]