Scolopacidae

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"Sandpiper" redirects here. For the 1965 film see The Sandpiper. For the 1960s singing group see The Sandpipers.

Typical waders

Dunlin (Calidris alpina)

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Subclass:	Neornithes
Infraclass:	Neoaves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Suborder:	Scolopaci
Family:	Scolopacidae Vigors, 1825

Genera

The Scolopacidae are a large family of waders, (known as shorebirds in North America). Many of the smaller species are often called "sandpipers", especially members of genera Calidris, Tringa and Actitis. Other well-known groups include curlews and snipes. The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.

This large family is often further subdivided into groups of similar birds. These groups do not necessarily consist of a single genus, but as presented here they do form distinct monophyletic evolutionary lineages^[1]. The groups, with species numbers in parentheses, are:

Curlews

Genus Numenius (8 species, of which 1-2 recently extinct)

Upland Sandpiper

Genus Bartramia (monotypic)

Godwits

Genus Limosa (4 species)

Dowitchers

Genus Limnodromus (3 species)

Snipe and woodcocks

Genera Coenocorypha, Lymnocryptes, Gallinago and Scolopax (nearly 30 species, plus some 6 extinct)

Phalaropes

Genus Phalaropus (3 species)

Shanks and tattlers

Genera Xenus, Actitis, and Tringa which now includes Catoptrophorus and Heteroscelus (16 species)

Polynesian sandpipers

Genus Prosobonia (1 extant species, 3-5 extinct)

Calidrids and turnstones

Roughly 25 species, mostly in Calidris which might be split up into several genera. Other genera currently accepted are Aphriza, Eurynorhynchus, Limicola, Tryngites, and Philomachus, in addition to the 2 Arenaria turnstones.

Bristle-thighed Curlew (Numenius tahitiensis, right) and Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres)

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)

Preening male Ruff (Philomachus pugnax)

The early fossil record is very bad for a group that was probably present at the non-avian dinosaur's extinction. "Totanus" teruelensis (Late Miocene of Los Mansuetos (Spain) is sometimes considered a scolopacid - maybe a shank - but may well be a larid; little is known of it.

Paractitis has been named from the Early Oligocene of Sasketchewan (Canada). Most living genera would seem to have evolved throughout the Oligocene to Miocene with the waders perhaps a bit later; see the genus accounts for the fossil record.

In addition there are some indeterminable remains that might belong to extant genera or their extinct relatives:

Scolopacidae gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of Františkovy Lázně, Czechia - Late Miocene of Kohfidisch, Austria)
Scolopacidae gen. et sp. indet. (Edson Early Pliocene of Sherman County, USA)^[2]

[edit] Footnotes

^ Thomas et al (2004)
^ A distal right tarsometatarsus of a bird roughly similar to a Pectoral Sandpiper. Probably calidrid or basal to them, somewhat reminiscent of turnstones: Wetmore (1937).

[edit] References

Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004): A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 PDF fulltext Supplementary Material
Wetmore, Alexander (1937): The Eared Grebe and other Birds from the Pliocene of Kansas. Condor 39(1): 40. PDF fulltext DjVu fulltext