Family Tree of Hummingbirds Revealed Thanks to Genetic Information

A recently constructed family tree of the hummingbirds claims the birds originated in Europe, traveled through Asian and North America, and ultimately found the Garden of Eden in South American some 22 million years ago.

Early hummingbirds spread across the South American continent, evolved "iridescent colors," diversified into over 140 different species in the rising Andes, and continue to generate new species today, according to a UC Berkeley press release.

"Our study provides a much clearer picture regarding how and when hummingbirds came to be distributed where they are today," said lead author Jimmy McGuire, a UC Berkeley associate professor of integrative biology and curator of herpetology (reptiles and amphibians) in the campus's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, according to the release.

Research was published in the journal Current Biology. The study's authors come from UC Berkeley, Louisiana State University and the universities of New Mexico, Michigan and British Columbia.

There are approximately 338 hummingbird species to date, but that number is expected to increase drastically over the next several million years.

"We are not close to being at the maximum number of hummingbird species," McGuire said. "If humans weren't around, they would just continue on their merry way, evolving new species over time."

The family tree of the nectar-eating bird was constructed by using genetic information from over 451 birds, representing 284 species of hummingbirds, and their closest relatives, according to the study.

After analyzing the data, the study showed that modern hummingbird's ancestors existed 42 million years ago in Eurasia, where hummingbird-like fossils have been discovered.

Fossils discovered at the site date back 28 million to 34 million years ago.

Researchers used genetic analysis to show that the diversity of hummingbirds continues today. In some locations, there are over 25 species of the bird in the same location.

"Everything about hummingbirds is extreme," McGuire said. "They have this incredible hovering flight, with wing beat frequencies of 60 times per second, they are little machines that run on oxygen at a high rate. It is amazing that evolution can take an animal to such extremes."