The contribution of fossils to the reconstruction of the higher- level phylogeny of birds

Only a phylogeny based on morphological characters allows the assignment of fossil taxa which so far played a subordinate role in the reconstruction of the phylogenetic relationships within birds. However, although fossils are not compulsory for the reconstruction of the phylogeny between extant taxa, stem lineage representatives can contribute to phylogenetic hypotheses on widely divergent groups of birds, in particular if they exhibit bauplan...