Oh my goodness! Unless you are a Tree of Life developer, you really shouldn't be here. This page is part of our beta test site, where we develop new features for the ToL, often messing up a thing or two in the process. Please visit the official version of this page, which is available here.
Temporary Page

Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants

Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
taxon links [up-->]Microcarbo pygmeus [up-->]Microcarbo africanus [up-->]Phalacrocorax nigrogularis [up-->]Phalacrocorax bougainvillii [up-->]Phalacrocorax harrisi [up-->]Phalacrocorax urile [up-->]Phalacrocorax magellanicus [up-->]Phalacrocorax capillatus [up-->]Phalacrocorax sulcirostris [up-->]Phalacrocorax lucidus [up-->]Phalacrocorax gaimardi [up-->]Phalacrocorax fuscescens [up-->]Phalacrocorax fuscicollis [up-->]Phalacrocorax penicillatus [up-->]Microcarbo melanoleucos [up-->]Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis [up-->]Phalacrocorax brasilianus [up-->]Phalacrocorax atriceps [up-->]Phalacrocorax aristotelis [up-->]Phalacrocorax varius [up-->]Phalacrocorax capensis [up-->]Phalacrocorax chalconotus [up-->]Phalacrocorax punctatus [up-->]Phalacrocorax albiventer [up-->]Microcarbo niger [up-->]Phalacrocorax carbo [up-->]Phalacrocorax auritus extinct icon [down<--]Pelecaniformes Interpreting the tree
close box

This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

example of a tree diagram

You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

close box
Containing group: Pelecaniformes

Other Names for Phalacrocoracidae

References

Christidis, L. and Boles, W.E. 2008. Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CISRO Publishing, Collingwood, VIC, Australia.

Johnsgaard, P. A. 1993. Cormorants, Darters, and Pelicans of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.

Kennedy, M., Gray, R.D. and Spencer, H.G. 2000. The phylogenetic relationships of the shags and cormorants:can sequence data resolve a disagreement between behavior and morphology? Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 17:345-359.

Siegal-Causey, D. 1988. Phylogeny of the Phalacrocoracidae. Condor 90: 885-905.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Phalacrocorax carbo
Location India
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Life Cycle Stage juveniles and adult
Source Great Cormorant (and chicks)
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Ananda Debnath
Scientific Name Microcarbo melanoleucos
Location Norwest Lake, Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Little Pied Cormorant
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Brett Donald
Scientific Name Phalacrocorax auritus
Creator Lee Karney
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Collection U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Online Digital Media Library
About This Page

Page: Tree of Life Phalacrocoracidae. Cormorants. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 2009. Phalacrocoracidae. Cormorants. Version 16 February 2009 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Phalacrocoracidae/26338/2009.02.16 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Phalacrocoracidae

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top