The deep divergence between the African endemic passerines Picathartidae (rockfowl Picathartes and rockjumpers Chaetops, four species) and the Passerida (ca. 3500 species) suggests an older history of oscines on the African continent than has previously been assumed. In order to determine whether any additional, unexpectedly deep lineages occur in African endemic songbirds, 29 species-including 10 enigmatic focal taxa endemic to southern Africa-were added to a large nuclear sequence dataset gathered from oscine songbirds (Passeri). Phylogenetic analyses of these data resolve many long-standing questions about the affinities of these birds, not all of which were predicted by traditional approaches. The application of a molecular clock indicates that most basal divergences in Passerida occurred in the middle to late Eocene, with divergences between African and Australasian core corvoids occurring somewhat later in the early Miocene. Consistent with inferences for mammals, divergences between Malagasy endemic passerines and their mainland relatives suggests an asynchronous colonization history. This emerging phylogenetic picture reveals that relationships within Old World families are highly informative regarding the early dispersal and radiation of songbirds out of Gondwana. Future analyses will depend on improving resolution of higher-level phylogenetic relationships among these groups, and increasing the density of taxon sampling within them.

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The group of small forest robins, or akalats, that dwell in lowland and montane forests in Africa have complicated parapatric or partly overlapping distributions, the details of which are still being discovered. Here, we use external morphology and mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data to determine the reciprocal monophyly of several populations, including one form that is related to Sheppardia lowei and S. montana. Those data corroborate the recognition of a new species, Sheppardia aurantiithorax, and show relatively high levels of sequence divergence among populations of the different species. The discovery of this new species, narrowly endemic in the Eastern Arc montane forests, emphasizes the complex biodiversity of the region and underscores the need for prompt and effective conservation measures.

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