Environmental Origins of the Menurae

Abstract

The Menurae at present inhabit cool wet forests and both lyrebirds and the Rufous Scrub-bird may still be found in temperate rainforest (Nothofagus), in which it is probable that the Menurae originated. The known history of Nothofagus leads to the conclusion that the Menurae are of southern origm and both breeding and vocal behaviour support this. If they are indeed related to the Ptilonorhynchinae (bowerbirds) and Paradisaeinae (birds-of-paradise), it may be that they closely resemble a common ancestral type from which the latter family has diverged so far that this relationship cannot be satisfactorlly establlshed by present taxonomic methods.