The order Charadriiformes is conservatively divided into three suborders. However, some authors treat Scolopacidae, Turnicidae and the clade comprising Chionidae, Pluvianellidae, and Burhinidae as separate suborders Scolopaci, Turnici, and Chionidi, respectively.

Family-level timetree of extant Charadriiformes, with the distribution of each family being indicated by the colour-code used throughout this website (see Distribution code). The phylogeny is based on Ericson et al. (2003), Paton et al. (2003), Bridge et al. (2005), Paton & Baker (2006), Fain & Houde, (2007), Baker et al. (2007, 2012), Gibson & Baker (2012), Dos Remedios et al. (2015), Prum et al. (2015), and Kuhl et al. (2021). The position of monotypic Dromadidae is based on Pereira & Baker (2010) and Kuhl et al. (2021). Divergence times follow Kuhl et al. (2021). 

Genus-level timetree of extant Scolopaci, with the distribution of each genus being indicated by the colour-code used throughout this website (see Distribution code). The timetree is based on Paton et al. (2003), Baker et al. (2007), Gibson & Baker (2012), and Hu et al. (2017). 

Genus-level timetree of extant Lari, with the distribution of each genus being indicated by the colour-code used throughout this website (see Distribution code). The timetree is based on Paton et al. (2003), Baker et al. (2007), Pereira & Baker (2008), Hu et al. (2017), and DiGiacomo (2018). 

Genus-level timetree of extant Charadrii, with the distribution of each genus being indicated by the colour-code used throughout this website (see Distribution code). The timetree is based on Paton et al. (2003), Baker et al. (2007), Barth et al. (2013), and Hu et al. (2017). However, the backbone of the timing is based on Prum et al. (2015), whose divergence times are significantly younger than those of the other authors. 

References/Literature

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Baker AJ, and Pereira SL (2009), Shorebirds (Charadriiformes), in "The timetree of life", (Hedges, S.B. & Kumar, S., eds.), Oxford University Press, pp. 432-435. (pdf)

Baker AJ, Yatsenko Y, and Tavares ES (2012), Eight independent nuclear genes support monophyly of the Plovers: the role of mutational variance in gene trees, Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 65, 631-641. (abstract)

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Chen W, Zhang C, Pan T, Liu W, Li K, Hu C, and Chang Q (2018), The mitochondrial genome of the Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae) and phylogenetic analysis of Charadrii, Genes & Genomics 40, 955-963. (abstract)

Chen W, Liu W, Zhang C, Li K, Hu C, and Chang Q (2019), The mitochondrial genome of the red-necked stint Calidris ruficollis (Charadriiformes, Scolopacidae), Conservation Genet. Resour. 11, 181-184. (abstract)

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Ericson PGP, Envall I, Irestedt M, and Norman JA (2003), Inter-familial relationships of the shorebirds (Aves: Charadriiformes) based on nuclear DNA sequence data, BMC Evol. Biol. 3, 16. (pdf)

Fain MG, and Houde P (2007), Multilocus perspectives on the monophyly and phylogeny of the order Charadriiformes, BMC Evol. Biol. 7, 35. (pdf)

Gibson R, and Baker A (2012), Multiple gene sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships in the shorebird suborder Scolopaci (Aves: Charadriiformes), Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 64, 66-72. (abstract) 

Hu C, Zhang C, Sun I, Zhang Y, Xie W, Zhang B, and Chang Q (2017), The mitochondrial genome of the pin-tailed snipe Gallinago stenura, and its implications for the phylogeny of Charadriiformes, PloS ONE 12, e0175244. (pdf)

Jackson DG, Emslie SD, and van Tuinen M (2012), Genome skimming identifies polymorphism in tern populations and species, BMC Research Notes 5, 94. (pdf) 

Kuhl H, Frankl-Vilches C, Bakker A, Mayr G, Nikolaus G, Boerno ST, Klages S, Timmermann B, and Gahr M (2021), An unbiased molecular approach using 3'UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life, Mol. Biol. Evol. 38, 108-127. (pdf)

Liu W, Hu C, Xie W, Chen P, Zhang Y, Yao R, Li K, and Chang Q (2018), The mitochondrial genome of red-necked phalarope Phalaropus lobatus

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Pereira SL, and Baker AJ (2010), The enigmatic monotypic crab plover Dromas ardeola is closely related to pratincoles and coursers (Aves, Charadriiformes, Glareolidae), Genet. Mol. Biol. 33, 583-586. (pdf)

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