All about the rainbow lorikeet:
Phylogenetic Tree- It's all relative!
This bird phylogenetic tree shown below is based on morphological traits, but there are still many uncertainties associated with the bird phylogenetic tree. The main reason for this is because there is still a lot of disagreement as to whether the birds are a subclass of the reptiles or if they make up a class of their own. In the information shown, the birds are in a class of their own. The rainbow lorikeet falls under the parrot order.
Here are some links to previous students' web pages whose organisms are related to the rainbow lorikeet. Feel free to browse these websites as well!
1. The passenger pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius
2. The greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber
3. The emperor penguin, Aptenodytes forsteri
Another problem with the bird phylogenetic tree is that once they are separated down to the individual orders, they are extremely numerous, with multiple families and subfamilies in each order. Shown below is just the specific phylogeny for the rainbow lorikeet. The rainbow lorikeet’s two closest relatives are the ornate lorikeet, Trichoglossus ornatus, and the red-collared lorikeet, Trichoglossus rubritorquis. Another very unique trait about the rainbow lorikeets is the fact that they are divided even further into numerous sub-species. The full classification of the rainbow lorikeet is available on the Classification Information page.
Click here to learn all about where the rainbow lorikeet lives.