ground roller

Ground rollers share the generally crow-like size and build of the true rollers, ranging from {{convert|25|to(-)|49|cm|in|lk=on}} in length,{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author1=Forshaw, J. |author2=Kemp, A.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 147|isbn= 1-85391-186-0}} and also hunt reptiles and large insects. They are more terrestrial than Coracidae species, and this is reflected in their longer legs and shorter, more rounded wings.

They lack the highly colourful appearance of the true rollers, and are duller in appearance, with striped or flecked plumage. They are much more elusive and shy than their relatives, and are normally difficult to find in the Malagasy forests. Often the hooting breeding call is all that betrays their presence.

These birds nest as solitary pairs in holes in the ground which they excavate themselves, unlike the true rollers, which rarely nest in ground holes and even then do not dig their own nests.

The phylogenetic relationship between the six families that make up the order Coraciiformes is shown in the cladogram below.{{ cite journal | last1=Prum | first1=R.O. | author1-link=Richard Prum | last2=Berv | first2=J.S. | last3=Dornburg | first3=A. | last4=Field | first4=D.J. | last5=Townsend | first5=J.P. | last6=Lemmon | first6=E.M. | last7=Lemmon | first7=A.R. | year=2015 | title=A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing | journal=Nature | volume=526 | issue=7574 | pages=569–573 | doi=10.1038/nature15697 | pmid=26444237 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2015Natur.526..569P }}{{Cite journal | last1=Kuhl | first1=H. | last2=Frankl-Vilches | first2=C. | last3=Bakker | first3=A. | last4=Mayr | first4=G. | last5=Nikolaus | first5=G. | last6=Boerno | first6=S.T. | last7=Klages | first7=S. | last8=Timmermann | first8=B. | last9=Gahr | first9=M. | date=2021 | title=An unbiased molecular approach using 3′-UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life | journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution | volume=38 | issue=1 | pages=108–127 | doi=10.1093/molbev/msaa191 | doi-access=free | hdl=21.11116/0000-0007-B72A-C | hdl-access=free }}{{ cite journal | last1=Stiller | first1=J. | display-authors=etal | year=2024 | title=Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes | journal=Nature | volume=629 | issue= 8013| pages=851–860 | doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07323-1 | doi-access=free | pmid=38560995 | pmc=11111414 | bibcode=2024Natur.629..851S }} The number of species in each family is taken from the list maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=December 2023 | title=IOC World Bird List Version 14.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 June 2024 }}

{{Clade | style=font-size:100%;line-height:100%

|label1=Coraciiformes

|1={{clade

|1={{clade

|1=Meropidae – bee-eaters (31 species)

|2={{clade

|1=Brachypteraciidae – ground rollers (5 extant species)

|2=Coraciidae – rollers (13 species)

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Todidae – todies (5 species)

|2={{clade

|1=Momotidae – motmots (14 species)

|2=Alcedinidae – kingfishers (118 species)

}}

}}

}}

}}

mtDNA analyses confirmed the systematics of this group but indicated that merging Geobiastes into Brachypteracias, as was usually done since the 1960s, should be reversed at least until a more comprehensive review (e.g. supported by fossils) is possible (Kirchman et al., 2001). Also, 2000-year-old subfossil remains of ground rollers are known from the Holocene of Ampoza (Goodman, 2000); Eocene remains from Europe at first tentatively assigned to this family were later recognized as quite distinct (Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2000). Presently, there is no indication that ground rollers ever occurred anywhere outside Madagascar (Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2001).

There are five extant species in four genera in the family Brachypteraciidae:

class="wikitable"
Image	Genus	Living species
175px	Brachypteracias {{small|Lafresnaye, 1834}}	* Short-legged ground roller, Brachypteracias leptosomus
175px	Geobiastes {{small|Sharpe, 1871}}	* Scaly ground roller, Geobiastes squamiger
175px	Uratelornis {{small|Rothschild, 1895}}	* Long-tailed ground roller, Uratelornis chimaera
175px	Atelornis {{small|Pucheran, 1846}}	* Pitta-like ground roller, Atelornis pittoides Rufous-headed ground roller, Atelornis crossleyi

An extinct species, the Ampoza ground roller (Brachypteracias langrandi), of presumed Holocene age, was described in 2000 based on a single humerus.{{Cite journal | last=Goodman | first=Steven M. | date=2000 | title=A description of a new species of Brachypteracias (Family Brachypteraciidae) from the Holocene of Madagascar | journal=Ostrich | volume=71 | issue=1–2 | pages=318–322 | doi=10.1080/00306525.2000.9639941 | bibcode=2000Ostri..71..318G }}

{{Reflist}}

• Kirchman, Jeremy J.; Hackett, Shannon J.; Goodman, Steven M. & Bates, John M. (2001): Phylogeny and systematics of ground rollers (Brachypteraciidae) of Madagascar, Auk 118(4): 849–863. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118[0849:PASOGR]2.0.CO;2 [http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1642%2F0004-8038%282001%29118%5B0849%3APASOGR%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]
• Mayr, Gerald & Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile (2000): Rollers (Aves: Coraciiformes. s.s.) from the Middle Eocene of Messel (Germany) and the Upper Eocene of the Quercy (France). J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 20(3): 533–546. DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0533:RACSSF]2.0.CO;2 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110610114612/http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/ornithologie/rollers.pdf PDF fulltext]
• Mayr, Gerald & Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile (2003): Phylogeny and fossil record of the Brachypteraciidae: A comment on Kirchman et al. (2001). Auk 120(1): 202–203. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0202:PAFROT]2.0.CO;2 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110610113233/http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/ornithologie/brachypteraciidae.pdf PDF fulltext]
• Goodman, S.M. (2000). A description of a new species of Brachypteracias (Family Brachypteraciidae) from the Holocene of Madagascar. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2):p 318–322

• [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/ground-rollers-brachypteraciidae Ground roller videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
• [http://montereybay.com/creagrus/ground-rollers.html Don Roberson's Bird Families of the World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205143735/http://montereybay.com/creagrus/ground-rollers.html |date=2009-02-05 }}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q539783}}

Category:Coraciiformes

Category:Endemic birds of Madagascar

Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte