mesite

The mesites are forest and scrubland birds that feed on insects and seeds; brown and white-breasted mesites forage on the ground, gleaning insects from underneath leaves as well as low vegetation. The subdesert mesite uses its long bill to probe in the soil. Other birds, such as drongos and flycatchers, will follow mesites to catch any insects they flush out or miss. Mesites are vocal birds, with calls similar to that of a passerine's song, which are used for territorial defence. Two or three white eggs are laid in a stick-built nest located in a bush or on a low branch.{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Archibald, George W.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 100–101|isbn= 978-1-85391-186-6}} The Mesitornis species are monogamous{{Cite journal|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4|doi = 10.1007/s00265-013-1624-4|title = Delayed juvenile dispersal and monogamy, but no cooperative breeding in white-breasted mesites (Mesitornis variegatus)|year = 2014|last1 = Gamero|first1 = Anna|last2 = Székely|first2 = Tamás|last3 = Kappeler|first3 = Peter M.|journal = Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|volume = 68|pages = 73–83|s2cid = 17145658|url-access = subscription}} while Monias benschi is polygamous and, unlike the other two, shows significant sexual dichromatism.

There are two genera, Mesitornis (2 species) and Monias (subdesert mesite).IOC World Bird List v6.3 [http://www.worldbirdnames.org/]. {{cite web | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/IOC_Names_File_Plus-6.3.xlsx | title=IOC Names File Plus 6.3 | access-date=30 August 2016}}{{cite journal | website=Collection of genus-group names in a systematic arrangement | title=Part 7- Vertebrates | url=http://mave.tweakdsl.nl/tn/genera7.html | display-authors=etal | access-date=30 June 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005114629/http://mave.tweakdsl.nl/tn/genera7.html | archive-date=5 October 2016 | url-status=dead }}

Historically, mesites' phylogenetic relationships were not very clear; they have been allied (claded) with the Gruiformes,{{Cite book|last=Sibley |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Sibley |author2=Jon Edward Ahlquist |year=1990 |title=Phylogeny and classification of birds |location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0-300-04085-7|author2-link=Jon Edward Ahlquist }} Turniciformes{{Cite journal |date=January 2007 | title=Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy. II. Analysis and discussion | journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume=149 | issue=1 | pages=1–95 | doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00293.x | pmid=18784798 | last1=Livezey | first1=Bradley C. | last2=Zusi | first2=RL | pmc=2517308}} and Columbiformes.{{cite journal | url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1157704 | doi=10.1126/science.1157704 | title=A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History | year=2008 | last1=Hackett | first1=Shannon J. | last2=Kimball | first2=Rebecca T. | last3=Reddy | first3=Sushma | last4=Bowie | first4=Rauri C. K. | last5=Braun | first5=Edward L. | last6=Braun | first6=Michael J. | last7=Chojnowski | first7=Jena L. | last8=Cox | first8=W. Andrew | last9=Han | first9=Kin-Lan | last10=Harshman | first10=John | last11=Huddleston | first11=Christopher J. | last12=Marks | first12=Ben D. | last13=Miglia | first13=Kathleen J. | last14=Moore | first14=William S. | last15=Sheldon | first15=Frederick H. | last16=Steadman | first16=David W. | last17=Witt | first17=Christopher C. | last18=Yuri | first18=Tamaki | journal=Science | volume=320 | issue=5884 | pages=1763–1768 | pmid=18583609 | bibcode=2008Sci...320.1763H | s2cid=6472805 | url-access=subscription }}

Some phylogenomic studies support Pterocliformes (sandgrouse) as the sister group of mesites{{cite journal |author1=Fain, Matthew G. |author2=Houde, Peter |year=2004 |title=Parallel radiations in the primary clades of birds |journal=Evolution |volume=58 |issue=11 |pages=2558–2573 |doi=10.1554/04-235 |pmid=15612298 |s2cid=1296408 }}{{cite journal | last1 = Yuri | first1 = T.| year = 2013 | title = Parsimony and Model-Based Analyses of Indels in Avian Nuclear Genes Reveal Congruent and Incongruent Phylogenetic Signals | journal = Biology | volume = 2 | issue = 1| pages = 419–444 | doi = 10.3390/biology2010419 |display-authors=etal | pmid=24832669 | pmc=4009869| doi-access = free}} while others place this clade with another clade constituted of Columbiformes and Cuculiformes (cuckoos).H Kuhl, C Frankl-Vilches, A Bakker, G Mayr, G Nikolaus, S T Boerno, S Klages, B Timmermann, M Gahr (2020) [https://academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-article/doi/10.1093/molbev/msaa191/5891114 An unbiased molecular approach using 3’UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life]. Molecular Biology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa191

{{Cladogram

|caption=Phylogenetic relationship of the mesites within Neoaves according to Stiller and colleagues (2024).{{cite journal |last1=Stiller |first1=J. |last2=Feng |first2=S. |last3=Chowdhury |first3=A-A. |display-authors=etal |title=Complexity of avian evolution revealed by family-level genomes |journal=Nature |year=2024 |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 }}

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|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:80%;width:420px;

|1={{clade

|1=Columbiformes (pigeons)

|2={{clade

|1=Pterocliformes (sandgrouses)

|2=Mesitornithiformes (mesites)

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{{Birds}}

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Category:Taxa named by Alexander Wetmore

Category:Endemic birds of Madagascar