Includes bibliographical references.

Review of Gadow's characters

Life history and behavior

Plumage

Comparative osteology

Skull

Mandible

Sternum

Coracoid

Scapula

Furcula

Humerus

Ulna

Radius

Carpometacarpus

Pelvis

Femur

Tibiotarsus

Tarsometatarsus

Osteological Diagnoses

Order charadriiformes

Family pedionomidae

"Since 1893, the Australian Plains-wanderer, Pedionomus torquatus, has been placed in a monotypic family and has been thought to be related to the button quails, Turnicidae, presently included in the order Gruiformes. Our examination of the osteology of Pedionomus shows that this bird is a typical member of the Charadriiformes and has no significant characters in common with the Turnicidae. The evidence used previously by Gadow (1891) to classify Pedionomus is better explained by a charadriiform origin for the genus. The diastataxic condition of the secondaries, the thigh muscle formula, the condition of the carotid arteries, the presence of the hallux, and the pyriform shape of the eggs are among the known nonosteological characters of Pedionomus that differ from the Turnicidae and that corroborate its placement in the Charadriiformes. Within the Charadriiformes, Pedionomus shares the most similarities with the South American seedsnipes of the family Thinocoridae, the next most similar group being the coursers of the family Glareolidae. Pedionomus tends to bridge the gap between the aberrant seedsnipes and the more typical Charadriiformes, although it is sufficiently distinct to merit its own family. In any sequential listing, the Pedionomidae should be placed in the order Charadriiformes, immediately preceding the Thinocoridae."