The hummingbirds were formerly divided into two subfamilies, the hermits (
Phaethornithinae) and the nonhermits (Trochilinae). The results from a 2007
DNA hybridization study suggested that the hermits were basal to the rest of the family. A
molecular phylogenetic study of the hummingbirds published in 2007 found that the family consisted of nine
clades. When
Edward Dickinson and
James Van Remsen Jr. updated the
Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World for the 4th edition in 2013, they divided the hummingbird family into six
subfamilies based on the molecular results and redefined the subfamily Trochilinae to contain three clades, each of which they placed in a separate
tribe:
Lampornithini (mountain gems),
Mellisugini (bees) and
Trochilini (emeralds). A comprehensive phylogenetic study that sampled 284 hummingbird species was published in 2014. It confirmed the nine clades found in the earlier study but found that the hermits were
sister to the topazes clade (subfamily
Florisuginae) containing the genera
Topaza and
Florisuga. Many of the traditional genera in the emerald clade (Trochilini) were shown to be
polyphyletic. }} The above
cladogram of the hummingbird family is based on a
molecular phylogenetic study by Jimmy McGuire and collaborators published in 2014. The Latin names are those proposed by Dickinson and Remsen in 2013. ==References==