CERTAIN aspects of the phylogeny of the order Pelecaniformes are obscured by the arrangement of its three living suborders in fi•e standard classifications. The sequence as given by Wetmore (1940) and Peters (1931)is: PHAJ•THONTES (Tropic-birds), PELECANI (Pelicans, Boobies, Cormorants, Snake-birds), and FREGATAE (Frigatebirds). The tropic-birds and œrigate-birds, although widely divergent, show basic structural similarities which indicate both to be primitive members of the order, and which link the order with the Pro-