Editing Lyrebird (section)

=== Systematics ===
Lyrebirds were thought to be [[Galliformes]] like the broadly similar looking [[partridge]], [[junglefowl]], and [[pheasant]]s familiar to Europeans, reflected in the early names given to the superb lyrebird, including native pheasant. They were also called peacock-wrens and Australian birds-of-paradise. The idea that they were related to the pheasants was abandoned when the first chicks, which are [[altricial]], were described. They were not classed with the passerines until a paper was published in 1840, twelve years after they were assigned a discrete family, Menuridae. Within that family they compose a single genus, ''Menura''.<ref name = "HBW">{{Citation | first = Alan | last = Lill | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-first = David | editor3-last = Christie | contribution = Family Menuridae (Lyrebirds) | title = Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9, Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails | year = 2004 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/484 484–495] | place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn = 84-87334-69-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/484 }}</ref>

It is generally accepted that the lyrebird family is most closely related to the [[scrubland|scrub]]-birds ([[Atrichornithidae]]) and some authorities combine both in a single family, but evidence that they are also related to the [[bowerbird]]s remains controversial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Christidis |first1=L. |last2=Norman |first2=J.A. |year=1996 |title=Molecular Perspectives on the Phylogenetic Affinities of Lyrebirds (Menuridae) and Treecreepers (Climacteridae) |journal=Australian Journal of Zoology |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=215–222 |doi=10.1071/zo9960215}}</ref>

Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals: the [[Australian Museum]] has fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Dec02/2810.html |title=Lyrebird: Overview |author=Boles, Walter |year=2011 |publisher=Pulse of the Planet |access-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> The prehistoric ''[[Menura tyawanoides]]'' has been described from Early [[Miocene]] [[fossil]]s found at the famous [[Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)|Riversleigh]] site.<ref name="Boles fossil">{{cite journal |last=Boles |first=Walter E. |title=A preliminary analysis of the Passeriformes from Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia, with the description of a new species of Lyrebird |journal=Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg |year=1995 |volume=181 |pages=163–170 |url=http://www.create.unsw.edu.au/research/files/Boles%20(1995)%20A%20preliminary%20analysis%20of%20the%20Passeriformes%20fro.PDF}}</ref>