Data of phenetic analysis through osteological characters does not relation
Anastomus of any other genus, but it also ensures its monophyly, as observed by the present study, having as synapomorphies the characters 11 (body of the ectethmoid, condition 0, vestigial) and 30 (intercotilaris crest of the mandible, condition 1, inconspicuous) (VERHEYEN, 1959).
In most stork species, males establish themselves on a potential nest site at the start of the breeding season; in Anastomus, Mycteria, and Leptoptilos species the unmated males perform advertising display(s): Display Preening (Mycteria spp.
In species of Mycteria, Anastomus, and Leptoptilos, the approaching female usually performs a display, presumably to appease the male.
asiaticus; (2) the branching sequence among Mycteria species; and (3) relationships among the three clades Mycteria, Leptoptilos, and Anastomus. In addition, maximum-parsimony trees resulting from the analysis with all characters given unit weight differed with respect to relationships among the three Leptoptilos species.
These two displays are common and unique to Anastomus, Leptoptilos, and Mycteria species.
The alternative Mycteria and Anastomus pairing proposed by Kahl (1971a, 1972d) appears in the remaining half of the most-parsimonious trees and is supported by three characters: one component of the Swaying Twig Grasping display (character 13), one component of Copulation Clattering (character 30) and one component of the Up-Down display (character 42).