The largest study ever of bird genetics has uncovered some surprising facts about the avian evolutionary tree, US researchers said, including many that are bound to ruffle some feathers.

Falcons, for example, are not closely related to hawks and eagles, despite many similarities, while colourful hummingbirds, which flit around in the day, evolved from a drab-looking nocturnal bird called a nightjar.

And parrots and songbirds are closer cousins than once thought.

The findings challenge many assumptions about bird family relationships and suggest many biology textbooks and bird-watchers' field guides may need to be changed.

"One of the lessons we've learned is appearances seem to be very deceiving," said Sushma Reddy of Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, whose study appears in the journal Science.

For the study, Ms Reddy and colleagues studied the genetic sequences of 169 bird species in an effort to sort out family relationships in the bird family tree.

Swiss riveted by triple murder trial

A Swiss man who stood to inherit real estate worth 80 million Swiss francs ($78 million) was convicted yesterday of killing three women, including his adoptive mother and sister, and sentenced to life in prison.

The sordid family drama in the posh lakeside town of Vevey, which reads like an Agatha Christie mystery, has gripped sedate western Switzerland.

After a week-long trial, the jury of a Vevey criminal court found the 44-year-old man guilty of triple murder, the Swiss news agency ATS said. He was identified only as François L. under a Swiss convention whereby the last names of defendants and victims are not published.

Their battered bodies were found at the bottom of steep cellar stairs in the family home on January 4, 2006. Ruth L. was clutching a tuft of hair from her daughter Marie-Jose, a 60-year-old doctor missing ever since and presumed dead.

Teacher forces change in ethics

A Chinese high school teacher who controversially fled a classroom before his students during last month's devastating earthquake has compelled China to amend laws governing teacher-student ethics.

Fan Meizhong, a literature teacher at a private high school in quake-ravaged Dujiangyan in southwest Sichuan province, was branded "Running Fan" by local media and internet users and later sacked after he defended his cowardice in a lengthy online essay.

"At such a life-or-death moment, I would only consider sacrificing my life for my daughter. I would not do it for anyone else, even my mother," Fan wrote on a popular online portal.

Treasury chief goes for wombats

Australia's top treasury official is taking five weeks leave to nurse endangered wombats, prompting the government to defend him yesterday against accusations he had abandoned his post during economic turmoil.

Treasury Secretary Ken Henry, a key economic advisor to the centre-left Labour government and a passionate animal conservationist, will miss a central bank meeting as he looks after 115 critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombats in northern Queensland state, his office told Reuters.

Body parts ring gets 18-54 years

A New Jersey dentist behind a scheme to steal body parts from corpses, including that of British journalist Alistair Cooke, was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years and a maximum of 54 years in prison yesterday.

Michael Mastromarino, 44, in March admitted to leading a $4.6 million operation that stole body parts from funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Earlier this month he spoke to relatives of the dead in court and apologised for the anguish he caused.

The ring dismembered more than 1,000 cadavers in unsanitary conditions, and sold parts to doctors who transplanted them into patients.

Mr Mastromarino had pleaded guilty to body stealing, reckless endangerment and enterprise corruption.