 They were even used to argue for a close relationship between these two groups – and indeed, the pelicans and tubenoses, as well as for example the other "Pelecaniformes" (cormorants and allies) which are preferably separated as Phalacrocoraciformes nowadays, the Ciconiiformes (storks and/or either herons and ibises or the "core" Pelecaniformes) and Gaviiformes (loons/divers) seem to make up a radiation, possibly a clade, of "higher waterbirds".However, the Pelagornithidae are not generally held to be a missing link between pelicans and albatrosses anymore, but if anything much closer to the former and only convergent to the latter in ecomorphology.In 2005, a cladistic analysis proposed a close relationship between pseudotooth birds and waterfowl (Anseriformes).