Japanese quail
The common quail was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae" under the binomial name "Tetrao coturnix". The specific epithet "coturnix" is the Latin word for the common quail. This species is now placed in the genus "Coturnix" that was introduced in 1764 by the French naturalist François Alexandre Pierre de Garsault. The common quail was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Japanese quail ("Coturnix japonica"). The ranges of the two species meet in Mongolia and near Lake Baikal without apparent interbreeding and in captivity the offspring of crosses show reduced fertility. The Japanese quail is therefore now treated as a separate species.