Fowl

Fowl are birds belonging to one of two biological orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl (Galliformes) and the waterfowl (Anseriformes). It happens that birds in these groups are good to eat, and often hunted by gun. So the word 'fowl' may be used for a game bird. The group is mostly of birds we hunt or farm, and which we eat. Studies of anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups are close evolutionary relatives. Together, they form the fowl clade, the Galloanserae.Sibley C, Ahlquist J. & Monroe B. 1988. A classification of the living birds of the world based on DNA-DNA hybridization studies. Auk 105: 409-423. This clade is also supported by morphological and DNA sequence data,Chubb A. 2004. New nuclear evidence for the oldest divergence among neognath birds: the phylogenetic utility of ZENK(i). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30: 140-151 as well as retrotransposon data.Kriegs et al. 2007. Waves of genomic hitchhikers shed light on the evolution of gamebirds (Aves: Galliformes). BMC Evolutionary Biology 7: 190 (Fulltext). 

The name fowl is Germanic, and means simply "bird". It has several cognates in other Germanic languages, such as German Vogel and Swedish fågel.

 References 

Category:Birds
Category:Basic English 850 words