Galliformes

INFORMATION IS FROM WIKIPEDIA, WILL CHANGE SOON.

**Galliformes** is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkey, grouse, chicken, New World quail and Old World quail, ptarmigan, partridge, pheasant, francolin, junglefowl and the Cracidae. The name derives from "gallus", Latin for "cock" or "rooster". Common names are **gamefowl** or **gamebirds**, **landfowl**, **gallinaceous birds**, or **galliforms**. "Wildfowl" or just "fowl" are also often used for the Galliformes, but usually these terms also refer to waterfowl (Anseriformes), and occasionally to other commonly hunted birds. This group has about 290 species, one or more of which are found in essentially every part of the world's continents (except for the innermost deserts and perpetual ice). They are rarer on islands, and in contrast to the closely related waterfowl, are essentially absent from oceanic islands—unless introduced there by humans. Several species have been domesticated during their long and extensive relationships with humans.

This order contains five families: Phasianidae (including chicken, quail, partridges, pheasants, turkeys, peafowl and grouse), Odontophoridae (New World quails), Numididae (guineafowl), Cracidae (including chachalacas and curassows), and Megapodiidae (incubator birds like malleefowl and brush-turkeys). They are important as seed dispersers and predators in the ecosystems they inhabit, and are often reared as game birds by humans for their meat and eggs and for recreational hunting. Many gallinaceous species are skilled runners and escape predators by running rather than flying. Males of most species are more colorful than the females. Males often have elaborate courtship behaviors that include strutting, fluffing of tail or head feathers, and vocal sounds. They are mainly nonmigratory.

## Contents

* 1Systematics and evolution
	+ 1.1Evolution
	+ 1.2List of major taxa
* 2Phylogeny
* 3Description
* 4Flightlessness
* 5Behaviour and ecology
	+ 5.1Winter ecology
	+ 5.2Food and feeding
	+ 5.3Reproduction
* 6Common species
* 7References
* 8Further reading
* 9External links

## Systematics and evolution[edit]

Despite its distinct appearance, the wild turkey is actually a very close relative of pheasants
The living Galliformes were once divided into seven or more families. Despite their distinctive appearance, grouse and turkeys probably do not warrant separation as families due to their recent origin from partridge- or pheasant-like birds. The turkeys became larger after their ancestors colonized temperate and subtropical North America, where pheasant-sized competitors were absent. The ancestors of grouse, though, adapted to harsh climates and could thereby colonize subarctic regions. Consequently, the Phasianidae are expanded in current taxonomy to include the former Tetraonidae and Meleagrididae as subfamilies.

The Anseriformes (waterfowl) and the Galliformes together make up the Galloanserae. They are basal among the living neognathous birds, and normally follow the Paleognathae (ratites and tinamous) in modern bird classification systems. This was first proposed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy and has been the one major change of that proposed scheme that was almost universally adopted. However, the Galliformes as they were traditionally delimited are called **Gallomorphae** in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, which splits the Cracidae and Megapodiidae as an order "**Craciformes**". This is not a natural group, however, but rather an erroneous result of the now-obsolete phenetic methodology employed in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. Phenetic studies do not distinguish between plesiomorphic and apomorphic characters, which leads to basal lineages appearing as monophyletic groups.

Historically, the buttonquails (Turnicidae), mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the hoatzin (*Opisthocomus hoazin*) were placed in the Galliformes, too. The former are now known to be shorebirds adapted to an inland lifestyle, whereas the mesites are probably closely related to pigeons and doves. The relationships of the hoatzin are entirely obscure, and it is usually treated as a monotypic order Opisthocomiformes to signify this.

The fossil record for the Galliformes are incomplete.

### Evolution[edit]

Galliform-like birds were one of the main survivors of the K-T Event that killed off the rest of the dinosaurs. The dominant birds of the era were the enantiornithes, which had teeth and dominated the trees and skies, whereas the galliformes were a niche group that were toothless and ground-dwelling. When the asteroid impact killed off all non-avian dinosaurs, and the dominant birds, it destroyed all creatures that lived in trees and on open ground. The enantiornithes were wiped out, but the ancestors of galliformes were small and lived in the ground or water which protected them from the blast and destruction.

Fossils of these galliform-like birds originate in the Late Cretaceous, most notably those of *Austinornis lentus*. Its partial left tarsometatarsus was found in the Austin Chalk near Fort McKinney, Texas, dating to about 85 million years ago (Mya). This bird was quite certainly closely related to Galliformes, but whether it was a part of these or belongs elsewhere in the little-known galliform branch of Galloanserae is not clear. However, in 2004, Clarke classified it as a member of the larger group Pangalliformes, more closely related to chickens than to ducks, but not a member of the crown group that includes all modern galliformes. Another specimen, PVPH 237, from the Late Cretaceous Portezuelo Formation (Turonian-Coniacian, about 90 Mya) in the Sierra de Portezuelo (Argentina) has also been suggested to be an early galliform relative. This is a partial coracoid of a neornithine bird, which in its general shape and particularly the wide and deep attachment for the muscle joining the coracoid and the humerus bone resembles the more basal lineages of galliforms.

Additional galliform-like pangalliformes are represented by extinct families from the Paleogene, namely the Gallinuloididae, Paraortygidae and Quercymegapodiidae. In the early Cenozoic, some additional birds may or may not be early Galliformes, though even if they are, they are unlikely to belong to extant families:

* †*Argillipes* (London Clay Early Eocene of England)
* †*Coturnipes* (Early Eocene of England, and Virginia, USA?)
* †*Paleophasianus* (Willwood Early Eocene of Bighorn County, USA)
* †*Percolinus* (London Clay Early Eocene of England)
* †*Amitabha* (Bridger middle Eocene of Forbidden City, USA) – phasianid?
* †*"Palaeorallus" alienus* (middle Oligocene of Tatal-Gol, Mongolia)
* †*Anisolornis* (Santa Cruz Middle Miocene of Karaihen, Argentina)

From the mid-Eocene onwards – about 45 Mya or so, true galliforms are known, and these completely replace their older relatives in the early Neogene. Since the earliest representatives of living galliform families apparently belong to the Phasianidae – the youngest family of galliforms, the other families of Galliformes must be at least of Early Eocene origin but might even be as old as the Late Cretaceous. The ichnotaxon *Tristraguloolithus cracioides* is based on fossil eggshell fragments from the Late Cretaceous Oldman Formation of southern Alberta, Canada, which are similar to chachalaca eggs, but in the absence of bone material, their relationships cannot be determined except that they are apparently avian in origin.

Modern genera of phasianids start appearing around the Oligo-/Miocene boundary, roughly 25–20 Mya. It is not well known whether the living genera of the other, older, galliform families originated around the same time or earlier, though at least in the New World quails, pre-Neogene forms seem to belong to genera that became entirely extinct later on.

A number of Paleogene to mid-Neogene fossils are quite certainly Galliformes, but their exact relationships in the order cannot be determined:

* †Galliformes gen. et sp. indet. (Oligocene) – formerly in *Gallinuloides*; phasianid?
* †*Palaealectoris* (Agate Fossil Beds Early Miocene of Sioux County, USA) – tetraonine?

### List of major taxa[edit]

See also: List of Galliformes

For a long time, the pheasants, partridges, and relatives were indiscriminately lumped in the Phasianidae, variously including or excluding turkeys, grouse, New World quails, and guineafowl, and divided into two subfamilies – the Phasianinae (pheasant-like forms) and the Perdicinae (partridge-like forms). This crude arrangement was long considered to be in serious need of revision, but even with modern DNA sequence analyses and cladistic methods, the phylogeny of the Phasianidae has resisted complete resolution.
*Palaeortyx* skeleton, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
A tentative list of the higher-level galliform taxa, listed in evolutionary sequence, is:

* †*Archaeophasianus* Lambrecht 1933 (Oligocene? – Late Miocene)
* †*Argillipes* Harrison & Walker 1977
* †*Austinornis* Clarke 2004 [*Pedioecetes* Baird 1858] (Austin Chalk Late Cretaceous of Fort McKinney, USA)
* †*Chambiortyx* Mourer-Chauviré et al. 2013
* †*Coturnipes* Harrison & Walker 1977
* †*Cyrtonyx tedfordi* (Barstow Late Miocene of Barstow, USA)
* †*Linquornis* Yeh 1980 (middle Miocene)
* †*Namaortyx* Mourer-Chauviré, Pickford & 2011
* †*Palaeorallus alienus* Kuročkin 1968 nomen dubium
* †*Sobniogallus* Tomek et al. 2014
* †*Tristraguloolithus* Zelenitsky, Hills & Curri 1996 [ootaxa- cracid?]
* †*Procrax* Tordoff & Macdonald 1957 (middle Eocene? – Early Oligocene)
* †*Paleophasianus* Wetmore 1940
* †*Taoperdix* Milne-Edwards 1869 (Late Oligocene)
* Family †Paraortygidae Mourer-Chauviré 1992
	+ †*Pirortyx* Brodkorb 1964
	+ †*Scopelortyx* Mourer-Chauviré, Pickford & Senut 2015
	+ †*Paraortyx* Gaillard 1908 sensu Brodkorb 1964
	+ †*Xorazmortyx* Zelenkov & Panteleyev 2019
* Family †Quercymegapodiidae Mourer-Chauviré 1992
	+ †*Taubacrex* de Alvarenga 1988
	+ †*Ameripodius* de Alvarenga 1995
	+ †*Quercymegapodius* Mourer-Chauviré 1992
* Family Megapodiidae – mound-builders and scrubfowl, or megapodes
	+ †*Mwalau* Worthy et al. 2015 (Lini's megapode)
	+ †*Ngawupodius* & Ivison 1999
	+ *Brushturkey group*
		- *Talegalla* Lesson 1828
		- *Leipoa* Gould 1840 [*Progura* de Vis 1889; *Chosornis* de Vis 1889; *Palaeopelargus* de Vis 1892] (Malleefowls)
		- *Alectura* Gray 1831 [*Catheturus* Swainson 1837] (Australian Brushturkeys)
		- *Aepypodius* Oustalet 1880
	+ *Scrubfowl group*
		- *Macrocephalon* Müller 1846 [*Megacephalon* Gray 1846; *Megacephalon* Gray 1844 nomen nudum; *Galeocephala* Mathews 1926] (Maleos)
		- *Eulipoa* Ogilvie-Grant 1893 (Moluccan Megapodes)
		- *Megapodius* Gaimard 1823 non (sic) Mathews 1913 [*Megathelia* Mathews 1914; *Amelous* Gloger 1841]
* Family Cracidae – chachalacas, guans and curassows
	+ †*Archaealectrornis* Crowe & Short 1992 (Oligocene)
	+ †*Boreortalis* Brodkorb 1954
	+ †*Palaeonossax* Wetmore 1956 (Brule Late Oligocene of South Dakota, USA)
	+ Penelopinae Bonaparte 1851 (Guans)
		- *Chamaepetes* Wagler 1832 (black & sickle-winged guan)
		- *Penelopina* Reichenbach 1861 (Highland Guans)
		- *Aburria* Reichenbach 1853 [*Opetioptila* Sundevall 1873; *Pipile* Bonaparte 1856 non *Pipilo* Vieillot 1816; *Cumana* Coues 1900]
		- *Penelope* Merrem 1786 [*Penelopsis* Bonaparte 1856]
	+ Cracinae Rafinesque 1815
		- *Ortalis* Merrem 1786 [*Ganix* Rafinesque 1815] {Ortalidini Donegan 2012} (Chachalacas)
		- *Oreophasis* Gray 1844 {Oreophasini Bonaparte 1853} (Horned Guans)
		- Cracini Rafinesque 1815 (Curassows)
			* *Nothocrax* Burmeister 1856 (Nocturnal Curassows)
			* *Pauxi* Temminck 1813 [*Ourax* Cuvier 1817; *Lophocerus* Swainson 1837 non Hemprich & Ehrenberg 1833; *Urax* Reichenbach 1850]
			* *Mitu* Lesson 1831 (razor-billed curassows)
			* *Crax* Linnaeus 1758
* Suborder Phasiani
	+ Family †Gallinuloididae – tentatively placed here
		- †*Gallinuloides* Eastman 1900 [*Palaeobonasa* Shufeldt 1915]
		- †*Paraortygoides* Mayr 2000
	+ Family Numididae – guineafowl
		- *Guttera* Wagler 1832
		- *Numida* Linnaeus 1764 [*Querelea* Reichenbach 1852] (Helmeted Guineafowls)
		- *Acryllium* Gray 1840 (Vulturine Guineafowls)
		- *Agelastes* Bonaparte 1850
	+ Family Odontophoridae – New World quail
		- †*Miortyx* Miller 1944
		- †*Nanortyx* Weigel 1963
		- †*Neortyx* Holman 1961
		- Ptilopachinae Bowie, Coehn & Crowe 2013
			* *Ptilopachus* Swainson 1837
		- Odontophorinae Gould 1844
			* *Rhynchortyx* Ogilvie-Grant 1893 (Tawny-faced Quails)
			* *Oreortyx* Baird 1858 [*Orortyx* Coues 1882] (Mountain Quails)
			* *Dendrortyx* Gould 1844 (Wood Partridges)
			* *Philortyx* Gould 1846 non Des Murs 1854 (Banded Quails)
			* *Colinus* Goldfuss 1820 [*Eupsychortyx* Gould 1844; *Gnathodon* Streubel [fi] 1842; *Ortygia* Boie 1826; *Philortyx* Des Murs 1854 non Gould 1846] (Bobwhites)
			* *Callipepla* Wagler 1832 [*Lophortyx* Bonaparte 1838] ()
			* *Cyrtonyx* Gould 1844 ()
			* *Dactylortyx* Ogilvie-Grant 1893 (Singing Quails)
			* *Odontophorus* Vieillot 1816 [*Dentophorus* Boie 1828] (Wood Quails)
	+ Family Phasianidae – pheasants, partridges and relatives
		- †*Alectoris” pliocaena* Tugarinov 1940b
		- †*Bantamyx* Kuročkin 1982
		- †*Diangallus* Hou 1985
		- †*“Gallus” beremendensis* Jánossy 1976b
		- †*“Gallus” europaeus* Harrison 1978
		- †*Lophogallus* Zelenkov & Kuročkin 2010
		- †*Megalocoturnix* Sánchez Marco 2009
		- †*Miophasianus* Brodkorb 1952 [*Miophasianus* Lambrecht 1933 nomen nudum ; *Miogallus* Lambrecht 1933 ]
		- †*Palaeocryptonyx* Depéret 1892 [*Chauvireria* Boev 1997; *Pliogallus* Tugarinov 1940b non Gaillard 1939; *Lambrechtia* Janossy 1974 ]
		- †*Palaeortyx* Milne-Edwards 1869 [*Palaeoperdix* Milne-Edwards 1869]
		- †*Plioperdix* Kretzoi 1955 [*Pliogallus* Tugarinov 1940 nec Gaillard 1939]
		- †*Rustaviornis* Burchak-Abramovich & Meladze 1972
		- †*Schaubortyx* Brodkorb 1964
		- †*Shandongornis* Yeh 1997
		- †*Shanxiornis* Wang et al. 2006
		- †*Tologuica* Zelenkov & Kuročkin 2009
		- Subfamily Meleagridinae
			* *Meleagris*
			* †*Proagriocharis* Zelenkov Martin & Tate 1970
			* †*Rhegminornis* Zelenkov Wetmore 1943
		- Subfamily Perdicinae Horsfield 1821
		- Subfamily Phasianinae – true pheasants
		- Subfamily Tetraoninae – grouse