The Araucana ( es, Gallina Mapuche, italic=no) is a

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of domestic

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. Its name derives from the Araucanía region of Chile where it is believed to have originated. It lays blue-shelled eggs, one of very few breeds that do so.

Breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...

s for the Araucana vary from country to country. It may have unusual tufts of feathers on the ears, and may be

rumpless Rumpless is a term used for the mutation which causes the tail of an animal to be absent. Usage and examples can be found in Manx cats, Manx Rumpy, Belgian d'Everberg and Araucana The Araucana ( es, Gallina Mapuche, italic=no) is a breed of dom ...

, without a tail and tail-bone; in the United States it may for this reason be known as the South American Rumpless. Both ear-tufts and rumplessness are caused by lethal genes, so not all birds display these traits. The

Ameraucana The Ameraucana is an American breed of domestic chicken. It was developed in the United States in the 1970s, and derives from Araucana chickens brought from Chile. It was bred to retain the blue-egg gene but eliminate the lethal alleles of the ...

breed and "

Easter egger In American usage, an Easter egger or Easter-egger is any hybrid or mixed-breed chicken resulting from breeding of a bird carrying the blue-egg (oocyan) gene with one that lays brown eggs. Eggs from such a bird may be any shade of blue or brown, ...

" hybrids of the United States, which also lay blue or green eggs, both derive from the Araucana.

History

The early history of the Araucana is not documented. The birds were commonly seen in South America in the early twentieth century. The Spanish

aviculturist Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Types There are various reasons that people get involved in aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a species. Some people breed parrots a ...

Salvador Castelló, who visited Chile in 1914, saw them and named them "Gallina Araucana", as many were found among the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

people of the Araucanía region of Chile, whom the Spanish called ''Araucanos''. Castelló believed the birds to belong to a new species, and reported his observations at the First World's Poultry Congress in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in 1921. The

systematic name A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection. Systematic names are usually part of a nomenclature. A semisystematic name or semitrivial ...

''Gallus inauris'' was proposed for them, and adopted at the Second World's Poultry Congress in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in 1924. It was later established that the Araucana belongs to the same species as other domestic chickens, ''Gallus gallus domesticus''. The blue egg of the Araucana was at this time thought to be unique among chickens. In 1933

Reginald Punnett Reginald Crundall Punnett FRS (; 20 June 1875 – 3 January 1967) was a British geneticist who co-founded, with William Bateson, the ''Journal of Genetics'' in 1910. Punnett is probably best remembered today as the creator of the Punnet ...

showed that the blue egg ("oocyan") gene in chickens is dominant with respect to white, while in combination with genes for brown eggs, various shades of green and olive are produced. In modern times, the

breed, a derivative of the Araucana, also lays blue eggs, while hybrid birds carrying the dominant oocyan gene may in the United States be called "

s". Several theories have been advanced to explain the origin of the blue egg characteristic. It has been variously attributed to

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

isation with '' Tinamus solitarius'', a species of

tinamou Tinamous () form an order of birds called Tinamiformes (), comprising a single family called Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" come ...

(dismissed as "erroneous" by

Helmut Sick Helmut Sick (10 January 1910 – 5 March 1991) was a German-Brazilian ornithologist. Sick was born in Leipzig, Germany. He emigrated to Brazil in 1939. A prominent ornithologist in Brazil, Sick published more than 200 papers, including his most ...

); to

genetic mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitos ...

; and to the action of a

retrovirus A retrovirus is a type of virus that inserts a DNA copy of its RNA genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades, thus changing the genome of that cell. Once inside the host cell's cytoplasm, the virus uses its own reverse transcriptase ...

soon after the domestication of the chicken. Blue Araucana eggs were taken to Australia from New Zealand in the 1930s. The breed was standardised in the 1980s. Blue-egg chickens from South America were introduced to the British Isles at various times in the early twentieth century. The modern British-type Araucana derives from birds from a Chilean ship that was wrecked in the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

. The British Araucana was developed mainly by George Malcolm in Scotland in the 1930s.. He introduced the

Lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

plumage variety, and bred the bantam Araucana in the 1940s. The British-type Araucana was standardised in 1969 or 1974. In the United States, two breeds were established: the Araucana, which has ear-tufts and is

, was standardised in 1976: the

, which is bearded, muffed and tailed (and thus similar to the tailed British type), was added to the

Standard of Perfection The ''American Standard of Perfection'' is the official breed standard for the poultry fancy in North America. First published in 1874 by the American Poultry Association, the ''Standard of Perfection'' (commonly referred to as "the ''Standard''" ...

in 1984. There has been a long and inconclusive debate about the origin of the Araucana and whether it derives from chickens brought by Europeans after Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, or if it was already present. A report published in 2007 on chicken bones found on the

Arauco Peninsula The Arauco Peninsula (Spanish: península de Arauco), is a peninsula in Southern Chile located in the homonymous Arauco Province. It projects northwest into the Pacific Ocean. The peninsula is located west of Cordillera de Nahuelbuta. Geologicall ...

in south-central Chile suggested pre-Columbian, possibly

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n, origin. A report published in 2008 found no evidence of pre-Columbian introduction from Polynesia. The world-wide conservation status of the Araucana is "not at risk"; population data for Chile is not reported.

Characteristics

There are both full-sized and bantam Araucanas. They may be either normally tailed or rumpless. The Araucana has a

pea comb A comb is a fleshy growth or crest on the top of the head of some gallinaceous birds, such as domestic chickens. The alternative name cockscomb (with several spelling variations) reflects the fact that combs are generally larger on cock birds t ...

and lays approximately 250 blue or green eggs per year. In Australia, only the tailed Araucana is recognised in the

Australian Poultry Standards The ''Australian Poultry Standards'' is the official breed standard for poultry fancy in Australia. It is the standard of perfection from which all poultry in Australia is supposed to be judged when exhibited at poultry shows. It is published b ...

; both tailed and rumpless may be exhibited. The British standard accepts both tailed and rumpless; they may be treated as separate breeds. The British type of Araucana has a beard and muffs which conceal the earlobes. In North America, Araucanas have long ear-tufts and are rumpless. As both ear-tufts and rumplessness are caused by

autosomal dominant In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...

lethal allele Lethal alleles (also referred to as lethal genes or lethals) are alleles that cause the death of the organism that carries them. They are usually a result of mutations in genes that are essential for growth or development. Lethal alleles may be rec ...

s, not all of the birds can display these traits. A total of twenty plumage varieties are listed for the Araucana by the

Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture Entente, meaning a diplomatic "understanding", may refer to a number of agreements: History * Entente (alliance), a type of treaty or military alliance where the signatories promise to consult each other or to cooperate with each other in case o ...

. Of these, five are recognised by the

American Poultry Association The American Poultry Association (APA) is the oldest poultry organization in the North America. It was founded in 1873, and incorporated in Indiana in 1932. The first American poultry show was held in 1849, and the APA was later formed in respo ...

for large fowl: black, black breasted red, silver duckwing, golden duckwing, and white; for bantams, buff is added to these. The Australian Poultry Standard recognises black, cuckoo, lavender, splash, white and any colour which is standard in

Old English Game The Old English Game is a British breed of domestic chicken. It was probably originally bred for cockfighting. Two different standards are recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain: Carlisle Old English Game and Oxford Old English Gam ...

. The

Poultry Club of Great Britain The Poultry Club of Great Britain is a registered charity founded in 1877. Its stated purpose is to "safeguard the interests of all pure and traditional breeds of poultry including chickens, bantams, ducks, geese and turkeys". The club maint ...

recognises twelve colours: black, black-red, blue, blue-red, crele, cuckoo, golden duckwing,

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

, pile, silver duckwing, spangled, and white.

References

{{Reflist, 45em, refs= APA Recognized Breeds and Varieties: As of January 1, 2012
American Poultry Association. Archived 4 November 2017. Australian Poultry Standards, 2nd Edition 2012 Barbara Rischkowsky, D. Pilling (eds.) (2007). [ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1250e/a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9789251057629. Accessed June 2014. The Breed Standard
British Araucana Club. Archived 6 February 2013. History
The British Araucana Club. Archived 10 July 2016. Transboundary breed: Araucana
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2016. Araucana/Chile
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2016. Araucana Spitzhauben/United Kingdom
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2016. Araucana (Rumpless)/United Kingdom
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2016. {{cite journal , vauthors=Storey AA, Ramírez JM, Quiroz D , title=Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile , journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. , volume=104 , issue=25 , pages=10335–9 , date=June 2007 , pmid=17556540 , pmc=1965514 , doi=10.1073/pnas.0703993104 , display-authors=etal, bibcode=2007PNAS..10410335S , doi-access=free {{cite journal , vauthors=Gongora J, Rawlence NJ, Mobegi VA , title=Indo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA , journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. , volume=105 , issue=30 , pages=10308–13 , date=July 2008 , pmid=18663216 , pmc=2492461 , doi=10.1073/pnas.0801991105 , display-authors=etal , bibcode=2008PNAS..10510308G, doi-access=free Liste des races et variétés homologuée dans les pays EE (28.04.2013)
Entente Européenne d’Aviculture et de Cuniculture. Archived 16 June 2013. Eugene M. McCarthy (2006)
''Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World''
Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN, 9781429405256. Frederick Bruce Hutt (1949)
''Genetics of the fowl''
New York: McGraw-Hill. Nestor Fabio Valencia Llano (2011)
''La gallina criolla colombiana''
(in Spanish). Colombia: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Palmira. {{ISBN, 9789588095561. Breed Classification
Poultry Club of Great Britain. Archived 17 June 2011. {{cite journal , vauthors = Punnett R , date = 1933 , title = Genetic studies in poultry: IX. The blue egg , journal = Journal of Genetics , volume = 27 , issue = 3 , pages = 465–470 , url = http://www-old.ias.ac.in/jarch/jgenet/27/465.pdf , url-status = dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161020042409/http://www-old.ias.ac.in/jarch/jgenet/27/465.pdf , archive-date = 20 October 2016, doi = 10.1007/BF02981757, s2cid = 52805033 Araucana (British type)
Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Archived 3 October 2015. Victoria Roberts (2008)
''British poultry standards: complete specifications and judging points of all standardized breeds and varieties of poultry as compiled by the specialist breed clubs and recognised by the Poultry Club of Great Britain''
Oxford: Blackwell. {{ISBN, 9781405156424.
The Rare Poultry Breeders' Association (Australia). Archived 12 June 2013.

, William Beldon (translator) (1993). ''Birds in Brazil: A Natural History''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN, 9780691085692. {{cite journal, title=Ear tuftedness: a lethal condition in the Araucana fowl, author=Somes Jr., R.G., author2=Pabilonia, M.S. , journal=The Journal of Heredity, year=1981, volume=72, issue=2, pages=121–4, pmid=7276512, doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a109439 {{cite journal , vauthors = Wragg D, Mwacharo JM, Alcalde JA, Wang C, Han JL, Gongora J, Gourichon D, Tixier-Boichard M, Lanotte O , year = 2013 , title = Endogenous Retrovirus EAV-HP Linked to Blue Egg Phenotype in Mapuche Fowl , journal = PLOS ONE , volume = 8 , issue = 8 , page = e71393 , doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0071393 , pmid = 23990950 , pmc = 3747184 , bibcode = 2013PLoSO...871393W , doi-access = free Chicken breeds originating in Chile Chicken breeds