''Arborophila'' is a bird

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the family

Phasianidae The Phasianidae are a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hunti ...

. The genus has the second most members within the

Galliformes Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often ...

after ''

Pternistis ''Pternistis'' is a genus of galliform birds formerly classified in the spurfowl group of the partridge subfamily of the pheasant family. They are described as "partridge-francolins" in literature establishing their phylogenetic placement out ...

'', although ''Arborophila'' species vary very little in bodily proportions with different species varying only in colouration/patterning and overall size. These are fairly small, often brightly marked

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized Galliformes, galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide Indigenous (ecology), native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They a ...

s found in forest of eastern and southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Some species in this genus have small ranges, and are

threatened Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and hunting.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Arborophila'' was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Himala ...

to accommodate a single species, the

hill partridge The common hill partridge, necklaced hill partridge, or simply hill partridge (''Arborophila torqueola'') is a species of bird in the pheasant family found in Asia. Description Males of the species have ornate patterns and markings, a combina ...

, which is therefore the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. The genus name combines the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''arbor'', ''arboris'' meaning "tree" with the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''philos'' meaning "-loving".

Species

While most species in this genus are highly distinctive and their

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

treatment is settled, there are three complexes where the species limits have not been entirely resolved and to various degrees are disputed: ''A. orientalis–sumatrana–campbelli–rolli'' complex, ''A. cambodiana'' complex, and ''A. chloropus–merlini–charltonii'' complex. ''A. torqueola'' is always called the hill partridge or common hill-partridge, but in all other species "hill" is often disregarded (for example, ''A. rufipectus'' is variously known as the Sichuan hill-partridge or Sichuan partridge). The genus contains 19 species.

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading