The black-fronted spurfowl (''Pternistis atrifrons'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

species 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 ...

. It is a large species of

francolin Francolins are birds in the tribe Gallini that traditionally have been placed in the genus ''Francolinus'', but now commonly are divided into multiple genera. As previously defined, they were paraphyletic as the genus ''Pternistis'', which was ...

. It is endemic to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. It was formerly considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

chestnut-naped spurfowl The chestnut-naped spurfowl (''Pternistis castaneicollis'') is a species of bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. At in length and weighing , it is a large species of spurfowl. It is found in Ethiopia and Somaliland. The population is believ ...

(''Pternistis castaneicollis'').

Taxonomy

The black-fronted spurfowl was described in 1930 by the American amateur ornithologist

Boardman Conover Henry Boardman Conover (January 18, 1892 – May 5, 1950) was an American soldier, salesman, and amateur ornithologist. Conover was born in Chicago, the son of Charles Hopkins Conover and his wife Delia Louise Boardman. He attended The Hill School ...

from a specimen collected in the mountains around

Mega Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

in the south of Ethiopia near the border with Kenya. He coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Francolinus atrifons''. The species is now placed in the

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 ...

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 ...

'' that was introduced by the German naturalist

Johann Georg Wagler Johann Georg Wagler (28 March 1800 – 23 August 1832) was a German herpetologist and ornithologist. Wagler was assistant to Johann Baptist von Spix, and gave lectures in zoology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich after it was moved ...

in 1832. The specific epithet ''atrifrons'' combines the Latin ''ater'' meaning "black" and ''frons'' meaning "forehead". The black-fronted spurfowl was formerly considered a

of the

(''Pternistis castaneicollis''). The species is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

: no

are recognised.

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the black-fronted spurfowl
black-fronted spurfowl black-fronted spurfowl black-fronted spurfowl {{Galliformes-stub