''Eudromia'' is a genus of

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 ...

s in the

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 ...

family. This genus comprises two crested members of this

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

family.

Etymology

''Eudromia'' comes from two Greek words, ''eu'' meaning well or nicely, and ''dromos'' meaning a running escape. These definitions together mean, nice running escape, which refers to their habit of escaping predators by running.

Taxonomy

Tinamous are

paleognath Palaeognathae (; ) is a infraclass of birds, called paleognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contain ...

s related to the

flightless Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites (ostriches, emu, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwi) and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the ...

ratites A ratite () is any of a diverse group of flightless, large, long-necked, and long-legged birds of the infraclass Palaeognathae. Kiwi, the exception, are much smaller and shorter-legged and are the only nocturnal extant ratites. The systematics o ...

. They are probably close in appearance to the flying ancestors of the ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers.Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003) This genus has a mere 2

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, but the elegant crested tinamou has diversified into a considerable number of

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 ...

: The species are:Mikko's Phylogeny Archiv

*†''Eudromia'' sp. (Late Miocene of La Pampa Province, Argentina) *†'' Eudromia olsoni, E. olsoni'' Tambussi & Tonni 1985 'Tinamisornis intermedius'' Dabbene & Lillo 1913 non Rovereto 1914; ''Eudromia elegans intermedia">Tinamisornis_intermedius.html" ;"title="'Tinamisornis intermedius">'Tinamisornis intermedius'' Dabbene & Lillo 1913 non Rovereto 1914; ''Eudromia elegans intermedia'' (Dabbene & Lillo 1913)] (Late Pliocene of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) *†''Eudromia intermedia, E. intermedia'' (Rovereto 1914) [''Tinamisornis intermedia'' Rovereto 1914 non Dabbene & Lillo 1913] (Pliocene of Argentina) * The

quebracho crested tinamou The quebracho crested tinamou (''Eudromia formosa'') is a species of tinamou found in dry forest habitatsBirdLife International (2008) in Paraguay and northern Argentina in South America.Clements, J. (2007) Taxonomy Etymology ''Eudromia'' comes ...

, ''Eudromia formosa'', located in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

** ''Eudromia formosa formosa'' located in northern

** ''Eudromia formosa mira'' located in

and northwestern

* The

elegant crested tinamou The elegant crested tinamou or martineta tinamou (''Eudromia elegans'') is a medium-sized tinamou that can be found in southern Chile and Argentina in Shrubland. The bird has an omnivorous diet. This species is terrestrial due to their poor flyi ...

, ''Eudromia elegans'', located in

and southern

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 ...

Clements, J. (2007) ** ''Eudromia elegans elegans'' located in central

** ''Eudromia elegans intermedia'' located in northwestern

** ''Eudromia elegans magnistriata'' located in northwestern

** ''Eudromia elegans riojana'' located in northwestern

** ''Eudromia elegans albida'' located in western

** ''Eudromia elegans multiguttata'' located in east central

** ''Eudromia elegans devia'' located in southwestern

** ''Eudromia elegans patagonica'' located in southern

and southern

** ''Eudromia elegans numida'' located in central

** ''Eudromia elegans wetmorei'' located in western

MPLK-03, a fossil specimen from

, possibly belongs to ''Eudromia'' and surpacces extanct '' E. elegans'' and '' E. formosa'' in size by 2.2-8% and 6-14%, respectively. It existed during the

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...

, around the time of the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Late Glacial Maximum, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period that ice sheets were at their greatest extent. Ice sheets covered much of Northern North America, Northern Eur ...

Etymology

Taxonomy

Footnotes

References

External links