Heuglin's spurfowl (''Pternistis icterorhynchus'') is a species of
bird 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 found in
Central African Republic,
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
South Sudan, and
Uganda. The German explorer
Theodor von Heuglin first described the species.
Taxonomy
Heuglin's spurfowl was described in 1863 by the German ornithologist and explorer
Theodor von Heuglin from specimens collected near the
Pongo River in what is now the
Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. 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 icterorhynchus''. The specific epithet ''icterorhynchus'' combines the
Ancient Greek ''ikteros'' meaning "jaundice-yellow" and ''rhunkhos'' meaning "bill". The species is now placed in the
genus ''
Pternistis'' that was introduced by the German naturalist
Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.
A
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study published in 2019 found that Heuglin's spurfowl is
sister to the
double-spurred spurfowl
The double-spurred spurfowl (''Pternistis bicalcaratus'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. Like most spurfowls, it is restricted to Africa. It is a resident breeder in tropical west Afr ...
.
Heuglin's spurfowl is considered to be
monotypic: no
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 ...
are recognised.
[
]
References
External links
Image at ADWXeno-canto: audio recordings of Heuglin's spurfowl
Heuglin's spurfowl
Birds of Central Africa
Heuglin's spurfowl
Heuglin's spurfowl
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Galliformes-stub