The Hainan peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron katsumatae'') is an

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

bird that belongs to the

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family (biology), family Phasianidae in the order (biology), order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera na ...

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 ...

. This extremely rare species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the island of

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Description

The bird was long considered a subspecies of

grey peacock-pheasant The gray peacock-pheasant (''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''), also known as Burmese peacock-pheasant, is a large Asian member of the order (biology), order Galliformes. Taxonomy In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards (naturalist), George Ed ...

or '' Polyplectron bicalcaratum''. The Hainan peacock-pheasant is smaller, and it possesses a short

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

and

ruff Ruff may refer to: Places *Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community *Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community Other uses *Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...

(Johnsgard 1986). It has red facial skin as opposed to grey in the yellow-orange facial skin of the grey peacock-pheasant. Beebe (1922) noted various plumage differences between the two and considered them separate species.

Taxonomy

Due to lack of detailed taxonomic studies, whether it was truly a subspecies (''Polyplectron bicalcaratum katsumatae'') or a full species remained unclear. Scientists used molecular markers, including the complete mitochondrial

cytochrome b Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes. F ...

gene and intron G of the nuclear ovomucoid gene, to reevaluate the

taxonomy 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. ...

of the Hainan peacock-pheasant. The results showed

phylogeographic Phylogeography is the study of the historical processes that may be responsible for the past to present geographic distributions of genealogical lineages. This is accomplished by considering the geographic distribution of individuals in light of ge ...

monophyly In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic grou ...

and large genetic distance between the Hainan peacock-pheasant and the

. Sequence differences corroborated the species-level distinction between these two peacock-pheasants, which were inferred to have diverged about 1.4±0.3 million years ago, near the time

Hainan Island Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

became separated from mainland

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

has also decided to recognize the split of ''Polyplectron katsumatae'' from ''Polyplectron bicalcaratum''.

Conservation status

Due to a very low population density in tropical forest and declining population, it is now becoming severely

and should be regarded as the rarest species in the order

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 ...

. Taking more

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

action immediately to protect this endangered

island endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

is imperative.

References

*Collar, N. (2009) Hainan Peacock-Pheasant: another CR species for the IUCN Red List? G@llinformed 2: 14–19. *del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. eds. (1994) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. *Madge, S. and McGowan, P. (2002) Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse. London: Christopher Helm.

Literature cited

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2193519 Hainan peacock-pheasant Birds of Hainan Endemic fauna of Hainan Hainan peacock-pheasant Endangered Fauna of China

Description

Taxonomy

Conservation status

See also

References

Literature cited