''Ptilopachus'' is an African genus of birds in the
New World quail
The New World quail are small birds, that despite their similar appearance and habits to the Old World quail, belong to a different family known as the Odontophoridae. In contrast, the Old World quail are in the Phasianidae family, sharing only a ...
family.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Ptilopachus '' was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist
William Swainson
William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist.
Life
Swains ...
to accommodate a single species, the
stone partridge
The stone partridge (''Ptilopachus petrosus'') is a bird of the Odontophoridae, New World quail family. This largely brown bird, which commonly holds its tail raised, is found in scrubland and lightly wooded habitats, often near rocks, from Kenya ...
, which is therefore the
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...
. The genus name is from
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''ptilon'' meaning "feather" with ''pakhus'' meaning "thick" or "dense".
As traditionally defined, only the
stone partridge
The stone partridge (''Ptilopachus petrosus'') is a bird of the Odontophoridae, New World quail family. This largely brown bird, which commonly holds its tail raised, is found in scrubland and lightly wooded habitats, often near rocks, from Kenya ...
was included in this genus, but based on
genetic evidence, it now also includes
Nahan's partridge
Nahan's partridge (''Ptilopachus nahani''), also known as the Nahan's francolin, is a bird traditionally placed in the family Phasianidae. As suggested by its alternative name, it was formerly believed to be a francolin and placed either in ''Fra ...
(formerly considered a
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 wa ...
). The study also concludes that this genus is more closely related to the
New World quail
The New World quail are small birds, that despite their similar appearance and habits to the Old World quail, belong to a different family known as the Odontophoridae. In contrast, the Old World quail are in the Phasianidae family, sharing only a ...
s (Odontophoridae) and might be considered their only African representative.
Description
At about in length, both are relatively small,
terrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...
birds with a red eye-ring, base of the bill, and legs, and brownish upperparts.
[McGowan, P. J. K. (1994). Francolins (genus ''Francolinus''). Pp. 489–504 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (1994). '']Handbook of the Birds of the World
The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...
.'' Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
See also
*''
Donacobius'', the only American species of an otherwise Old World bird lineage
References
Bird genera
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
{{Galliformes-stub