''Eudromia'' is a genus of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s in the

tinamou Tinamous () are members of the order Tinamiformes (), and family Tinamidae (), divided into two distinct subfamily, subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes from the Carib la ...

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 considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

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 an infraclass of birds, called paleognaths or palaeognaths, 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. Pala ...

s related to the

flightless Flightless birds are birds that cannot fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites ( ostriches, emus, cassowaries, rheas, and kiwis) and penguins. The smal ...

ratites Ratites () are a polyphyletic group consisting of all birds within the infraclass Palaeognathae that lack keel (bird anatomy), keels and flightless bird, cannot fly. They are mostly large, long-necked, and long-legged, the exception being the Kiw ...

. 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 A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

: The species are:Mikko's Phylogeny Archiv

Extant Species

Fossils

*†''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) MPLK-03, a fossil specimen from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, 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 the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

, around the time of the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

Etymology

Taxonomy

Extant Species

Fossils

Footnotes

References

External links