''Geotrygon'' is a bird

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

in the pigeon and dove

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

(

Columbidae Columbidae is a bird Family (biology), family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the Order (biology), order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in ...

). Its members are called quail-doves, and all live in the

Neotropics The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeog ...

. The

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), ...

of this genus have ranges from southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and

South America 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 ...

, with 2 species recorded as occasional

vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

reported in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the United States. Quail-doves are ground-dwelling pigeons that live, nest, and feed in dense forests. They are remarkable for their vivid coloration with light-and-dark facial markings.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Geotrygon'' was introduced in 1847 by English naturalist

Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English natural history, naturalist and populariser of natural science, prolific author, "Father of the Aquarium", scientific illustrator, lecturer, e ...

. The name combines the

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 ...

''geō-'' meaning "ground-" and ''trygōn'' meaning "turtledove". 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 ...

was subsequently designated as the

crested quail-dove The crested quail-dove (''Geotrygon versicolor'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Jamaica. Taxonomy and systematics At one time the crested quail-dove was the sole member of genus ''Geotrygon''. Most of what ar ...

(''Geotrygon versicolor'').

Species

The genus contains nine species: ;Fossils * † Puerto Rican quail-dove, ''Geotrygon larva'' -

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

Members of the genera ''

Zentrygon ''Zentrygon'' is a bird genus in the pigeon and dove family (Columbidae). Its members are called quail-doves and all live in the Neotropics. The species of this genus primarily range from southern Mexico throughout Central America. Quail-doves ...

'' and '' Leptotrygon'' are also known as quail-doves, and were formerly included in ''Geotrygon''. The Cuban species ''

Starnoenas cyanocephala The blue-headed quail dove (''Starnoenas cyanocephala''), or blue-headed partridge-dove, is a species of bird in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae that is endemic to the island of Cuba. It is monotypic within the subfamily Starnoenadinae and ...

'' was previously referred to as a quail-dove, though this English name is no longer used.

References

* Taxa named by Philip Henry Gosse Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Columbiformes-stub