The Phasianinae (
Horsfield, 1821) are a
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...
of the pheasant family (
Phasianidae
Phasianidae is a family (biology), family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, grouse, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, Turkey bird, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular Game (hu ...
) of
landfowl, the
order Galliformes. The subfamily includes true
pheasants,
tragopans,
grouse,
turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
and similar birds.
[
] Although this subfamily was considered
monophyletic
In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria:
# the grouping contains its own most recent co ...
and separated from the
partridges,
francolins, and
Old World quails (
Perdicinae) until the early 1990s,
[
] molecular phylogenies have shown that this placement is paraphyletic. For example, some
partridges ''(''genus ''
Perdix'') are more closely affiliated to
pheasants, whereas
Old World quails and
partridges from the genus ''
Alectoris'' are closer to
junglefowls.
There are two clades in the Phasianinae: the erectile clade and the non-erectile clade, referring to erectile tissue in the non-feathered parts of the face. Both clades are believed to have diverged during the early
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
, about 30 million years ago.
The Phasianinae are characterised by strong
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments, such as
wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have longer tails. Males play no part in rearing the young. They typically eat seeds and some insects.
Genera in taxonomic order
This list is ordered to show
presumed relationships between species. Tribes and subfamily names are based on the 4th edition of the ''
Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World''. Genera without a tribe are considered to belong to tribe ''incertae sedis''.
"Erectile clade"
"Non-erectile clade"
References
{{Authority control
Bird subfamilies