Tinamus Major
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The great tinamou (''Tinamus major'') is a species of
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 ...
ground bird native to Central 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 ...
. There are several subspecies, mostly differentiated by their coloration.


Taxonomy

The great tinamou was described and illustrated in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his ''
Historia Naturalis Brasiliae ''Historia Naturalis Brasiliae'' (), originally written in Latin, is the first scientific work on the natural history of Brazil, written by Dutch people, Dutch naturalist Willem Piso and containing research done by the German scientist Georg Ma ...
''. Marcgrave used the name ''Macucagua''. The French polymath
Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, and cosmology, cosmologist. He held the position of ''intendant'' (director) at the ''Jardin du Roi'', now ca ...
described and illustrated the great tinamou in 1778 in his ''Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux'' from specimens collected in
Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...
,
French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...
. He simplified Marcgrave's name to ''Magoua''. When in 1788 the German naturalist
Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin (8 August 1748 – 1 November 1804) was a German natural history, naturalist, chemist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist. Education Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp F ...
revised and expanded
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
's ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...
'', he included the great tinamou and placed it with all the grouse like birds in the
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 ...
'' Tetrao''. He coined the
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
''Tetrao major'' and cited the earlier authors. The great tinamou is now placed with four other species in the
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 ...
'' Tinamus'' that was introduced in 1783 by the French naturalist
Johann Hermann Johann, or Jean-Frederic, Hermann, or Herrmann, (31 December 1738 in Barr, Alsace – 4 October 1800 in Strasbourg) was a French physician and naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi ...
. Hermann based his name on "Les Tinamous" used by Buffon. The word "Tinamú" in the
Carib language Carib or Kariʼnja is a Cariban language spoken by the Kalina people (Caribs) of South America. It is spoken by around 7,400 mostly in Brazil, The Guianas, and Venezuela. The language is currently classified as highly endangered, as it is onl ...
of French Guiana was used for the tinamous. All tinamous are from the family Tinamidae, and are the closest living relatives of the
ratite Ratites () are a polyphyletic group consisting of all birds within the infraclass Palaeognathae that lack keels and cannot fly. They are mostly large, long-necked, and long-legged, the exception being the kiwi, which is also the only nocturnal ...
s. Unlike ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds. Twelve
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 ...
are recognised: * ''T. m. robustus'' Sclater, PL & Salvin, 1868 – southeast Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras * ''T. m. percautus'' Van Tyne, 1935 – south Mexico, north Guatemala and Belize * ''T. m. fuscipennis'' Salvadori, 1895 – north Nicaragua to west Panama * ''T. m. brunneiventris'' Aldrich, 1937 – south-central Panama * ''T. m. castaneiceps'' Salvadori, 1895 – southwest Costa Rica and west Panama * ''T. m. saturatus'' Griscom, 1929 – east Panama and northwest Colombia * ''T. m. zuliensis'' Osgood &
Conover Conover may refer to: People * Conover (surname) Places in the United States * Conover, Iowa, a ghost town * Conover, North Carolina, a city * Conover, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Conover, Wisconsin, a town * Conover (community), Wis ...
, 1922 – northeast Colombia and north Venezuela * ''T. m. latifrons'' Salvadori, 1895 – southwest Colombia and west Ecuador * ''T. m. major'' ( Gmelin, JF, 1789) – east Venezuela to northeast Brazil * ''T. m. serratus'' (
Spix Johann Baptist Ritter von Spix (9 February 1781 – 13 March 1826) was a German natural history, biologist. From his expedition to Brazil, he brought to Germany a large variety of specimens of plants, insects, mammals, birds, amphibians and fish. ...
, 1825) – northwest Brazil * ''T. m. olivascens'' Conover, 1937 – Amazonian Brazil * ''T. m. peruvianus'' Bonaparte, 1856 – southeast Colombia to Bolivia and west Brazil


Description

The great tinamou is a large species of tinamou, measuring in total length at approximately , with a mean of , and weighing from in males, with a mean of , and from in females, with a mean of . Despite its name and large size and shape, which may be suggestive of a large
pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...
or a small
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 ...
, it is not necessarily the largest species of tinamou, as it is rivaled or exceeded by other species in the '' Tinamus''. It ranges from light to dark olive-green in color with a whitish throat and belly,Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003) flanks barred black, and undertail cinnamon. Crown and neck rufous, occipital crest and
supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...
blackish. Its legs are blue-grey in color. All these features enable great tinamou to be well-camouflaged in the rainforest understory. The great tinamou has a distinctive call, three short, tremulous but powerful piping notes which can be heard in its rainforest habitat in the early evenings. The great tinamous has the highest percentage of skeletal muscle devoted to locomotion among all birds, with 56.9% of its total body weight (43.74% of its body weight is skeletal muscle devoted to flight), at the same time, its heart is the smallest of all birds, in relative comparison (0.19%).


Habitat

Great tinamou lives in subtropical and tropical forest such as
rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
, lowland evergreen forest, river-edge forest,American Ornithologists' Union (1998) swamp forest and
cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...
at altitudes from . Unlike some other tinamous, the great tinamou isn't as affected by forest fragmentation. Its nest can be found at the base of a tree.


Breeding

The great tinamou is a
polygynandrous Polygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season. In sexually reproducing diploid animals, different mating strategies are employed by males and females, because the cost of gam ...
species, and one that features exclusive male parental care. A female will mate with a male and lay an average of four eggs which he then incubates until hatching. He cares for the chicks for approximately 3 weeks before moving on to find another female. Meanwhile, the female has left clutches of eggs with other males. She may start nests with five or six males during each breeding season, leaving all parental care to the males. The breeding season is long, lasting from mid-winter to late summer. The eggs are large, shiny, and bright blue or violet in color, and the nests are usually rudimentary scrapings in the buttress roots of trees. Except during mating, when a pair stay together until the eggs are laid, great tinamous are solitary and roam the dark understory alone, seeking seeds, fruit, and small animals such as insects, spiders, frogs and small lizards in the leaf litter. They are especially fond of
Lauraceae Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant Family (biology), family that includes the bay laurel, true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genus (biology), genera worldwide. They are dicotyled ...
,
annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...
,
myrtaceae Myrtaceae (), the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All ...
,
sapotaceae 240px, '' Madhuca longifolia'' var. ''latifolia'' in Narsapur, Medak district, India The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order (biology)">order Ericales">family (biology)">family of flowering plants belonging to th ...
.


Conservation

This species is widespread throughout its large range (),BirdLife International (2008) and it is evaluated as
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...
of Threatened Species. They are hunted with no major effect on their population.


References


Sources

* * * *Brennan, P. T. R. (2004). Techniques for studying the behavioral ecology of forest-dwelling tinamous (Tinamidae). ''Ornitologia Neotropical'' 15(Suppl.) 329–337. * *Stiles, & Skutch, ''A guide to the birds of Costa Rica''


External links


Great Tinamou videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection

* (for
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...
,
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
) with RangeMap
Great Tinamou photo gallery
VIREO {{Taxonbar, from=Q852723 Tinamus Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Costa Rica Birds of Mexico Birds of Panama Birds of Central America Tinamous of South America Birds of Colombia Birds of Ecuador Birds of Venezuela Birds of Brazil Birds of Peru Birds of the Guiana Shield Birds of the Amazon rainforest Birds described in 1789 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin