Phasianidae

Grey partridge Perdix perdix, photographed by Marcel Van der Tol.

Belongs within: Phasiani.
Contains: Arborophila, Meleagridinae, Tetraoninae, Phasianus, Lophura, Polyplectron, Francolinus, Coturnix, Alectoris.

The Phasianidae are the family of gamebirds including the pheasants, partridges and Old World quail. They are primarily terrestrial birds with stout bodies and bills and relatively short, rounded wings. Historically, this group has been divided between the larger 'Phasianinae' (pheasants and peafowl), many of which have elongate tails and are often brightly coloured, and the often smaller and more conservatively coloured 'Perdicinae' (partridges and Old World quail). However, recent phylogenetic analyses have not supported this division. Instead, a basal clade within the Phasianidae unites the Udzungwa forest partridge Xenoperdix udzungwensis of inland Tanzania with the hill partridges Arborophila and related taxa of eastern Asia. Xenoperdix and Arborophila species share dark grey-brown or blackish under-wing coverts bordered by a contrasting white stripe formed by the outer webs of the middle coverts, and a reticulate scalation along the rear of the tarsus (Dinesen et al. 1994). Other members of this clade include the ferruginous partridge Caloperdix oculeus and the crested partridge or roul-roul Rollulus rouloul.

The ocellated pheasants form a clade including the peacocks Pavo and the great argus pheasant Argusianus argus. Members of this group have males with display plumage marked by iridescent 'eye-patches'. Most species are found in southern and eastern Asia except the Congo peafowl Afropavo congensis of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Fossil species of peacock, P. archiaci and P. bravardi, are also known from the Miocene and Pliocene, respectively, of Europe (Mlíkovský 2002).

The blood pheasant Ithaginis cruentus is a short-tailed, montane pheasant found in the Himalayan region that receives its vernacular name from more or less extensive areas of blood-red coloration on the face and breast. The horned pheasants of the genus Tragopan are found in southern and eastern Asia; males of this genus have a pair of brightly coloured, fleshy 'horns' on the head that are erected during courtship displays.

<==Phasianidae [Pavoninae, Perdicinae, Perdicini, Phasianinae, Phasianini, Starnini]
    |--Palaeortyx Milne-Edwards 1869 M09
    |    |--*P. gallica Milne-Edwards 1869 M02, M09 (see below for synonymy)
    |    |--P. brevipes Milne-Edwards 1869 M09 [=Taoperdix brevipes M02]
    |    |--P. phasianoides Milne-Edwards 1869 M09 [=Taoperdix phasianoides M02]
    |    `--P. prisca (Milne-Edwards 1869) M09
    `--+--+--Xenoperdix Dinesen, Lehmberg et al. 1994 JT12, DL94
       |  |    `--*X. udzungwensis Dinesen, Lehmberg et al. 1994 DL94
       |  `--Arborophilinae KB14
       |       |--Arborophila JT12
       |       `--+--Caloperdix oculeus JT12
       |          `--Rollulus Bonnaterre 1791 JT12, B94 [incl. Cryptonyx Temminck 1815 B94; Rollulini]
       |               `--R. rouloul JT12
       `--+--+--Ithaginis Wagler 1822 BKB15, B94 [Ithaginini]
          |  |    `--I. cruentus JT12
          |  `--+--+--Tragopan Cuvier 1829 KB14, B94 [incl. Satyra Lesson 1828 B94; Tragopanini]
          |     |  |    |  i. s.: T. melanocephalus JT12
          |     |  |    |--T. blythii BKB15
          |     |  |    |    |--T. b. blythii RN72
          |     |  |    |    `--T. b. molesworthi RN72
          |     |  |    `--+--T. caboti BKB15
          |     |  |       `--+--T. satyra BKB15
          |     |  |          `--T. temminckii (Gray in Hardwicke 1831) BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
          |     |  `--+--Tetraophasis JT12
          |     |     |    |--T. obscurus JT12
          |     |     |    `--T. szechenyii JT12
          |     |     `--Lophophorus Temminck 1813 JT12, B94 [Lophophorini]
          |     |          |--L. sclateri BKB15
          |     |          `--+--L. impejanus BKB15
          |     |             `--L. lhuysii BKB15
          |     `--+--+--+--Meleagridinae KB14
          |        |  |  `--Tetraoninae BKB15
          |        |  `--+--Rhizothera longirostris BKB15
          |        |     `--Pucrasia Gray 1841 KB14, B94 [Pucrasiini]
          |        |          |--P. macrolopha JT12
          |        |          `--P. xanthospila Sa66
          |        `--+--Perdix Brisson 1760 KB14, M02 [incl. Starna Bonaparte 1838 B94]
          |           |    |  i. s.: P. barbata L81
          |           |    |         P. madagascariensis Sc66
          |           |    |         P. ponticerianus Sc66
          |           |    |         P. saxatilis Bechstein 1805 [=Caccabis saxatilis] CC10
          |           |    |         P. spadicea Sc66
          |           |    |--P. hodgsoniae BKB15
          |           |    `--+--P. dauurica BKB15
          |           |       `--P. perdix (Linnaeus 1758) BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
          |           `--+--Syrmaticus JT12
          |              |    |--+--S. reevesii (Gray in Griffith 1829) BKB15, CC10 [=Phasianus reevesii CC10]
          |              |    |  `--S. soemmerringii BKB15 [=Phasianus soemmerringi T89]
          |              |    |       |--S. s. soemmerringii I92
          |              |    |       |--S. s. ijimae (Dresser 1902) RN72, I92 [=Phasianus soemmerringii ijimae I92]
          |              |    |       |--S. s. intermedius RN72
          |              |    |       `--S. s. scintillans RN72
          |              |    `--+--S. mikado BKB15
          |              |       `--+--S. ellioti JT12
          |              |          `--S. humiae JT12
          |              `--+--+--+--‘Polyplectron’ katsumatae BKB15 [=P. bicalcaratum katsumatae RN72]
          |                 |  |  `--Phasianus KB14
          |                 |  `--Chrysolophus KB14
          |                 |       |--C. amherstiae JT12
          |                 |       `--C. pictus (Linnaeus 1758) [=Phasianus pictus, Thaumalea picta] CC10
          |                 `--+--Lophura KB14
          |                    `--+--Catreus wallichii KB14
          |                       `--Crossoptilon KB14
          |                            |--+--C. crossoptilon BKB15
          |                            |  `--C. drouyni BKB15
          |                            `--+--C. harmani BKB15
          |                               `--+--C. auritum JT12
          |                                  `--C. mantchuricum JT12
          `--+--+--+--Rheinardia ocellata BKB15
             |  |  |    |--R. o. ocellata RN72
             |  |  |    `--R. o. nigrescens RN72
             |  |  `--Argusianus Rafinesque 1815 KB14, B94 (see below for synonymy)
             |  |       `--A. argus JT12
             |  |            |--A. a. argus RN72
             |  |            `--A. a. grayi RN72
             |  `--+--Afropavo Chapin 1936 BKB15, B94 [Afropavonini]
             |     |    `--A. congensis DL94
             |     `--Pavo Linnaeus 1758 BKB15, CC10 [Pavonini]
             |          |--*P. cristatus Linnaeus 1758 CC10 [incl. P. cristatus nigripennis RN72]
             |          |--P. archiaci (Gaudry 1862) (see below for synonymy) M02
             |          |--P. bicalcaratus Linnaeus 1758 L58
             |          |--P. bravardi (Gervais 1849) (see below for synonymy) M02
             |          `--P. muticus JT12
             |               |--P. m. muticus RN72
             |               |--P. m. imperator RN72
             |               `--P. m. spicifer RN72
             `--+--+--Haematortyx sanguiniceps JT12
                |  `--+--Polyplectron KB14
                |     `--Galloperdix Blyth 1844 JT12, B94 [Galloperdicini]
                |          |--G. bicalcarata JT12
                |          |--G. lunulata JT12
                |          `--G. spadicea JT12
                `--+--Francolinus KB14
                   `--+--Coturnix KB14
                      `--+--+--Alectoris KB14
                         |  `--Tetraogallus Gray 1832 BKB15, B94 (see below for synonymy)
                         |       |  i. s.: T. caucasicus JT12
                         |       |--T. tibetanus JT12
                         |       `--+--T. himalayensis BKB15
                         |          `--+--T. altaicus (Gebler 1837) BKB15, M01 [=Perdix altaicus M01]
                         |             `--T. caspius BKB15
                         `--+--+--Perdicula BKB15
                            |  |    |--P. argoondah JT12 [=P. asiatica argoondah L81]
                            |  |    |--P. asiatica JT12
                            |  |    |--P. erythrorhyncha JT12
                            |  |    `--P. manipurensis JT12
                            |  `--Ammoperdix Gould 1851 JT12, M02
                            |       |--A. griseogularis JT12
                            |       `--A. heyi JT12
                            |            |--A. h. heyi L81
                            |            `--A. h. nicolli L81
                            `--+--‘Francolinus’ hartlaubi JT12
                               `--+--‘Francolinus’ erckelii (Rüppell 1835) BKB15, S05 [=Perdix erckelii S05]
                                  `--+--+--‘Francolinus’ castaneicollis BKB15
                                     `--+--Pternistis S05
                                        |    |--P. afer B93 (see below for synonymy)
                                        |    `--+--P. leucoscepus (Gray 1867) S05 (see below for synonymy)
                                        |       `--P. swainsonii B93 [=Francolinus swainsonii JT12]
                                        |            |--P. s. swainsonii B93
                                        |            `--P. s. gilli Roberts 1932 [=Francolinus swainsoni gilli] B93
                                        `--+--+--‘Francolinus’ bicalcaratus JT12
                                           |  `--‘Francolinus’ squamatus JT12
                                           `--+--‘Francolinus’ griseostriatus JT12
                                              `--+--+--‘Francolinus’ adspersus JT12
                                                 |  `--‘Francolinus’ capensis JT12
                                                 `--+--‘Francolinus’ hildebrandti JT12
                                                    `--‘Francolinus’ natalensis BKB15

Phasianidae incertae sedis:
  Ophrysia superciliosa FP64
  Miogallus Lambrecht 1933 [incl. Miophasianus Brodkorb 1952] M02
    `--M. altus (Milne-Edwards 1869) (see below for synonymy) M02
  Anissolornis excavatus Amegino 1891 A94
  Anurophasis monorthonyx JT12
  Melanoperdix niger JT12
  Gennaeus Wagler 1832 [incl. Nycthemerus Swainson 1837; Nycthemerini] B94
    `--G. swinhoii A61
  Lerwa Hodgson 1837 [Lerwini] B94
    `--L. lerwa JT12
  Excalfactoria RN72
    |--E. adansonii [=Coturnix adansonii] RN72
    `--E. australis N87
  Schaubortyx Brodkorb 1964 M09, M02
    `--*S. keltica (Eastman 1905) M02, M09 [=Taoperdix keltica M02]
  Argillipes Harrison & Walker 1977 U93, M02
    |--*A. aurorum Harrison & Walker 1977 M02
    |--A. magnus Harrison & Walker 1979 M02
    `--A. paralectoris Harrison & Walker 1977 [incl. Paraortygoides radagasti Dyke & Gulas 2002] M05

Inorganic: Pavo cristatus minilorientalus Okamura 1987 O87

Nomen nudum: Palaeortyx media Milne-Edwards 1871 M02

Argusianus Rafinesque 1815 BKB15, B94 [=Argusanus (l. c.) B94; incl. Argus Temminck 1813 non Bohadsch 1761 B94; Argusaninae, Argusianinae, Argusianini]

Miogallus altus (Milne-Edwards 1869) [=Phasianus altus, *Miophasianus altus; incl. Ph. augustus Ammon 1918, Miop. augustus, Ph. desnoyersii Milne-Edwards 1869, Miop. desnoyersii, Gallus longaevus Ammon 1918, *Miogallus longaevus, Palaeortyx maxima Lydekker 1893, Miophasianus maximus, Ph. medius Milne-Edwards 1869, Miophasianus medius, Palaeoperdix medius, Tantalus milneedwardsii Shufeldt 1896, Ibis milneedwardsi, Pseudotantalus milneedwardsi, Ardea similis Fraas 1870, Botaurites similis, Proardea similis] M02

*Palaeortyx gallica Milne-Edwards 1869 M02, M09 [=Coturnix gallica M02, Taoperdix gallica M02; incl. Rallus dasypus Milne-Edwards 1892 M02, Quercyrallus dasypus M02, Palaeortyx depereti Ennouchi 1930 M02, Plioperdix depereti M02, Pa. grivensis Lydekker 1893 M02, Pl. grivensis M02, Pa. joleaudi Ennouchi 1930 M02, Pl. joleaudi M02, Coturnix miocenica Villalta 1963 M02, Palaeortyx ocyptera Milne-Edwards 1892 M02]

Pavo archiaci (Gaudry 1862) [=Phasianus archiaci; incl. Gallus aesculapii Gaudry 1862, Pavo aesculapi, Pavo aesculapi phasianoides Jánossy 1991] M02

Pavo bravardi (Gervais 1849) [=Gallus bravardi; incl. Phasianus etuliensis Bocheński & Kuročkin 1987, Pavo moldavicus Bocheński & Kuročkin 1987] M02

Perdix perdix (Linnaeus 1758) BKB15, CC10 [=Tetrao perdix CC10; incl. P. cinerea Brisson 1760 CC10, P. perdix jurcsaki Kretzoi 1962 M02, P. palaeoperdix Mourer-Chauviré 1975 M02, Alectoris sutcliffei Harrison 1980 M02]

Pternistis afer B93 [=Francolinus afer JT12; incl. Pternistis cranchii L81, P. afer cunenensis Roberts 1932 non Scleroptila jugularis cunenensis Roberts 1932 B93, F. afer palliditectus White 1958 B93]

Pternistis leucoscepus (Gray 1867) S05 [=Francolinus leucoscepus JT12, Perdix rubricollis Cretzschmar 1829 non Gmelin 1789 S05]

Tetraogallus Gray 1832 BKB15, B94 [incl. Oreotetrax Cabanis 1846 B94; Oreotetragini, Tetraogallini]

Tragopan temminckii (Gray in Hardwicke 1831) BKB15, CC10 [=Satyra temminckii CC10, Ceriornis temminckii CC10]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[A94] Ameghino, F. 1894. Sur les oiseaux fossiles de Patagonie et la aune mammalogique des couches a Pyrotherium. Boletín del Instituto Geográfico Argentino 15 (11–12): 501–602.

[A61] Austin, O. L., Jr. 1961. Birds of the World: A survey of the twenty-seven orders and one hundred and fifty-five families. Paul Hamlyn: London.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1–281.

[B93] Brooke, R. K. 1993. Annotated catalogue of the Aves type specimens in the South African Museum. Annals of the South African Museum 102 (10): 327–349.

[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[DL94] Dinesen, L., T. Lehmberg, J. O. Svendsen, L. A. Hansen & J. Fjeldså. 1994. A new genus and species of perdicine bird (Phasianidae, Perdicini) from Tanzania, a relict form with Indo-Malayan affinities. Ibis 136: 2–11.

[FP64] Fisher, J., & R. T. Peterson. 1964. The World of Birds: A comprehensive guide to general ornithology. Macdonald: London.

[I92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.

[KB14] Kimball, R. T., & E. L. Braun. 2014. Does more sequence data improve estimates of galliform phylogeny? Analyses of a rapid radiation using a complete data matrix. PeerJ 2: e361.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[M01] Madarász, J. 1901. Madarak [Vögel]. In: Horváth, G. (ed.) Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazása [Dritte Asiatische Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] vol. 2. Zichy Jenő Gróf Harmadik Ázsiai Utazásának Állattani Eredményei [Zoologische Ergebnisse der Dritten Asiatischen Forschungsreise des Grafen Eugen Zichy] pp. 21–39. Victor Hornyánszky: Budapest, and Karl W. Hierseman: Leipzig.

[M05] Mayr, G. 2005. The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe. Biological Reviews 80: 515–542.

[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[N87] North, A. J. 1887. List of references to authentic descriptions of Australian birds' eggs. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1163–1174.

[O87] Okamura, C. 1987. New facts: Homo and all Vertebrata were born simultaneously in the former Paleozoic in Japan. Original Report of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory 15: 347–573.

[RN72] Rutgers, A., & K. A. Norris (eds.) 1972. Encyclopaedia of Aviculture vol. 1. Blandford Press: London.

[Sa66] Saurin, D. E. 1866. Notice on the pheasants found in the neighbourhood of Pekin. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 436–438.

[Sc66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.

[S05] Steinheimer, F. D. 2005. Eduard Rüppel’s avian types at the Natural History Museum, Tring (Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 85 (2): 233–264.

[T89] Takeshita, N. 1989. Nihon no Yachoo. Kogakukan: Tokyo.

[U93] Unwin, D. M. 1993. Aves. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 717–737. Chapman & Hall: London.

Last updated: 18 June 2019.