Moorland francolin

The moorland francolin (Scleroptila psilolaema) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is endemic to Ethiopia.

Moorland francolin
Illustration of S. psilolaema by Joseph Smit, 1893
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Scleroptila
Species:
S. psilolaema
Binomial name
Scleroptila psilolaema
(Gray, GR, 1867)
Synonyms
  • Francolinus psilolaemus
  • Scleroptila psilolaemus

Distribution

It is found in moorland in the highlands of Ethiopia.[1]

Taxonomy

The Elgon francolin of the highlands of Kenya and Uganda was formerly considered a subspecies of S. psilolaema, but was split as a distinct species by the IUCN Red List and BirdLife International in 2014, and by the International Ornithological Congress in 2022 based on a 2019 study.[2] Compared to the moorland francolin, the Elgon francolin is brighter (more rufescent) and lacks black spots to the throat, and also differs in vocalizations.[3][4]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Scleroptila psilolaema". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. abc_admin (2019-05-13). "Elgon Francolin Scleroptila elgonensis should be treated as a species distinct from Moorland Francolin S. psilolaema". African Bird Club. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  3. McGowan, P. J. K. (1994). Moorland Francolin (Francolinus elgonensis). Pp. 494 in: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J. eds. (1994). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Lynx Edicions, Barcelon. ISBN 84-87334-15-6
  4. "IOC World Bird List 12.1". IOC World Bird List Datasets. doi:10.14344/ioc.ml.12.1. Retrieved 2022-01-29.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.