Natal spurfowl

The Natal spurfowl or Natal francolin (Pternistis natalensis) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Natal spurfowl
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Genus: Pternistis
Species:
P. natalensis
Binomial name
Pternistis natalensis
(Smith A, 1833)
Geographic distribution shown in green
Synonyms
  • Francolinus natalensis

Taxonomy

The Natal spurfowl was described in 1833 by the Scottish zoologist Andrew Smith and given the binomial name Fancolinus natalensis. He noted that the species inhabited brushwood thickets in the vicinity of Natal, in the east of South Africa.[2] The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[3][4] A phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the Natal spurfowl is sister to Hildebrandt's spurfowl.[5] The Natal spurfowl is considered as monotypic: the proposed subspecies neavei is not recognised.[4]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Pternistis natalensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2016: e.T22678831A92790642. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22678831A92790642.en. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. Smith, Andrew (1833). "Fancolinus natalensis". South African Quarterly Journal. 2: 48.
  3. Wagler, Johann Georg (1832). "Neue Sippen und Gattungen der Säugthiere und Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). cols 1218–1235 [1229].
  4. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pheasants, partridges, francolins". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  5. Mandiwana-Neudani, T.G.; Little, R.M.; Crowe, T.M.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2019). "Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of African spurfowls Galliformes, Phasianidae, Phasianinae, Coturnicini: Pternistis spp". Ostrich. 90 (2): 145–172. doi:10.2989/00306525.2019.1584925.


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