Eared pheasant

The eared pheasants are birds in the genus Crossoptilon in the family Phasianidae. Established by Brian Houghton Hodgson in 1838, the genus contains four species:[1]

ImageNameCommon nameDistribution
Crossoptilon crossoptilonWhite eared pheasantChina, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Tibet
Crossoptilon harmaniTibetan eared pheasantsoutheast Tibet and adjacent northern India
Crossoptilon mantchuricumBrown eared pheasantnortheastern China (Shanxi and nearby provinces)
Crossoptilon auritumBlue eared pheasantcentral China

Eared pheasant
Blue eared pheasant (Crossoptilon auritum)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Phasianidae
Subfamily: Phasianinae
Genus: Crossoptilon
Hodgson, 1838

The name Crossoptilon is a combination of the Greek words krossoi, meaning "fringe" and ptilon, meaning "feather"— a name Hodgson felt particularly applied to the white eared pheasant “distinguished amongst all its congeners by its ample fringe-like plumage, the dishevelled quality of which is communicated even to the central tail feathers”.[2] All are large, sexually monomorphic and found in China.[3]

References

  1. "ITIS Report: Crossoptilon". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. McGowan, Phil; Madge, Steve (2010). Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse: Including buttonquails, sandgrouse and allies. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 312. ISBN 0-7136-3966-0.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.