Turkey (bird)

Turkey
Fossil range: Early Pliocene to Recent
Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo
Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Meleagrididae
Gray, 1840
Genus: Meleagris
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

M. gallopavo
M. ocellata

A turkey is either of two living species of large birds in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The other species, Meleagris ocellata, known as the Ocellated Turkey, is native to the forests of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.

The Domestic turkey is a descendant of the Wild Turkey.

Turkeys are classed in the taxonomic order of Galliformes. Within this order they are relatives of the family/subfamily Tetraonidae (grouse). Turkeys have a distinctive fleshy wattle that hangs from the underside of the beak, and a fleshy protuberance that hangs from the top of its beak called a snood. With wingspans of 1.5–1.8 meters (almost 6 feet), the turkeys are by far the largest birds in the open forests in which they live. As with many Galliform species the female (hen) is smaller than the male (tom or gobbler) and is much less colorful.

Meleagris ocellata (Ocellated Turkey).

Contents

History and naming

When Europeans first encountered turkeys in the Americas they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl (Numididae), also known as a turkey-cock from its importation to Central Europe through Turkey, and the name of that country stuck as the name of the bird. The confusion is also reflected in the scientific name: meleagris is Greek for guinea-fowl.

The names for M. gallopavo in other languages also frequently reflect its exotic origins, seen from an Old World viewpoint, and add to the confusion about where turkeys actually came from. The many references to India seen in common names go back to a combination of two factors: first, the genuine belief that the newly-discovered Americas were in fact a part of Asia, and second, the tendency during that time to attribute exotic animals and foods to a place that symbolized far-off, exotic lands. The latter is reflected in terms like "Muscovy Duck" (which is from South America, not Muscovy). This was a major reason why the name "turkey-cock" stuck to Meleagris rather than to the guinea fowl (Numida meleagris): the Ottoman Empire represented the exotic East.

The name given to a group of turkeys is a rafter, although they are sometimes incorrectly referred to as a gobble or flock.[1]

Several other birds which are sometimes called "turkeys" are not particularly closely related: the Australian brush-turkey is a megapode, and the bird sometimes known as the "Australian turkey" is in fact the Australian Bustard, a gruiform. The bird sometimes called a Water Turkey is actually an Anhinga (Anhinga rufa)

Flight

A young turkey (poult).

While large domesticated turkeys are generally unable to fly, the smaller wild turkeys can fly extremely well. This allows them to perch in the branches of trees. Turkey poults (chicks) are unable to fly for the first two weeks after they hatch.[2]

Fossil record

Many turkeys have been described from fossils. The Meleagrididae are known from the Early Miocene (c. 23 mya) onwards, with the extinct genera Rhegminornis (Early Miocene of Bell, U.S.) and Proagriocharis (Kimball Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Lime Creek, U.S.). The former is probably a basal turkey, the other a more contemporary bird not very similar to known turkeys; both were much smaller birds. A turkey fossil not assignable to genus but similar to Meleagris is known from the Late Miocene of Westmoreland County, Virginia.[3] In the modern genus Meleagris, a considerable number of species have been described, as turkey fossils are robust, fairly often found, and turkeys show much variation among individuals. Many of these supposed fossilized species are now considered junior synonyms. One, the well-documented California Turkey Meleagris californica,[4] became extinct recently enough to have been hunted by early human settlers.[5] though its actual demise is more probably attributable to climate change at the end of the last ice age. The modern species and the California Turkey seem to have diverged approximately one million years ago.

Turkeys known only from fossils

Turkeys have been considered by many authorities to be of their own family, the Meleagrididae but a recent genomic analyses of a retrotransposon marker groups turkeys in the family Phasianidae.[6]

Trivia

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Collins English Dictionary
  2. ↑ Animal Facts: Turkeys
  3. ↑ Farner, Donald Stanley; King, James R. (1971). Avian biology. Boston: Academic Press. ISBN 0122494083. 
  4. ↑ Formerly Parapavo californica and initially described as Pavo californica or "California Peacock"
  5. ↑ Broughton, Jack (1999). Resource depression and intensification during the late Holocene, San Francisco Bay: evidence from the Emeryville Shellmound vertebrate fauna. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-09828-5. ; lay summary
  6. ↑ Jan, K.; Andreas, M.; Gennady, C.; Andrej, K.; Gerald, M.; Jürgen, B.; Jürgen, S. (2007). "Waves of genomic hitchhikers shed light on the evolution of gamebirds (Aves: Galliformes)". BMC Evolutionary Biology 7: 190. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-7-190. http://www.doaj.org/doaj?func=abstract&id=242693. Retrieved on 2008-02-15. 

References

External links