Chachalaca

Chachalaca
Rufous-vented chachalaca, Ortalis ruficauda
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Cracidae
Genus: Ortalis
Merrem, 1786
Species

12-15 (extant), see text.

Chachalacas are mainly brown birds from the genus Ortalis. These birds are found in wooded habitats in far southern United States (Texas),[1][2] Mexico, and Central and South America. They are social, can be very noisy and often remain fairly common even near humans, as their relatively small size makes them less desirable to hunters than their larger relatives. They somewhat resemble the guans, and the two have commonly been placed in a subfamily together, though the chachalacas are probably closer to the curassows.[3]

The generic name is derived from the Greek word όρταλις, meaning "pullet"[4] or "domestic hen."[5] The common name is an onomatopoeia for the four-noted cackle of the plain chachalaca (O. vetula).[6]

Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data tentatively suggests that the chachalacas emerged as a distinct lineage during the Oligocene, somewhere around 40-20 mya, possibly being the first lineage of modern cracids to evolve; this does agree with the known fossil record - including indeterminate, cracid-like birds - which very cautiously favors a north-to-south expansion of the family.[3]

Species

Prehistoric species

The cracids have a very poor fossil record, essentially being limited to a few chachalacas. The prehistoric species of the present genus, however, indicate that chachalacas most likely evolved in North or northern Central America:

The Early Miocene fossil Boreortalis from Florida is also a chachalaca; it may actually be referrable to the extant genus.

References

  1. ↑ Marion, Wayne R. (September 1974). "Status of the Plain Chachalaca in South Texas". The Wilson Bulletin 86 (3): 200–205.
  2. ↑ Sherr, Evelyn B. (2015). Marsh Mud and Mummichogs: An Intimate Natural History of Coastal Georgia. U. Of Georgia Press. p. 96. In the 1920s Howard E. Coffin introduced a breeding population of chachalacas to Sapelo Island, and this breeding population still exists.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pereira, S. #X. R. L.; Baker, A. J.; Wajntal, A. (2002). "Combined Nuclear and Mitochondrial DNA Sequences Resolve Generic Relationships within the Cracidae (Galliformes, Aves)". Systematic Biology 51 (6): 946–58. doi:10.1080/10635150290102519. PMID 12554460. Free version
  4. ↑ Waue, Roland H. (1999). Heralds of Spring in Texas. Texas A&M University Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780890968796.
  5. ↑ Arnott, William Geoffrey (2007). Birds in the Ancient World from A to Z. Routledge. p. 235. ISBN 978-0-415-23851-9.
  6. ↑ Leopold, Aldo Starker (1972). Wildlife of Mexico: the Game birds and Mammals. University of California Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-520-00724-6.
  7. ↑ Glowinski, S. L. 2007. The rediscovery of the Utila Island Chachalaca (Ortalis vetula deschauenseei). Bulletin of the Cracid Specialist Group. Vol. 23: 28-29.

External links

Media related to Ortalis at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Ortalis at Wikispecies