Scleroptila
Genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scleroptila is a genus of birds in the francolin group of the tribe Gallini of the pheasant family. Its nine species range through Sub-Saharan Africa.
| Scleroptila | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ring-necked francolin | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Tribe: | Gallini |
| Genus: | Scleroptila Blyth, 1852 |
| Type species | |
| Perdix levaillantii Valenciennes, 1825 | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Francolinus | |
Taxonomy
The genus Scleroptila was introduced in 1852 by the English zoologist Edward Blyth.[1] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek σκληρος/sklēros meaning "stiff" with πτιλον/ptilon meaning "feather".[2] Blyth listed two species in the genus but did not specify the type. In 1893 William Robert Ogilvie-Grant designated the type as Perdix levaillantii Valenciennes, 1825, the red-winged francolin.[3][4]
The genus contains nine species are:[5]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ring-necked francolin | Scleroptila streptophora | Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. | |
_from_side,_b.jpg) | Red-winged francolin | Scleroptila levaillantii | Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia |
| Finsch's francolin | Scleroptila finschi | Angola, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, parts of Cameroon, and Gabon | |
| Moorland francolin | Scleroptila psilolaema | Ethiopia | |
_in_KwaZulu-Natal,_Francesco_Veronesi.jpg) | Grey-winged francolin | Scleroptila afra | Lesotho and South Africa |
.jpg) | Orange River francolin | Scleroptila gutturalis | Ethiopia, South Sudan, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya |
 | Shelley's francolin | Scleroptila shelleyi | Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe |
| Whyte's francolin | Scleroptila whytei | Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, and Zambia | |
| Elgon francolin | Scleroptila elgonensis | Uganda (Mount Elgon) to central Kenya | |
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