Biology:Penelope (genus)

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Short description: Genus of birds


Penelope
Penelope jacquacu01.jpg
Spix's guan, Penelope jacquacu
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Cracidae
Subfamily: Penelopinae
Genus: Penelope
Merrem, 1786
Species

15, see text.

Penelope is a bird genus in the family Cracidae consisting of a number of large turkey-like arboreal species, the typical guans. The range of these species is in forests from southern Mexico to tropical South America. These large birds have predominantly brown plumage and have relatively small heads when compared to the size of their bodies; they also bear a characteristic dewlap. Body lengths are typically 65 to 95 centimeters.

Most of the genus members have a typically raucous honking call. A number of the genus members are endangered species and at least one is critically endangered, usually due to tropical deforestation and hunting. In the case of several species the estimated populations are as low as a few 1000 mature birds, spread over a considerable area. Because of the scarcity of many of the genus members and also due to the habitat being often in deep or high altitude forests, little is known about some of the species habits and reproduction; in fact, some species are found at altitudes up to 3350 meters. Nests are typically built of twigs in trees.

This genus seems to have originated as part of the southward expansion of guans through the Andes and across tropical South America. Its closest relatives are probably the piping-guans, Aburria. These genera's ancestors apparently diverged some time during the Burdigalian, 20-15 mya, but this is not corroborated by fossil evidence (Pereira et al. 2002).

Species

Image Common name Scientific Name Distribution
White-winged guan Penelope albipennis Lambayeque, Cajamarca and Piura, north-west Peru
Parque Zoológico y Botánico Bararida 2008 009.JPG Band-tailed guan Penelope argyrotis Colombia and Venezuela.
Bearded Guan (cropped).jpg Bearded guan Penelope barbata Ecuador and Peru.
Yungas guan[1] Penelope bridgesi east slope of the Andes from Bolivia to northwestern Argentina
Red-faced guan Penelope dabbenei northern Argentina and in the southern border region of Bolivia.
Penelope jacquacu (Iquitos, Peru).jpg Spix's guan Penelope jacquacu Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela.
White-browed guan Penelope jacucaca Caatinga in north-eastern Brazil.
Penelope marail - Marail guan.jpg Marail guan Penelope marail Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Penelope montagni (Pava andina) (16133634668).jpg Andean guan Penelope montagnii Risaralda Department of Colombia, and the Yanacocha Reserve of Ecuador.
Dusky-legged guan.jpg Dusky-legged guan Penelope obscura Uruguay, northeastern Argentina and southernmost areas of Paraguay and Brazil;
Chestnut-bellied Guan (Penelope ochrogaster) (30850197103).jpg Chestnut-bellied guan Penelope ochrogaster Brazil.
Baudo guan Penelope ortoni western Colombia and north-western Ecuador
Penelope pileata.jpg Cauca guan Penelope perspicax Colombia.
White-crested guan Penelope pileata eastern Amazon basin of Brazil.
Crested Guan (24510268463) (cropped).jpg Crested guan Penelope purpurascens south Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula to western Ecuador and southern Venezuela.
Penelope superciliaris-2.JPG Rusty-margined guan Penelope superciliaris eastern Paraguay with extreme northeast Argentina, and eastern Bolivia in the Pantanal

References

  • Pereira, Sérgio Luiz; Baker, Allan J.& Wajntal, Anita (2002): Combined nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences resolve generic relationships within the Cracidae (Galliformes, Aves). Systematic Biology 51(6): 946–958. doi:10.1080/10635150290102519 PMID 12554460 PDF fulltext

Wikidata ☰ Q1071983 entry