Scleroptila
| 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 | |
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.
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. | |
| 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 | |
| Grey-winged francolin | Scleroptila afra | Lesotho and South Africa | |
| 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 |
References
- ^ Blyth, Edward (1849). Catalogue of the Birds in the Museum Asiatic Society. Calcutta: J. Thomas (published 1852). p. 250. Although the title page is dated 1849, the book was not published until 1852. See: Dickinson, E.C.; Overstreet, L.K.; Dowsett, R.J.; Bruce, M.D. (2011). Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers. Northampton, UK: Aves Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-9568611-1-5.
- ^ Jobling, James A. "Scleroptila". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- ^ Ogilvie-Grant, W.R. (1893). Catalogue of the Game Birds (Pterocletes, Gallinae, Opisthocomi, Hemipodii) in the collection of the British Museum. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Vol. 22. London: British Museum. p. 127.
- ^ Dickinson, E.C.; Remsen, J.V. Jr., eds. (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Vol. 1: Non-passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-9568611-0-8.
- ^ AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
Further reading
- Mandiwana-Neudani, T.G.; Little, R.M.; Crowe, T.M.; Bowie, R.C.K. (2019). "Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of 'true' francolins: Galliformes, Phasianidae, Phasianinae, Gallini; Francolinus, Ortygornis, Afrocolinus gen. nov., Peliperdix and Scleroptila spp". Ostrich. 90 (3): 191–221. Bibcode:2019Ostri..90..191M. doi:10.2989/00306525.2019.1632954. S2CID 208597134.