- Penelope (genus)
Taxobox
name = "Penelope"
image_width = 240px
image_caption =Spix's Guan , "Penelope jacquacu"
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Aves
ordo =Galliformes
familia =Cracidae
genus = "Penelope"
genus_authority = Merrem,1786
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =15, see text."Penelope" is a bird genus in the
Cracidae family consisting of a number of large turkey-like arborealspecies , the typical guans. The range of these species is in forests from southernMexico to tropicalSouth America . These largish birds have predominately brownplumage and have relatively small heads in comparison with body size; they also bear a characteristicdewlap . 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 iscritically endangered , usually due to tropicaldeforestation andhunting . 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 thehabitat 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 theBurdigalian , 20-15 mya, but this is presently not corroborated byfossil evidence (Pereira "et al." 2002).Species
*
White-winged Guan , "Penelope albipennis"
*Band-tailed Guan , "Penelope argyrotis"
*Bearded Guan , "Penelope barbata"
*Red-faced Guan , "Penelope dabbenei"
*Spix's Guan , "Penelope jacquacu"
*White-browed Guan , "Penelope jacucaca"
*Marail Guan , "Penelope marail"
*Andean Guan , "Penelope montagnii"
*Dusky-legged Guan , "Penelope obscura"
*Chestnut-bellied Guan , "Penelope ochrogaster"
*Baudo Guan , "Penelope ortoni"
*Cauca Guan , "Penelope perspicax"
*White-crested Guan , "Penelope pileata"
*Crested Guan , "Penelope purpurascens"
*Rusty-margined Guan , "Penelope superciliaris"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 [http://individual.utoronto.ca/sergiolp/pdf/SB2002.pdf PDF fulltext]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.