Arborophila

This article is about the bird. For the play, see Arborophilia.

Arborophila
White-necklaced partridge (Arborophila gingica)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Subfamily:	Rollulinae
Genus:	Arborophila Hodgson, 1837
Type species
Perdix torquela (hill partridge) Valenciennes, 1825
Species
About 20, see text

Arborophila is a bird genus in the family Phasianidae. The genus has the second most members within the Galliformes after Pternistis , although Arborophila species vary very little in bodily proportions with different species varying only in colouration/patterning and overall size. These are fairly small, often brightly marked partridges found in forest of eastern and southern Asia. ^[1] Some species in this genus have small ranges, and are threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

Taxonomy

The genus Arborophila was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson to accommodate a single species, the hill partridge, which is therefore the type species. ^{[2] [3]} The genus name combines the Latin arbor, arboris meaning "tree" with the Ancient Greek philos meaning "-loving". ^[4]

Species

While most species in this genus are highly distinctive and their taxonomic treatment is settled, there are three complexes where the species limits have not been entirely resolved and to various degrees are disputed: A. orientalis–sumatrana–campbelli–rolli complex, A. cambodiana complex, and A. chloropus–merlini–charltonii complex. ^[1] A. torqueola is always called the hill partridge or common hill-partridge, but in all other species "hill" is often disregarded (for example, A. rufipectus is variously known as the Sichuan hill-partridge or Sichuan partridge). The genus contains 18 species. ^[5]

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Hill partridge	Arborophila torqueola	India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
	Sichuan partridge	Arborophila rufipectus	China
	Chestnut-breasted partridge	Arborophila mandellii	Bhutan, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and south-eastern Tibet
	White-necklaced or collared partridge	Arborophila gingica	China (Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi.)
	Rufous-throated partridge	Arborophila rufogularis	Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam
	Red-billed partridge	Arborophila rubrirostris	Sumatra, Indonesia.
	Chestnut-headed partridge	Arborophila cambodiana	Cambodia.
	Hainan partridge	Arborophila ardens	Hainan Island, China.
	Taiwan partridge	Arborophila crudigularis	Taiwan
	White-cheeked partridge	Arborophila atrogularis	India, northern Myanmar, and northeast Bangladesh
	Bar-backed partridge	Arborophila brunneopectus	Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
	Orange-necked partridge	Arborophila davidi	Cambodia
	Red-breasted or Bornean partridge	Arborophila hyperythra	Borneo
	Malayan partridge	Arborophila campbelli	Peninsular Malaysia.
	Roll's partridge	Arborophila rolli	Sumatra, Indonesia.
	Sumatran partridge	Arborophila sumatrana	Sumatra, Indonesia.
	Chestnut-bellied partridge	Arborophila javanica	Java.
	Grey-breasted or white-faced partridge	Arborophila orientalis	eastern Java, Indonesia.

References

1. Madge, Steve; McGowan, Phil (2002). Pheasants, Partridges & Grouse. London: Christopher Helm. p. 10. ISBN   0-7136-3966-0.
2. Hodgson, Brian Houghton (1837). "On two new genera of rasorial birds". Madras Journal of Literature and Science. 5: 300–305 [303].
3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 98.
4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 53. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Pheasants, partridges, francolins". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 March 2025.

Further reading

• Chen, D.; Liu, Y; Davison, G.W.H.; Dong, L.; Chang, J.; Gao, S.; Li, S.-H.; Zhang, Z. (2015). "Revival of the genus Tropicoperdix Blyth 1859 (Phasianidae, Aves) using multilocus sequence data". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 175 (2): 429–438. doi:10.1111/zoj.12273.
• Chen, D.; Braun, E.L.; Forthman, M.; Kimball, R.T.; Zhang, Z. (2018). "A simple strategy for recovering ultraconserved elements, exons, and introns from low coverage shotgun sequencing of museum specimens: placement of the partridge genus Tropicoperdix within the Galliformes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 129: 304–314. Bibcode:2018MolPE.129..304C. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.09.005 . PMID   30201427. S2CID   52181658.