| Great tinamou | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
| Order: | Tinamiformes |
| Family: | Tinamidae |
| Genus: | Tinamus |
| Species: | T. major |
| Binomial name | |
| Tinamus major (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | |
| Subspecies [2] | |
See text | |
 | |
| Synonyms | |
The great tinamou (Tinamus major) is a species of tinamou ground bird native to Central and South America. There are several subspecies, mostly differentiated by their coloration.
The great tinamou was described and illustrated in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae . Marcgrave used the name Macucagua. [4] The French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon described and illustrated the great tinamou in 1778 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from specimens collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. He simplified Marcgrave's name to Magoua. [5] When in 1788 the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin revised and expanded Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae , he included the great tinamou and placed it with all the grouse like birds in the genus Tetrao . He coined the binomial name Tetrao major and cited the earlier authors. [6] The great tinamou is now placed with four other species in the genus Tinamus that was introduced in 1783 by the French naturalist Johann Hermann. [7] [8] Hermann based his name on "Les Tinamous" used by Buffon. The word "Tinamú" in the Carib language of French Guiana was used for the tinamous. [9] [10]
All tinamous are from the family Tinamidae, and are the closest living relatives of the ratites. Unlike ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. All ratites evolved from prehistoric flying birds. [11]
Twelve subspecies are recognised: [8]
The great tinamou is a large species of tinamou, measuring in total length at approximately 38 to 46 cm (15 to 18 in), with a mean of 44 cm (17 in), and weighing from 700 to 1,142 g (1.543 to 2.518 lb) in males, with a mean of 960 g (2.12 lb), and from 945 to 1,249 g (2.083 to 2.754 lb) in females, with a mean of 1,097 g (2.418 lb). Despite its name and large size and shape, which may be suggestive of a large pheasant or a small turkey, it is not necessarily the largest species of tinamou, as it is rivaled or exceeded by other species in the Tinamus . It ranges from light to dark olive-green in color with a whitish throat and belly, [11] [12] [13] [14] flanks barred black, and undertail cinnamon. Crown and neck rufous, occipital crest and supercilium blackish. Its legs are blue-grey in color. All these features enable great tinamou to be well-camouflaged in the rainforest understory.
The great tinamou has a distinctive call, three short, tremulous but powerful piping notes which can be heard in its rainforest habitat in the early evenings. [11]
The great tinamous has the highest percentage of skeletal muscle devoted to locomotion among all birds, with 56.9% of its total body weight (43.74% of its body weight is skeletal muscle devoted to flight), at the same time, its heart is the smallest of all birds, in relative comparison (0.19%). [15] [16]
Great tinamou lives in subtropical and tropical forest such as rainforest, lowland evergreen forest, river-edge forest, [3] swamp forest and cloud forest at altitudes from 300 to 1,500 m (1,000–4,900 ft). Unlike some other tinamous, the great tinamou isn't as affected by forest fragmentation. [1] Its nest can be found at the base of a tree.
The great tinamou is a polygynandrous species, and one that features exclusive male parental care. A female will mate with a male and lay an average of four eggs which he then incubates until hatching. He cares for the chicks for approximately 3 weeks before moving on to find another female. Meanwhile, the female has left clutches of eggs with other males. She may start nests with five or six males during each breeding season, leaving all parental care to the males. The breeding season is long, lasting from mid-winter to late summer. The eggs are large, shiny, and bright blue or violet in color, and the nests are usually rudimentary scrapings in the buttress roots of trees. [11]
Except during mating, when a pair stay together until the eggs are laid, great tinamous are solitary and roam the dark understory alone, seeking seeds, fruit, and small animals such as insects, spiders, frogs and small lizards in the leaf litter. They are especially fond of Lauraceae, annonaceae, myrtaceae, sapotaceae. [11]
This species is widespread throughout its large range (6,600,000 km2 (2,500,000 sq mi)), [17] and it is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. [1] They are hunted with no major effect on their population. [11]
Tinamous form an order of birds called Tinamiformes, comprising a single family called Tinamidae, divided into two distinct subfamilies, containing 46 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes from the Galibi term for these birds, tinamu. Tinamous have traditionally been regarded as the sister group of the flightless ratites, but recent work places them well within the ratite radiation, implying basal ratites could fly. Tinamous first appear in the fossil record in the Miocene epoch. They are generally sedentary, ground-dwelling and, though not flightless, when possible avoid flight in favour of hiding or running away from danger. They are found in a variety of habitats, ranging from semi-arid alpine grasslands to tropical rainforests. The two subfamilies are broadly divided by habitat, with the Nothurinae referred to as steppe or open country tinamous, and the Tinaminae known as forest tinamous.
The little tinamou is a species of tinamou. It is found in Central and South America, as well as on the Caribbean island of Trinidad.
The white-throated tinamou is a species of bird native to the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, northern Bolivia, southeastern Colombia, northeastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and southern Venezuela.
The variegated tinamou a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions of northern South America.
The grey tinamou is a type of ground bird native to South America. Four subspecies are recognised.
Crypturellus is a genus of tinamous containing mostly forest species. However, there are the odd few that are grassland or steppe tinamous. The genus contains 21 species.
The red-legged tinamou or red-footed tinamou, is a ground-dwelling bird found in the tropics and lower subtropics of northern South America.
The solitary tinamou is a species of paleognath ground bird. This species is native to Atlantic forest of eastern Brazil.
The black tinamou is a species of ground bird found in humid foothill and montane forest in the Andes of South America.
The highland tinamou or Bonaparte's tinamou is a type of ground bird found in montane moist forest typically over 1,500 m (4,900 ft) altitude.
The hooded tinamou is a type of ground bird found in forests of Bolivia and Peru.
The cinereous tinamou, also known as brushland tinamou, is a type of ground bird found in swamp and lowland forests in northern South America. They have some localized names that have been used by the indigenous people such as in Amazonas where they are called inambu-pixuna, and in Pará, Brazil where they are called nambu-sujo. Also, throughout their range they are called inhambu-preto. Cinereous tinamous have been around for many centuries. They are part of the oldest families of the world today and have fossils discovered dating back tens of millions of years. Their quick reflexes play a role in their ability to survive.
The Brazilian tinamou is a type of tinamou found in tropical moist lowland forest in regions of Amazonian South America.
The thicket tinamou or rufescent tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forests in subtropical and tropical central Mexico.
The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.
The Choco tinamou or Chocó tinamou is a type of tinamou found in lowland forest and montane forest in subtropical and tropical regions of Colombia and Panama.
The rusty tinamou or short-billed tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in swamp forest in tropical regions of South America.
Tinamus is a genus of birds in the tinamou family Tinamidae. This genus comprises some of the larger members of this South American family.
Tinamotis is a genus of birds in the tinamou family.
Tinaminae, the forest tinamous, is one of two subfamilies of the family Tinamidae, the other being Nothurinae. Tinaminae has more species than the other subfamily, containing 29 species in three genera:
