Pterocles

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Pterocles
Pterocles senegallus hm.jpg
Spotted sandgrouse
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pterocliformes
Family: Pteroclidae
Genus: Pterocles
Temminck, 1815
Type species
Tetrao alchata (pin-tailed sandgrouse)
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

See text

Pterocles is a genus of near passerine birds in the sandgrouse family. It includes all the species in the family except for two central Asian species in Syrrhaptes .

Contents

These sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails. Their legs are feathered down to the toes, but unlike species of the genus Syrrhaptes the toes are not feathered.

Pterocles species have a fast direct flight, and flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk.

Two to three eggs are laid directly on the ground. They are buff or greenish with cryptic markings. All species are resident.

Taxonomy

The genus Pterocles was introduced in 1815 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck. [1] The type species was subsequently designated by the English zoologist George Robert Gray as the pin-tailed sandgrouse. [2] [3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek pteron meaning "wing" with -klēs meaning "notable" or "splendid". [4]

Species

The genus contains 14 extant species: [5]

ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Pin-tailed sandgrouse (Pterocles alchata).jpg Pin-tailed sandgrouse Pterocles alchataNorth Africa and the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Kazakhstan, Spain, Portugal
2012-namaqua-sandgrouse-male.jpg Namaqua sandgrouse Pterocles namaquaAngola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa
Chestnut-bellied-sandgrouse-famale.jpg Chestnut-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles exustuscentral and northern Africa, and southern Asia
Spotted Sandgrouse (4803937997) (cropped).jpg Spotted sandgrouse Pterocles senegallusMorocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Chad and Niger
Pterocles orientalis 2018.jpg Black-bellied sandgrouse Pterocles orientalisIberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel
Pterocles coronatus.jpg Crowned sandgrouse Pterocles coronatusNorth Africa and the Middle East.
2009-Yellow-throated-sandgrouse.jpg Yellow-throated sandgrouse Pterocles gutturalisAngola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Burchell's Sandgrouse - Etosha 0010.jpg Burchell's sandgrouse Pterocles burchelliAngola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa
Pterocles personatus 2089035.jpg Madagascar sandgrouse Pterocles personatusMadagascar
Pterocles decoratus -Serengeti National Park, Tanzania -pair-8.jpg Black-faced sandgrouse Pterocles decoratusEthiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Lichtenstein's sandgrouse Loyangalani.jpg Lichtenstein's sandgrouse Pterocles lichtensteiniiAlgeria, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Pterocles bicinctus -Kruger National Park, South Africa -two-8.jpg Double-banded sandgrouse Pterocles bicinctussouthern Africa.
Painted Sandgrouse Male (50325876266).jpg Painted sandgrouse Pterocles indicusBangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Four-banded sandgrouse (Pterocles quadricinctus) female.jpg Four-banded sandgrouse Pterocles quadricinctusAfrica from Mauritania and Cameroon east to Sudan and Uganda

A fossil species, Pterocles bosporanus , is known from the early Pleistocene of Crimea. [6]

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References

  1. Temminck, Coenraad Jacob (1815). Histoire Naturelle Générale des Pigeons et des Gallinacés (in French). Vol. 3. Amsterdam: J. C. Sepp et fils. pp.  238, 712.
  2. Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 62.
  3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1937). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 3.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 322. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Turacos, bustards, cuckoos, mesites, sandgrouse". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  6. Zelenkov, N. V. (2023-08-01). "A New Species of Sandgrouse (Aves: Pteroclidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the Crimea". Doklady Biological Sciences. 511 (1): 264–266. doi:10.1134/S0012496623700497. ISSN   1608-3105. PMID   37833584.