Ahanta spurfowl
The Ahanta francolin or Ahanta spurfowl (Pternistis ahantensis) is a species of bird in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is native to western Africa, where it occurs in Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
| Ahanta spurfowl | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Genus: | Pternistis |
| Species: | P. ahantensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Pternistis ahantensis (Temminck, 1854) | |
 | |
| Geographic distribution shown in green | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Francolinus ahantensis | |
Taxonomy
The Ahanta francolin was described in 1854 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck from specimens collected in the Dutch Gold Coast, now southern Ghana, and given the binomial name Francolinus ahantensis.[2] Ahanta was the name of a region and a people in what is now the Western Region of the Republic of Ghana.[3] The species is now placed in the genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832.[4][5] The Ahanta spurfowl is treated as monotypic: the proposed subspecies hopkinsoni is not recognised.[5]
References
- BirdLife International (2016). "Pternistis ahantensis". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2016: e.T22678835A92790866. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22678835A92790866.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- Temminck, Coenraad Jacob (1854). "Zoologische Schetsen van Eenige Soorten van Hoenderachtige Vogelen". Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde (in Dutch). 6: 49–50, Plate. doi:10.1163/26660644-00601002.
- Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- Wagler, Johann Georg (1832). "Neue Sippen und Gattungen der Säugthiere und Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German and Latin). cols 1218–1235 [1229].
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pheasants, partridges, francolins". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 February 2020.