Cracidae
Sign in to saveThe chachalacas, guans, and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. The range of one species, the plain chachalaca, just reaches southernmost parts of Texas in the United States. Two species, the Trinidad piping guan and the rufous-vented chachalaca occur on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago respectively.
AI overview
Cracidae is a family of birds that includes chachalacas, guans, and curassows, primarily found in tropical and subtropical regions of Central and South America. These birds matter because they are notable members of their ecosystems, with at least one species (the plain chachalaca) even extending into the southernmost United States, and others inhabiting Caribbean islands like Trinidad and Tobago.
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Taxonomy · GBIF
FAMILY
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumChordata
- ClassAves
- OrderGalliformes
- FamilyCracidae
via GBIF · CC0
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Galliformes
- Image
- Penelope jacquacu - Spix-Guan - Spix's Guan.jpg
Show 4 more facts
- P105
- family
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Systematics and evolution
- Internal Phylogeny
- Classification
- Evolution
- Description
- Behaviour and ecology
- Footnotes
- External links
The chachalacas, guans, and curassows are birds in the family Cracidae. These are species of tropical and subtropical Central and South America. The range of one species, the plain chachalaca, just reaches southernmost parts of Texas in the United States. Two species, the Trinidad piping guan and the rufous-vented chachalaca occur on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago respectively.
==Systematics and evolution== The family Cracidae was introduced (as Craxia) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The Cracidae are an ancient group that were thought to be related to the Australasian mound-builders of family Megapodiidae. The two families they were sometimes united in a distinct order, Craciformes, as in Munroe and Sibley's 1993 World Checklist of Birds. However, the group is not monophyletic and more recent phylogenetic studies have found Megapodiidae and Cracidae to be successive early branching lineages of Galliformes.