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Cracidae

Guans, Currasows, and Chachalacas

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taxon links [up-->]Pauxi [up-->]Mitu [up-->]Ortalis [up-->]Crax [up-->]Penelope [up-->]Chamaepetes [up-->]Pipile [down<--]Galliformes Interpreting the tree
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This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

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You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

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Relationships after Pereira et al. 2002.
Containing group: Galliformes

Other Names for Cracidae

References

Brooks, D.M. and S. D. Strahl. 2000. Curassows, guans and chachalacas. Status, survey and conservation action plans for cracids 2000–2004. IUCN/SSC Cracid Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge UK.

del Hoyo, J. 1992. Family Cracidae (Curassows & Guans). Pages 310-363 in Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 2. New World Vultures to Guineafowl. J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. BirdLife International and Lynx Editions, Cambridge, UK and Barcelona.

Delacour, J. and D. Amadon. 1973. Curassows and Related Birds. American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Ffrench, R., P. O’Neill and D.R. Eckelberry. 1991. A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (second ed.), Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

Frank-Hoeflich, K., L. F. Silveira, J. Estudillo-López, A. M. García-Koch, L. Ongay-Larios and D. Piñero. 2007. Increased taxon and character sampling reveals novel intergeneric relationships in the Cracidae (Aves: Galliformes). Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 45(3):242–254.

Gill, F. and M. Wright. 2006. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

Grau, E. T., S. L. Pereira, L. F. Silveira, E. Höfling, and A. Wajntal. 2005. Molecular phylogenetics and biogeography of Neotropical piping guans (Aves: Galliformes): Pipile Bonaparte, 1856 is synonym of Aburria Reichenbach, 1853. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 35(3):637-645.

Hilty, S. L. 2003. Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London.

Pereira, S. L. and A. J. Baker. 2004. A vicariant hypothesis for the speciation of curassows (Aves, Cracidae) based on mitocondrial DNA phylogeny. Auk 121:682–694.

Pereira, S. L., A. J. Baker, and A. Wajntal. 2002. Combined nuclear and mitochondial DNA sequences resolve generic relationships within the Cracidae (Galliformes, Aves). Systematic Biology 51(6):946-958.

Ridgely, R.S. and P.J. Greenfield. 2001. The Birds of Ecuador. Status, Distribution and Taxonomy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.

Sick, H. 1993. Birds in Brazil. A Natural History. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

Strahl, S. D. , S. Beaujon, D.M. Brooks, A.J. Begazo, G. Sedaghatkish and F. Olmos, eds. 1997. The Cracidae—their Biology and Conservation. Hancock House, Blaine.

Vaurie, C. 1968. Taxonomy of the Cracidae. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 138:135–243.

Vuilleumier, F. 1965. Relationships and evolution within the Cracidae. Bull. Mus. Zool. 134:1–27.

Information on the Internet

Title Illustrations
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Scientific Name Ortalis vetula
Location Puerto Aventuras, Quinta Roo, Mexico
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Chachalaca
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Isidro Vila Verde
Scientific Name Crax globulosa
Location captive at Antwerpen Zoo, Belgium
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source olé
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2005 Frank Wouters
Scientific Name Penelope jacquacu
Location captive at Antwerpen Zoo, Belgium
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source Spix's Guan
Source Collection Flickr
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License - Version 2.0.
Copyright © 2006 Frank Wouters
About This Page

Page: Tree of Life Cracidae. Guans, Currasows, and Chachalacas. The TEXT of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License - Version 3.0. Note that images and other media featured on this page are each governed by their own license, and they may or may not be available for reuse. Click on an image or a media link to access the media data window, which provides the relevant licensing information. For the general terms and conditions of ToL material reuse and redistribution, please see the Tree of Life Copyright Policies.

Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 2007. Cracidae. Guans, Currasows, and Chachalacas. Version 07 March 2007 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Cracidae/26299/2007.03.07 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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