Alectoris in the context of "Old World quail"

The Phasianinae (Horsfield, 1821) are a subfamily under the family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. This subfamily notably includes the true pheasants, tragopans, tetraonids, Coturnicini, Pavonini, amongst other members.

Although this placement was once considered monophyletic and separate from the partridges, francolins and Old World quail (now-defunct Perdicinae) until the early 1990s, molecular phylogenies have shown that this subfamily is paraphyletic. For instance, certain genera like Lophophorus and Meleagris, as well as members of the genus Perdix, are cladistically more closely related to grouse and true pheasants, whereas other genera like Tetraogallus, Coturnix, and members in the genus Alectoris, share a much closer kinship to peafowl and junglefowl. There are two clades in this subfamily: the erectile clade and the non-erectile clade, referring to erectile tissue in the bare, non-feathered parts of the face. Both clades are believed to have diverged during the early Oligocene, about 30 million years ago.

Perdicinae is a polyphyletic former subfamily of birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae, regrouping the partridges, Old World quails, and francolins. Although this subfamily was considered monophyletic and separated from the pheasants, tragopans, junglefowls, and peafowls (Phasianinae) till the early 1990s, molecular phylogenies have shown that these two subfamilies actually constitute only one lineage. For example, some partridges (Perdix genus) are more closely affiliated to pheasants, whereas Old World quails and partridges from the Alectoris genus are closer to junglefowls. Due to this, the subfamily Perdicinae is no longer recognized by the International Ornithological Congress, with the species being split among 3 subfamilies.

Perdicinae is a non-migratory Old World group. These are medium-sized birds, and are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. They are ground-nesting seed-eaters. The subfamily includes the partridges, the snowcocks, the francolins, the spurfowl and the Old World quail.