Guinea fowl (/ˈɡɪnifaʊl/) are birds of the family Numididae in the order Galliformes. They are endemic to Africa and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds. Phylogenetically, they branched off from the core Galliformes after the Cracidae (chachalacas, guans, and curassows) and before the Odontophoridae (New World quail). An Eocene fossil lineage Telecrex has been associated with guinea fowl; Telecrex inhabited Mongolia, and may have given rise to the oldest of the true phasianids, such as blood pheasants and eared pheasants, which evolved into high-altitude, montane-adapted species with the rise of the Tibetan Plateau. While modern guinea fowl species are endemic to Africa, the helmeted guinea fowl has been introduced as a domesticated bird widely elsewhere.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
Guineafowl in the context of Melanippe
In Greek mythology, the name Melanippe (Ancient Greek: Μελανίππη, romanized: Melaníppē, lit. 'black mare') referred to several different people:
- Melanippe, daughter of the Centaur Chiron. Also known as Hippe or Euippe. She bore a daughter to Aeolus, Melanippe or Arne (see below). She escaped to Mount Pelion so that her father would not find out that she was pregnant, but, being searched for, she prayed to Artemis asking for assistance, and the goddess transformed her into a mare. Other accounts state that the transformation was a punishment for her having scorned Artemis, or for having divulged the secrets of gods. She was later placed among the stars.
- Melanippe, daughter of Aeolus and the precedent Melanippe (or else daughter of Hippotes or of Desmontes).
- Melanippe, a Aetolian princess as the daughter of King Oeneus of Calydon and Althaea, daughter of King Thestius of Pleuron. As one of the Meleagrids, she was turned into a guinea fowl by Artemis after the death of her brother, Meleager.
- Melanippe, an Amazon, sister of Hippolyta, Penthesilea and Antiope, daughter of Ares. Heracles captured her and demanded Hippolyte's girdle in exchange for her freedom. Hippolyte complied and Heracles let her go. Some say that it was Melanippe whom Theseus abducted and married. Yet others relate that she was killed by Telamon.
- Melanippe, wife of Hippotes, son of Mimas, himself son of Aeolus, and the mother of another Aeolus.
- Melanippe, a nymph who married Itonus, son of Amphictyon.
- Melanippe, possible wife of King Chalcodon of Euboea and mother of Elephenor.
- Melanippe, an emendation for "Medippe" (name of one of the sacrificial victims of Minotaur) in Servius' commentaries on Aeneid.
Guineafowl in the context of Telecrex
Telecrex is an extinct genus of birds related to guineafowl, containing two species, Telecrex grangeri (the type species) and Telecrex peregrinus. T. grangeri is known from a single partial femur from Eocene deposits in Inner Mongolia, while T. peregrinus was found in France.
Guineafowl in the context of Phasianidae
Phasianidae is a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, grouse, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family includes 185 species divided into 54 genera. It was formerly broken up into two subfamilies, the Phasianinae and the Perdicinae. However, this treatment is now known to be paraphyletic and polyphyletic, respectively, and more recent evidence supports breaking it up into two subfamilies: Rollulinae and Phasianinae, with the latter containing multiple tribes within two clades. The New World quail (Odontophoridae) and guineafowl (Numididae) were formerly sometimes included in this family, but are now typically placed in families of their own; conversely, grouse and turkeys, formerly often treated as distinct families (Tetraonidae and Meleagrididae, respectively), are now known to be deeply nested within Phasianidae, so they are now included in the present family.