Pavo (bird)

Pavo is a genus of two species in the pheasant family. The two species, along with the Congo peafowl, are known as peafowl.

Taxonomy

The genus Pavo was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name is the Latin word for a peacock. The type species is the Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus).

Species

The genus contains two species.

Fossil record

• Pavo bravardi (Bravard's peafowl) (Early – Late Pliocene) – Gallus moldovicus, sometimes misspelt moldavicus, may be a junior synonym
• Gallus aesculapii, a Late Miocene – Early Pliocene "junglefowl" of Greece, may also have been a peafowl

In the Pliocene on the Balkan Peninsula, Bravard's peafowl coexisted with ptarmigans (Lagopus sp.) Peafowl were widespread on the Balkan Peninsula and in Southeastern Europe until the end of the Pliocene.

References

External links

• White Peacocks Information