Gallus

Junglefowl are the four extant species of bird from the genus Gallus in the order Galliformes. They occur in parts of South and Southeast Asia. One of the species in this genus, the red junglefowl, is of historical importance as the direct ancestor of the chicken, although the grey junglefowl, Sri Lankan junglefowl and green junglefowl are likely to have also been involved. The Sri Lankan junglefowl is the national bird of Sri Lanka. They diverged from their common ancestor about 4–6 million years ago. Although originating in Asia, junglefowl bones have also been found in Chile, which date back to 1321–1407 CE, providing evidence of possible Polynesian migration through the Pacific Ocean.

Gallus

Yathin S Krishnappa · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
junglefowlPBDB
Sits inside
PhasianidaePBDB
Diet
granivorePBDB, for Phasianidae
Life habit
volantPBDB, for Phasianidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Phasianidae

Time the record covers

At least 5.3 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 11.63 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 1 of 94 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 94 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 9 of 94 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 83 of 94 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.7–9.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.3–8.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.9–8.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.5–8.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.1–7.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.7–7.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.3–6.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.9–6.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.5–6.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.1–5.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.4–4.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.0–3.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.6–3.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.2–2.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.8–2.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.4–2.0 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences2.0–1.6 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences1.6–1.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.2–809 ka Mya — about 0.4 occurrences809 ka–404 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences404 ka–0 Mya — about 88 occurrences5.333 Mya11.7 ka12.1 Mya0 Mya

94 occurrences of Gallus on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

94 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Cromer Forest Bed — 51.64°N, 0.80°E

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The named rock units Gallus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 92 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

718 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 91 sites for Gallus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

36 references

Each of the 94 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 24 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Gallus

Credit
Yathin S Krishnappa
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Gallus gallus · l-jz:JZ:82

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itPhasianidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brisson 1766