Tinaminae
| Tinaminae Temporal range: Miocene–present Mid-Miocene to present |
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Tataupa tinamou (Crypturellus tataupa) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Superorder: | Palaeognathae |
| Order: |
Tinamiformes Huxley (1872) |
| Family: |
Tinamidae Gray 1840 |
| Subfamily: |
Tinaminae Gray 1840 |
| Genera | |
| Synonyms | |
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Crypturellus
Nothocercus
Tinamus
Tinaminae, the forest tinamous, is one of two subfamilies of the family Tinamidae, the other being Nothurinae. Tinaminae has more species than the other subfamily, containing 29 species in three genera:
These birds, like other tinamous, are ground birds that prefer to run and walk, but will fly when they must. They differ physiologically by having their nostrils halfway down their bill or more. They range in size from the largest, being the grey tinamou at 49 centimetres (19 in) and the solitary tinamou at 1,800 grams (63 oz), which are also the largest of all the tinamous, to the little tinamou at 21.5–24 centimetres (8.5–9.4 in) and 174–238 grams (6.1–8.4 oz) and the small-billed tinamou at 20–32 centimetres (7.9–12.6 in) and 154–250 grams (5.4–8.8 oz).
They are a very compact muscular bird, with a slightly beak. Their tail is short and rudimentary and appears near non-existent. They have a large amount of feathers on their back and posterior regions. some believe to assist in escaping predators by being able to shed feathers that have been grabbed.
Their plumage is drab and cryptic with colors of dark brown, rufous, and buff. They tend to be more uniform with less speckling and striping than their cousins Nothurinae, the steppe tinamous. Some of the members of the Crypturellus genus are sexually dimorphic with the females being brighter and having more barring with the rest of the subfamily having only slightly larger females as the only difference in the sexes.
The tinamous are related to the ratites (emus, ostriches, kiwis, and rheas), and are grouped with them in the superorder Paleognathae. All of these birds evolved from ancient birds that did fly; the tinamous are a primitive family closely related to these ancient birds.
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Wikipedia