Fowl

Fowl; Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – Holocene, Possible an early origin based on molecular clock
	Australian brushturkey (Alectura lathami)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Infraclass:	Neognathae
Clade:	Pangalloanserae
Superorder:	Galloanserae; Sclater, 1880
Subgroups
	Odontoanserae; Pangalliformes; †Dromornithidae;
Synonyms
	Anatophasianae

Fowl are birds belonging to one of two biological orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl (Galliformes) and the waterfowl (Anseriformes). Anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups are close evolutionary relatives; together, they form the fowl clade which is scientifically known as Galloanserae (initially termed Galloanseri) (Latin gallus ("rooster") + ānser ("goose")). This clade is also supported by morphological and DNA sequence data as well as retrotransposon presence/absence data.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.