A. Fumihito et al., THE GENETIC LINK BETWEEN THE CHINESE BAMBOO PARTRIDGE (BAMBUSICOLA-THORACICA) AND THE CHICKEN AND JUNGLEFOWLS OF THE GENUS GALLUS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 92(24), 1995, pp. 11053-11056
Further comparison of mitochondrial control-region DNA base sequences
of 16 avian species belonging to the subfamily Phasianinae revealed th
e following: (i) Generalized perdicine birds (quails and partridges) a
re of ancient lineages. Even the closest pair, the common quail (Cotur
nix coturnix japonica) and the Chinese bamboo partridge (Bambusicola t
horacica), maintained only 85.71% identity. (ii) The 12 species of pha
sianine birds previously and presently studied belonged to three disti
nct branches. The first branch was made exclusively of members of the
genus Gallus, while the second branch was made of pheasants of the gen
era Phasianus, Chrysolophus, and Syrmaticus. Gallopheasants of the gen
us Lophura were distant cousins to these pheasants. The great argus (A
rgusianus argus) and peafowls of the genus Pave constituted the third
branch. The position of peacock-pheasants of the genus Polyplectron in
the third branch was similar to that of the genus Lophura in the seco
nd branch. Members of the fourth phasianine branch, such as tragopans
and monals, were not included in the present study. (iii) The one perd
icine species, Bambusicola thoracica, was more closely related to phas
ianine genera Gallus and Pavo than to members of other perdicine gener
a. The above might indicate that Bambusicola belong to one-stem perdic
ine lineage that later splits into two sublineages that yielded phasia
nine birds, one evolving to Gallus, and the other differentiating towa
rd Pavo and its allies.