Quail [2] [3] ( lat. Coturnix ) is a genus of birds from the pheasant family (Phasianidae) of the order of galliformes. The genus includes 7 species [1]of which one was exterminated by man. They are distinguished by their small size and round shape, as well as short wings , which almost completely cover the same short tail . Feet without feathers and spurs.
| Quail |
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Quail Harlequin ( Coturnix delegorguei ) |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
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Coturnix Garsault , 1764 [1] |
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The quail family includes chicken birds of insignificant size (the length of the folded wing is 90-115 mm), with pointed wings, a very short tail and bare metatarsus without spurs on a four-toed leg. The nostrils are not covered with feathers [4] , the beak is small and short.
Quails are distributed throughout the Old World , with the exception of the Far North ; in Europe, one nominative species ( Coturnix coturnix ) [4] .
Quails are kept on the ground, in dense grass and in the fields, more or less public. They run great, fly fast, but rarely for long. They shout piercingly, but monotonously. They feed on small seeds and insects [4] .
They live in mono , then in polygamy . They build a nest in a hole, poorly covering it with pieces of grass and leaves . Many eggs are laid [4] .
The genus Coturnix belongs to the subfamily of partridge ( Perdicinae ), and 6–7 species were previously assigned to it [4] .
The genus includes 6 existing and one extinct species [1] :
- Coturnix coromandelica (JF Gmelin, 1789) - Black-breasted Quail
- Coturnix coturnix (Linnaeus, 1758) - Common Quail
- Coturnix delegorguei Delegorgue, 1847 - Quail Harlequin
- Coturnix japonica Temminck & Schlegel, 1849 - Dumb quail , or Japanese quail
- † Coturnix novaezelandiae Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 - New Zealand Quail
- Coturnix pectoralis Gould, 1837 - Australian Quail
- Coturnix ypsilophora Bosc, 1792 - Brown Quail
The species Coturnix gomerae Jaume et al., Extinct during the Holocene, is also referred to the genus . 1993 [5] .
Species Coturnix adansonii and Coturnix chinensis , previously included in this genus, were isolated in the genus Excalfactoria [1] .
Karyotype : 78 chromosomes ( 2 n ) [6] .
- Molecular genetics
- The deposited nucleotide sequences in the database EntrezNucleotide , GenBank , NCBI , USA : 9519 (as of July 28, 2015).
- Deposited protein sequences in the database EntrezProtein , GenBank, NCBI, USA: 1142 (as of July 28, 2015).
Genetically the most studied representative of the genus is the mute quail ( C. japonica ); he owns most of the deposited sequences compared to other species of the genus.
Genome : 1.29-1.41 pg ( C-value ) [6] .
In 2013, genome sequencing of silent quail was carried out [7] .
