Gallopheasant


The gallopheasants are pheasants of the family Phasianidae. The genus comprises 11 species and several subspecies. Several species in this genus are known as firebacks, including crestless and crested firebacks, as well as the Siamese fireback.

Taxonomy

The genus Lophura was introduced in 1822 by the Scottish naturalist John Fleming to accommodate a single species, the Bornean crested fireback which is therefore considered to be the type species by monotypy. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek λοφος/lophos meaning "crest" with ουρα/oura meaning "tail".

Species

The genus contains the following 11 species:
ImageNameCommon nameDistribution
Lophura edwardsiEdwards's pheasantVietnam
Lophura swinhoiiSwinhoe's pheasantTaiwan
Lophura bulweriBulwer's pheasantBorneo
Lophura leucomelanoskalij pheasantPakistan to western Thailand
Lophura nycthemerasilver pheasantmainland Southeast Asia, and eastern and southern China
Lophura erythrophthalmaMalayan crestless firebackMalay peninsula and Sumatra
Lophura pyronotaBornean crestless firebacknorthern Borneo
Lophura rufaMalayan crested firebackThai-Malay Peninsula and Sumatra
Lophura ignitaBornean crested firebackBorneo
Lophura diardiSiamese firebackCambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia
Lophura inornataSalvadori's pheasantSumatra

The Vietnamese pheasant Lophura hatinhensis, formerly considered valid, has now been shown to be a variant of Edward's pheasant caused by inbreeding due to small population size.
The Imperial pheasant is now known to be a hybrid between Edwards's pheasant and a subspecies of silver pheasant.