Turkey

History and naming

When Europeans  first encountered turkeys in the  Americas, they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of  guineafowl  (Numididae). Guineafowl were also known as turkey fowl (or turkey hen and turkey cock) because they were imported  to  Central Europe  through  Turkey. The name turkey fowl, shortened to just the name of the country, stuck as the name of the North American bird.| [2] | [3]  | [4]  In 1550, English navigator  William Strickland, who had introduced the turkey into England, was granted a coat of arms including a "turkey-cock in his pride proper".| [5]

The confusion between these kinds of birds from related, but different, families is also reflected in the scientific name  for the turkey  genus :  meleagris  (μελεαγρίς) is  Greek  for  guineafowl. Two major reasons why the name 'turkey fowl' stuck to Meleagris rather than to the Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) were the genuine belief that the newly-discovered Americas  were in fact a part of  Asia, and the tendency during that time to attribute exotic animals and foods to a place that symbolized far-off, exotic lands.

In many countries, the name for turkeys refers to some other country. See List of names for the Wild Turkey.

Several other birds, which are sometimes called turkeys, are not particularly closely related: the Australian Brushturkey  is a  megapode, and the bird sometimes known as the "Australian Turkey" is the  Australian Bustard , a  gruiform. The bird sometimes called a Water Turkey is the Anhinga  (Anhinga rufa), from the shape of its tail when the feathers are fully spread for drying.

edit ] Fossil record
EnlargeMale Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellataMany turkeys have been described from fossils. EnlargeMale TurkeyThe Meleagrididae are known from the Early Miocene  (c. 23  mya ) onwards, with the  extinct   genera   Rhegminornis  (Early Miocene of Bell, U.S.) and  Proagriocharis  (Kimball  Late Miocene / Early Pliocene  of Lime Creek, U.S.). The former is probably a basal turkey, the other a more contemporary bird not very similar to known turkeys; both were much smaller birds. A turkey fossil not assignable to genus but similar to Meleagris is known from the Late Miocene of Westmoreland County, Virginia .| [1]  In the modern genus Meleagris, a considerable number of species have been described, as turkey fossils are robust and fairly often found, and turkeys show great variation among individuals. Many of these supposed fossilized species are now considered junior synonyms. One, the well-documented California Turkey  Meleagris californica,| [6]  became extinct recently enough to have been hunted by early human settlers| [7]  and it is believed its demise was due to the combined pressures of  climate change  at the end of the  last glacial period  and hunting.| [8]

edit ] Turkeys known from fossils
Turkeys have been considered by many authorities to be their own family—the Meleagrididae—but a recent genomic analyses of a retrotransposon marker  groups turkeys in the family  Phasianidae .| [9] From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA turkey is a large bird  in the  genus  Meleagris. One species,  Meleagris gallopavo , commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of  North America. The domestic turkey  is a descendant of this species. The other living species  is  Meleagris ocellata  or the  Ocellated Turkey, native to the forests of the  Yucatán Peninsula .| [1]
 * Meleagris sp. (Early Pliocene of Bone Valley, U.S.)
 * Meleagris sp. (Late Pliocene of Macasphalt Shell Pit, U.S.)
 * Meleagris californica (Late Pleistocene of SW U.S.)—formerly Parapavo/Pavo
 * Meleagris crassipes (Late Pleistocene of SW North America)

Turkeys are classed in the taxonomic   order  of  Galliformes. Within this order they are relatives of the grouse   family  or  subfamily. Males of both species have a distinctive fleshy wattle  or protuberance that hangs from the top of the beak—called a  snood  in the Wild Turkey and its domestic descendants. They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As in many galliform species, the male (tom or gobbler) is larger and much more colorful than the female (hen).&nbsp