Editing Buttonquail

{{short description|Family of birds}}
{{Redirect|Button quail|the species of true quail often known as button quail in aviculture|king quail}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Buttonquail
| image = Black-breasted Button-quail male inskip.JPG
| image_caption = [[Black-breasted buttonquail]] (''Turnix melanogaster'')
| taxon = Turnicidae
| authority = [[George Robert Gray|Gray, GR]], 1840
| type_species = ''[[Common buttonquail|Tetrao gibraltaricus]]''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=63 |title= Alcidae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-26}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = Gmelin, 1788
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = {{linked genus list
| Turnix | [[Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre|Bonnaterre]], 1791
| Ortyxelos | [[Louis Pierre Vieillot|Vieillot]], 1825 }}
| range_map = Turnicidae rangmap.PNG
| range_map_caption = Distribution of the buttonquails
}}

'''Buttonquail''' or '''hemipodes''' are members of a small family of [[bird]]s, '''Turnicidae''', which resemble, but are not closely related to, the [[coturnix|quail]]s of [[Phasianidae]]. They inhabit warm [[grassland]]s in [[Asia]], [[Africa]], [[Europe]], and [[Australia]]. There are 18 species in two genera, with most species placed in the genus ''[[Turnix]]'' and a single species in the genus ''[[Quail-plover|Ortyxelos]]''.

Buttonquails are small, drab, running birds, which avoid flying. The female is the more richly colored of the sexes. While the quail-plover is thought to be [[Monogamy|monogamous]], ''Turnix'' buttonquails are sequentially [[polyandry in animals|polyandrous]]: both sexes cooperate in building a nest in the earth, but normally only the male [[Avian incubation|incubates]] the eggs and tends the young, while the female may go on to mate with other males.

==Taxonomy==
The genus ''Turnix'' was introduced in 1791 by French naturalist in [[Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre|Pierre Bonnaterre]].<ref>{{ cite book | last1=Bonnaterre | first1=Pierre Joseph | author-link=Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre | last2=Vieillot | first2=Louis Pierre  | author2-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot | year=1823 | title=Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature: Ornithologie | volume=Part 1 | language=French | location=Paris | publisher=Panckoucke | pages=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51114657 lxxxii], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51114678 5-6] }} Although the title page bears the date of 1823 the section (''livraison'') containing the description was published in 1791. See: {{ cite book | last1=Dickinson | first1=E.C. | author1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | last2=Overstreet | first2=L.K. | last3=Dowsett | first3=R.J. | last4=Bruce | first4=M.D. | year=2011 | title=Priority! The Dating of Scientific Names in Ornithology: a Directory to the literature and its reviewers | location=Northampton, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-1-5 | page=78 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267763194 }}</ref> The genus name is an abbreviation of the genus ''[[Coturnix]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=393 | url=https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n393/mode/1up }}</ref> The [[type species]] was subsequently designated as the [[common buttonquail]].<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=142 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482955 }}</ref>

The buttonquail family, Turnicidae, was introduced in 1840 by the English zoologist [[George Robert Gray]].<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gray | first=George Robert | author-link=George Robert Gray | year=1840 | title=A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus | location=London | publisher=R. and J.E. Taylor | page=63 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13668980 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Bock | first=Walter J. | year=1994 | title=History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names | series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume= 222 | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | location=New York | pages=112, 178, 237 | url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/handle/2246/830 }}<!--Linked page allows download of the 48MB pdf--></ref> The buttonquails were traditionally placed in [[Gruiformes]] or [[Galliformes]] (the crane and pheasant orders).  The [[Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy]] elevated them to ordinal status as the '''Turniciformes''' and [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] to other [[Neoaves]] either because their accelerated rate of [[molecular evolution]] exceeded the limits of sensitivity of [[DNA-DNA hybridization]] or because the authors did not perform the appropriate pairwise comparisons or both.  Morphological, DNA-DNA hybridization and [[DNA sequence|sequence]] data indicate that turnicids correctly belong to the shorebirds ([[Charadriiformes]]).<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Paton TA, Baker AJ, Groth JG, Barrowclough GF|year=2003|title=RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=29 |pages=268–78 |doi=10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8 |pmid=13678682 |issue=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Fain, Matthew G. |author2=Houde, Peter |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |title=Parallel radiations in the primary clades of birds |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |volume=58 |pages=2558–73 |doi=10.1554/04-235 |url=http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/houde/Parallel_radiations.pdf |pmid=15612298 |issue=11 |s2cid=1296408 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407204436/http://biology-web.nmsu.edu/houde/Parallel_radiations.pdf |archivedate=2013-04-07 }}</ref><ref name=Paton06>{{cite journal |vauthors=Paton TA, Baker AJ|year=2006|title=Sequences from 14 mitochondrial genes provide a well-supported phylogeny of the Charadriiform birds congruent with the nuclear RAG-1 tree|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=39 |pages=657–67 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.011 |pmid=16531074 |issue=3}} 
</ref> They seem to be an ancient group among these, as indicated by the buttonquail-like [[Early Oligocene]] [[fossil]] ''[[Turnipax]]'' and the collected molecular data.<ref name=Paton06/>

==Description==
The buttonquails are a group of small terrestrial birds. The smallest species is the [[quail-plover]], the only species in the genus ''Ortyxelos'', which is {{cvt|10|cm}} in length and weighs only {{convert|20|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The buttonquails in the genus ''Turnix'' range from {{cvt|12|to(-)|23|cm}} in length and weigh between {{cvt|30|and(-)|130|g}}. They superficially resemble the true quails of the genus ''[[Coturnix]]'', but differ from them in lacking a hind toe and a [[Crop (anatomy)|crop]]. The females of this family also possess a unique vocal organ created by an enlarged trachea and inflatable bulb in the esophagus, which they use to produce a booming call.<ref name=hbw>{{ cite book | last=Debus | first=S.J.S. | year=1996 | chapter=Family Turnicidae (Buttonquails) | editor1-last=del Hoyo | editor1-first=J. | editor2-last=Elliott | editor2-first=A. | editor3-last=Sargatal | editor3-first=J. | title=Handbook of the Birds of the World | volume=3: Hoatzin to Auks | location=Barcelona, Spain | publisher=Lynx Edicions | isbn=978-84-87334-20-7 | pages=44–59 | chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0003unse/page/44/mode/1up | chapter-url-access=registration }}</ref>

==Breeding==
Buttonquails are unusual in that females are serially [[Polyandry in animals|polyandrous]]. The nest is a scape on the ground often near overhanging vegetation. The female lays a clutch of 4 or 5 eggs and then looks for a new mate. The male incubates the eggs which hatch synchronously after 12 to 15 days. The precocial chicks leave the nest soon after hatching and are cared for by the male. They can fly at two weeks of age and become independent at four weeks. For the smaller species sexual maturity is reached at three months.<ref name=hbw/>

==Species==
'''Family: Turnicidae'''
* Genus: ''Ortyxelos''
** [[Quail-plover]], ''Ortyxelos meiffrenii''
* Genus: ''[[Turnix]]''
** [[Common buttonquail]], ''Turnix sylvaticus''
*** Tawitawi common buttonquail, ''Turnix sylvaticus suluensis'' ([[extinct]]: mid-20th century)
*** Andalusian common buttonquail, ''Turnix sylvaticus sylvaticus'' (possibly [[extinct]]: late 20th century?)
** [[Red-backed buttonquail]], ''Turnix maculosus''
** [[Fynbos buttonquail]], ''Turnix hottentottus''
** [[Black-rumped buttonquail]], ''Turnix nanus''
** [[Yellow-legged buttonquail]], ''Turnix tanki''
** [[Spotted buttonquail]], ''Turnix ocellatus''
** [[Barred buttonquail]], ''Turnix suscitator''
** [[Madagascar buttonquail]], ''Turnix nigricollis''
** [[Black-breasted buttonquail]], ''Turnix melanogaster''
** [[Chestnut-backed buttonquail]], ''Turnix castanotus''
** [[Buff-breasted buttonquail]], ''Turnix olivii''
** [[Painted buttonquail]], ''Turnix varius''
*** [[Abrolhos painted buttonquail]], ''Turnix varius scintillans''
** [[New Caledonian buttonquail]], ''Turnix novaecaledoniae'' ([[IUCN Red List|possibly extinct]]: early 20th century)
** [[Worcester's buttonquail]], ''Turnix worcesteri''
** [[Sumba buttonquail]], ''Turnix everetti''
** [[Red-chested buttonquail]], ''Turnix pyrrhothorax''
** [[Little buttonquail]], ''Turnix velox''

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Barred buttonquail Nandihills 18July2006bngbirds.jpg|[[Barred buttonquail]] (''Turnix suscitator'')
File:Turnix sylvatica.jpg|[[Small buttonquail]] (''Turnix sylvatica'')
File:Paainted Buttonquail kobble08.JPG|[[Painted buttonquail]] (''Turnix varia'')
File:Turnix pyrrhothorax.jpg|[[Red-chested buttonquail]] (''Turnix pyrrhothorax'')
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* [[Charles Sibley|'''Sibley''', Charles Gald]] & [[Jon Edward Ahlquist|'''Ahlquist''', Jon Edward]] (1990): ''Phylogeny and classification of birds''. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.

==External links==
{{commons category|Turnicidae}}
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/buttonquails-turnicidae Buttonquail videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

{{Charadriiformes|L.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q205320}}

[[Category:Extant Rupelian first appearances]]
[[Category:Turnicidae| ]]