Ceylon chicken
Ceylon chicken | ||||||||||
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Ceylon hen rooster ( Gallus lafayettii ) |
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Systematics | ||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||
Gallus lafayettii | ||||||||||
Lesson , 1831 |
The Ceylon chicken ( Gallus lafayettii ), also known as Lafayette chicken or yellow comb chicken , is one of the comb chicken (genus Gallus ) and lives on the island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon).
features
The rooster reaches a height of 66 to 73 cm and a weight of 790 to 1140 g. Its crest is red and finely jagged. An important distinguishing feature is the light yellow center point in the cock's crest. The hen reaches a weight of 510 to 625 g. The Ceylon chicken is closely related to the Bankiva chicken .
Way of life
Like most pheasants , the Ceylon hen lives on the ground and feeds on seeds, insects, and fallen fruit.
Tailless mutant
In 1868, the British naturalist Charles Darwin falsely denied the existence of a tailless mutant of the Ceylon chicken, which the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck had described in 1807.
proof
Individual evidence
- ↑ Grouw, Hein van, Dekkers, Wim & Rookmaaker, Kees (2017). On Temminck's tailless Ceylon Junglefowl, and how Darwin denied their existence. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club (London) , 137 (4), 261-271. doi : 10.25226 / bboc.v137i4.2017.a3
literature
- Richard Howard et al. (Eds.): The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World . 3rd, revised. Edition. tape 4 . Helm, London 2003, ISBN 0-7136-6536-X , pp. 41 .
Web links
- Ceylon chicken
- Gallus lafayettii in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed on December 21 of 2008.
- Videos, photos and sound recordings on Gallus lafayettii in the Internet Bird Collection