Francolins are birds that traditionally have been placed in the genusFrancolinus, but now commonly are divided into multiple genera, although some of the major taxonomic listing sources have yet to divide them. The francolins' closest relatives are the junglefowl, long-billed partridge, Alectoris and Coturnix. Together this monophyletic group may warrant family status as the Gallusinidae or in a sub-family Gallusininae. The pheasantPhasianinae and partridgePerdicinaefamilies of the "Order of Phasianidae" have been established as paraphyletic. When all are maintained in a single genus, it is the most diverse of the Galliformes, having by far the most members. Francolins are terrestrial birds that feed on insects, vegetable matter and seeds. Most of the members have a hooked upper beak, well-suited for digging at the bases of grass tussocks and rootballs. They have wide tails with fourteenrectrix feathers. Most species exhibit spurs on the tarsi.
Distribution
Of the approximately 40 extant species, the natural range of five are restricted to Asia, while the remaining genera are restricted to Africa. Several species have been introduced to other parts of the world, notably Hawaii. Twelve of the species which occur in Africa are found in the subcontinental region of southern Africa; of these, seven occur in varying proportions within the political boundaries of Namibia. Six southern African francolins are considered endemic to the subcontinent, of which three are found in Namibia (the Hartlaub's, red-billed and Orange River francolins. The Cape spurfowl, endemic to the Cape Province of South Africa, occurs marginally in southern Namibia. A fossil francolin, Francolinus capeki, has been described from Late Pliocene deposits of Hungary; the contemporary fossil galliforms "Francolinus" minor and "F." subfrancolinus are now placed in Palaeocryptonyx.
Taxonomy
Until the early 1990s, major authorities placed all francolins in the genus Francolinus. In 1992 it was suggested that this treatment was problematic, and the francolins should be split into four genera: Francolinus for the Asian species, and the African species divided into Peliperdix, Scleroptila and Pternistis. The crested francolin and Nahan's francolin were considered possibly quite distinct, but still maintained in Peliperdix and Pternistis respectively. Based on further evidence, the crested francolin was moved to the monotypic genusDendroperdix in 1998, and the Nahan's francolin was moved to Ptilopachus in 2006. Though some still maintain all these in Francolinus, the split into multiple genera is becoming more widespread. When split, the English name "francolin" is generally restricted to the members of the genera Francolinus, Peliperdix, Dendroperdix and Scleroptila, while the name "spurfowl" is used for Pternistis. As the Nahan's "francolin" is related to the stone partridge rather than the true francolins and spurfowl, its name is sometimes modified to Nahan's partridge. In addition to the major changes proposed at genus level, the species level taxonomy among several francolins/spurfowl is disputed. For example, the distribution of the Orange River francolin is highly disjunct, leading some authorities to split the northern taxa into a separate species, the acacia/Archer's francolin, while maintaining the southern taxa in the Orange River francolin. Most authorities treat the Elgon francolin as a subspecies of the moorland francolin, but others have suggested it is a species, a subspecies of the Shelley's francolin, or even a hybrid between the moorland and red-winged francolins.
