I would like to know, in simple terms, why the headgear of the domesticated Helmeted Guinea Fowl in parts of the world outside of Africa, look different to the indigenous Helmeted Guinea Fowl of South Africa?
I tried to find the answer on my own, but I am far from an academic person (me arty person... who likes lots of pictures), so University research papers like “Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of African spurfowls” made my head hurt just looking at the introductory and contents pages.
(Here is the link to the above mentioned research paper for those bird genetics and data nerds out there
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ormes_Phasianidae_Coturnicinae_Pternistis_spp
When I began with finding the answer, my deductive reasoning was my starting point; and this was to follow the history of the bird from its origin, and somewhere on the timeline I will discover what influences caused the diversification. So I put on my glasses and my serious thinking face... and I Googled it.
And here, in my own words, is what I initially found out from Google links to various websites (including YouTube videos and Wikipedia):
Africa - continent of origin - Guinea Fowl are indigenous (occurring naturally) to Africa; and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds (heavy-bodied ground-feeders that includes chickens, turkeys, quail and other landfowl, but not waterfowl). In South Africa the Helmeted Guinea Fowl are abundant in virtually all open-country terrain, which makes them a common sight here.
Beyond Africa - Guinea Fowl were documented in South-eastern Europe, in Ancient Greece, as far back as the fifth century BC, but they are originally from the African continent. It was the Romans who took them back to Europe from their campaigns in Africa. By the 1400’s the then semi-domesticated Guinea Fowl had spread to Western Europe; and it was from there that they made their way West to the Americas through the early settlers crossing the ocean. Slave ships had also taken Guinea Fowl to the Americas directly from Africa, but the regular Guinea Fowl seen in the USA today is referred to, I believe, as the ‘French Guinea Fowl’ suggesting that this evolved breed originated from the European domesticated Guinea Fowl.
Once I had typed out the above two paragraphs from my scribbled notes, I sat back and thought... it seems feasible (nodding my head)... but how do they know? (suspicious side-ways eye glance). Am I just to believe this to be true?... the gullible person that I am; and “they” being the knowledgable internet people?
It wasn't enough; and I had to corroborate the information if I was going to be passing it on to the trusting Backyard Chicken peeps who are curious to know why the Guinea Fowl in my photographs look different. So I again put on my glasses and my serious thinking face... and I Googled it.
And then I fell down a rabbit hole... with a thud!
And I am still trying to crawl my way back out of it. I came across books dating back to the 1800s; and one of these books, “The American Poultry Yard”, by D.J. Browne, published in 1850, is most likely an original source to some of the information related by the knowledgable internet people and some of which now appears in the aforementioned two paragraphs typed from my notes.
But once again this is not enough, because another of these 1800's books, “Sheep, Swine, and Poultry”, by Robert Jennings, V.S., dated 1863, over a decade later, narrates information that must, to be sure, be incorrect? So how is any of the information from these dated books to be believed?
And it still does not answer my original question!! ...in simple terms, why the headgear of the domesticated Helmeted Guinea Fowl in parts of the world outside of Africa, look different to the indigenous Helmeted Guinea Fowl of South Africa?
So please, dear Backyard Chicken members, put me out of my dive-into-the-academic misery. I am hoping this thread has now opened it to discussion, and I am looking forward to hearing from you... anyone? Let's hear your theories.
[Just please excuse me if the occasion should arise where I find myself looking at your posts like a dog with its head tilted to one side – trying to understand, but the information is just not being comprehended. In this case, I might not respond due to lack of knowing how (this happens more often than you may think).]
In the meantime, here is another link to a book that makes my head hurt, but which might interest you:
“The Evolution of Guinea- fowl
(Galliformes, Phasianidae, Numidinae)
Taxonomy, Phylogeny. Speciation and Biogeography”,
by T.M. Crowe,
pulished by the South African museum,
in 1978.
https://archive.org/details/biostor-109795/mode/1up
I tried to find the answer on my own, but I am far from an academic person (me arty person... who likes lots of pictures), so University research papers like “Taxonomy, phylogeny and biogeography of African spurfowls” made my head hurt just looking at the introductory and contents pages.
(Here is the link to the above mentioned research paper for those bird genetics and data nerds out there
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ormes_Phasianidae_Coturnicinae_Pternistis_spp
When I began with finding the answer, my deductive reasoning was my starting point; and this was to follow the history of the bird from its origin, and somewhere on the timeline I will discover what influences caused the diversification. So I put on my glasses and my serious thinking face... and I Googled it.
And here, in my own words, is what I initially found out from Google links to various websites (including YouTube videos and Wikipedia):
Africa - continent of origin - Guinea Fowl are indigenous (occurring naturally) to Africa; and rank among the oldest of the gallinaceous birds (heavy-bodied ground-feeders that includes chickens, turkeys, quail and other landfowl, but not waterfowl). In South Africa the Helmeted Guinea Fowl are abundant in virtually all open-country terrain, which makes them a common sight here.
Beyond Africa - Guinea Fowl were documented in South-eastern Europe, in Ancient Greece, as far back as the fifth century BC, but they are originally from the African continent. It was the Romans who took them back to Europe from their campaigns in Africa. By the 1400’s the then semi-domesticated Guinea Fowl had spread to Western Europe; and it was from there that they made their way West to the Americas through the early settlers crossing the ocean. Slave ships had also taken Guinea Fowl to the Americas directly from Africa, but the regular Guinea Fowl seen in the USA today is referred to, I believe, as the ‘French Guinea Fowl’ suggesting that this evolved breed originated from the European domesticated Guinea Fowl.
Once I had typed out the above two paragraphs from my scribbled notes, I sat back and thought... it seems feasible (nodding my head)... but how do they know? (suspicious side-ways eye glance). Am I just to believe this to be true?... the gullible person that I am; and “they” being the knowledgable internet people?
It wasn't enough; and I had to corroborate the information if I was going to be passing it on to the trusting Backyard Chicken peeps who are curious to know why the Guinea Fowl in my photographs look different. So I again put on my glasses and my serious thinking face... and I Googled it.
And then I fell down a rabbit hole... with a thud!
And I am still trying to crawl my way back out of it. I came across books dating back to the 1800s; and one of these books, “The American Poultry Yard”, by D.J. Browne, published in 1850, is most likely an original source to some of the information related by the knowledgable internet people and some of which now appears in the aforementioned two paragraphs typed from my notes.
But once again this is not enough, because another of these 1800's books, “Sheep, Swine, and Poultry”, by Robert Jennings, V.S., dated 1863, over a decade later, narrates information that must, to be sure, be incorrect? So how is any of the information from these dated books to be believed?
And it still does not answer my original question!! ...in simple terms, why the headgear of the domesticated Helmeted Guinea Fowl in parts of the world outside of Africa, look different to the indigenous Helmeted Guinea Fowl of South Africa?
So please, dear Backyard Chicken members, put me out of my dive-into-the-academic misery. I am hoping this thread has now opened it to discussion, and I am looking forward to hearing from you... anyone? Let's hear your theories.
[Just please excuse me if the occasion should arise where I find myself looking at your posts like a dog with its head tilted to one side – trying to understand, but the information is just not being comprehended. In this case, I might not respond due to lack of knowing how (this happens more often than you may think).]
In the meantime, here is another link to a book that makes my head hurt, but which might interest you:
“The Evolution of Guinea- fowl
(Galliformes, Phasianidae, Numidinae)
Taxonomy, Phylogeny. Speciation and Biogeography”,
by T.M. Crowe,
pulished by the South African museum,
in 1978.
https://archive.org/details/biostor-109795/mode/1up
