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Hoatzin

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: See text
Family: Opisthocomidae
Swainson, 1837
Genus: Opisthocomus
Illiger, 1811
Species: O. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future Least Concern ( LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Year 1837 ( MDCCCXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger ( November 19, 1775 - May 1813 was a German Entomologist and Zoologist. Year 1811 ( MDCCCXI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year hoazin
Binomial name
Ophisthocomus hoazin
(Muller, 1776)
Range of the Hoatzin
Range of the Hoatzin

The Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), also known as the Hoactzin, Stinkbird, or Canje "Pheasant", is an unusual species of tropical bird found in swamps, riverine forest and mangrove of the Amazon and the Orinoco delta in South America. Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller (1725 - 1776 was a German Zoologist. Year 1776 ( MDCCLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a The Tropics are centered on the Equator and limited in Latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23 Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. A swamp is a Wetland featuring temporary or permanent inundation of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water Mangroves (generally are Trees and Shrubs that grow in saline coastal habitats in the Tropics and Subtropics. The Orinoco Delta, also known as the Deltaic System ( Sistema Deltaico) is a vast River delta of the Orinoco River, located in eastern Venezuela South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a It is the only member of the genus Opisthocomus, which means 'ones with long hair behind' referring to their large crest. A genus (plural genera from Γένος Latin genus "descent family type gender" is a low-level Taxonomic

It is pheasant-sized (total length 65 cm/25 in), long-necked and small-headed. Pheasants are a group of large Birds in the order Galliformes. It has an unfeathered blue face with maroon eyes, and its head is topped by a spiky, rufous crest. Maroon is a dark Brownish Red Color. The first recorded use of Maroon as a color name in English was in 1789. The long sooty-brown tail is broadly tipped buff. For other uses of the term see Buff Buff (colour Buff is a pale Yellow - Brown colour that got its name from the The upperparts are dark sooty-brown edged buff on the wings coverts, and streaked buff on the mantle and nape. The underparts are buff, while the crissum, primaries, underwing coverts and flanks are rich rufous-chestnut, but this is mainly visible when it opens its wings. Flight feathers are the long stiff asymmetrically shaped but symmetrically paired Feathers on the Wings or Tail of a Bird; those on the Chestnut, also known as Indian red, is a medium brownish shade of Red. The alternative name of "stinkbird" is derived from the bird's manure-like odour, caused by their digestive system.

Contents

Ecology

The Hoatzin eats the leaves and to a lesser degree fruits of the plants which grow in the marshy and riverine habitats where it lives. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. It clambers around clumsily among the branches, and being quite tame (though they become stressed by frequent visits), often allows close approach and is reluctant to flush. The Haotzin uses a leathery bump on the bottom of its crop to help balance itself on the branches.

One of this species' many peculiarities is that it has a digestive system unique amongst birds. Hoatzins use bacterial fermentation in the front part of the gut to break down the vegetable material they consume, much like cattle and other ruminants. Fermentation is the process of deriving energy from the oxidation of organic compounds such as carbohydrates using an endogenous electron acceptor which is Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Physiologically a ruminant is a Mammal of the order Artiodactyla that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first stomach known Unlike ruminants, however, which possess the rumen - a specialized stomach for bacterial fermentation -, in the Hoatzin this is the function of the crop, an enlargement of the esophagus. The rumen, also known as a paunch, forms the larger part of the Reticulorumen, which is the first chamber in the Alimentary canal of Ruminant The crop of the Hoatzin is so large as to displace the flight muscles and keel of the sternum, much to the detriment of their flight capacity. A crop (or croup) is a thin-walled expanded portion of the Alimentary tract used for the storage of food prior to Digestion that is found in many animals Because of aromatic compounds in the leaves they consume and the bacterial fermentation, the bird has a disagreeable, manure-like odor and is only hunted for food in times of dire need. Manure is Organic matter used as Organic fertilizer in Agriculture. [1]

CT scan of a juvenile Hoatzin
CT scan of a juvenile Hoatzin

Hoatzins are gregarious and nest in small colonies, laying 2-3 eggs in a stick nest in a tree overhanging water in seasonally flooded forests. Computed tomography (CT is a Medical imaging method employing Tomography. In most Birds and Reptiles an egg ( Latin ovum) is the Zygote, resulting from Fertilization of the Ovum. The chick, which is fed on regurgitated fermented food, has another odd feature; it has two claws on each wing. When disturbed, the chicks drop into the water to escape predation, then use their clawed wings to climb back to the safety of the nest. This has inevitably led to comparisons to the fossil Archaeopteryx, but the characteristic is rather an autapomorphy, possibly caused by an atavism towards the dinosaurian finger claws, the developmental genetics "blueprint" which presumably is still present in the avian genome. Archaeopteryx, sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel ("original bird" or "first bird" is the earliest and most primitive Bird An autapomorphy in Cladistics is a derived trait that is unique to a given terminal group The term atavism (derived from the Latin atavus, a great-grandfather's grandfather and thus more generally an ancestor denotes the tendency to revert to ancestral type Developmental Biology is the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology. In classical genetics the genome of a Diploid Organism including Eukarya refers to a full set of chromosomes or genes in a Gamete, thereby

This is a noisy species, with a variety of hoarse calls, one of which has been described as like a heavy smoker's wheezing. Though conspicuous, even attractive, at close range due to its bizarre shape and striking colors (see photos in "External links" section), unwary and a poor flier, it is not considered endangered. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation In fact, its survival seems to be more assured than that of many other endemics of its range[2]. Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere It is hardly ever hunted due to its nauseousness. While its preferred habitats, mangrove and riverine forest, are disappearing fast in some regions, it is less threatened than terra firme forest, which is the primary target for deforestation in the Amazon. Deforestation is the conversion of Forested areas to non-forest land for use such as Arable land, Pasture, urban use logged area or wasteland The Hoatzin therefore remains fairly common in a large part its range.

Systematics

The Hoatzin is arguably the most enigmatic living bird in regard to its phylogenetic relationships. No satisfying evolutionary hypothesis has been proposed, and the situation has actually become worse with the availability of DNA sequence data. eVolution is the third Album by eLDee, it was due to be released in 2008 A DNA sequence or genetic sequence is a succession of letters representing the Primary structure of a real or hypothetical DNA Molecule

There has been much debate about the Hoatzin's relationships with other birds. It has been given its own family, the Opisthocomidae and suborder (Opisthocomi), which is certainly wise for the time being, given its distinctness[3]. In Biological classification, family ( Latin This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used At various times, it has been allied with such taxa as the tinamous, the Galliformes (gamebirds), the rails, the bustards, seriemas, sandgrouse, doves, turacos, other Cuculiformes, and mousebirds[3]. A taxon (plural taxa) or taxonomic unit, is a name designating an organism or a group of Organisms In Biological nomenclature according to The tinamous are one of the most ancient groups of Bird, members of a South American Bird family of about 47 species in 9 genera Galliformes are an order of Birds containing turkeys, Grouse, Chickens Quails and Pheasants More than 250 The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized Birds The family exhibits considerable diversity Bustards are large terrestrial Birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World. The Seriemas are a small and ancient family (Cariamidae of tropical South American Birds related to the rails and Bustards There are two Sandgrouse is also the name of the journal of the Ornithological Society of the Middle East - see Sandgrouse (journal The sandgrouse are a The turacos, Plantain -eaters and go-away-birds make up the Bird family Musophagidae (literally "banana-eaters" The Near passerine Bird order Cuculiformes traditionally included three families as below Musophagidae - turacos and allies The mousebirds are a small group of (possibly Near passerine) Birds which have no real close affinities to other groups though they and the parrots and cockatoos Altogether, it has been most frequently suggested to be related to Galliformes, turacos, or the anis (New World cuckoos). The anis ( Crotophagidae) are a small family of gregarious Birds occurring in the New world.

Placement with the gamebirds is historical, based mainly on phenetic considerations of external morphology, which are considered unreliable and generally dismissed today; the gamebirds together with the waterfowl belong to the fowl clade whereas the Hoatzin doesn't. Phenetics should not be confused with Phonetics, the study of speech sounds despite the similarity in pronunciation The term morphology in Biology refers to the outward appearance ( Shape, Structure, Colour, Pattern) of an Organism See also UK Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust USA Ducks Unlimited Most or all Birds collectively referred to as fowl belong to one of two orders namely the gamefowl or landfowl ( Galliformes) and the waterfowl A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor Cladistic analysis of skeletal characters, on the other hand, supports a relationship of the Hoatzin to the seriema family Cariamidae, and more distantly to the turaco and cuckoo families. Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of Species based on evolutionary ancestry The Seriemas are a small and ancient family (Cariamidae of tropical South American Birds related to the rails and Bustards There are two However, cuckoos have zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two backward) and turacos are semi-zygodactylous, whereas the Hoatzin has the more typical anisodactyl foot with three toes forward, one backwards. In Biology, dactyly is the arrangement of digits ( Fingers and Toes on the Hands feet, or sometimes Wings of a The evolution of avian dactyly, on the other hand, is not entirely resolved to satisfaction (see also Zygodactylidae).

Sibley and Ahlquist in 1990 considered it likely to be a basal cuckoo based on DNA-DNA hybridization. The Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy is a radical bird Taxonomy proposed by Charles Sibley and Jon Edward Ahlquist. In Phylogenetics, a basal Clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade it appears at the base of a cladogram The cuckoos are a family Cuculidae, of Near passerine Birds The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos also includes the DNA-DNA hybridization generally refers to a Molecular biology technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences Avise et al. in 1994 found mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data to agree with Sibley and Ahlquist's previous treatment. Mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA) is the DNA located in Organelles called mitochondria. Cytochrome b/b6 is main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes Subsequently, Hughes and Baker in 1999 proclaimed to have "resolved" the relationships of the Hoatzin to be with turacos, based on their own analysis of 6 sets of mtDNA and one of nDNA sequences. Nuclear DNA, nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid (nDNA is DNA contained within a nucleus of eukaryotic organisms.

However, using mt and nDNA sequences of increased length, Sorenson et al. in 2003 noted that all three previous DNA studies were apparently flawed due to errors in methodology, small sample size, and sequencing errors; their study strongly suggested against a close relationship between the Hoatzin and cuckoos or turacos. The sample size of a Statistical sample is the number of observations that constitute it The term DNA sequencing encompasses biochemical methods for determining the order of the Nucleotide bases Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine It was not possible, though, to reliably determine the Hoatzin's closest living relatives. Even though it tended to group with doves, this was not at all well-supported, with little more than 10% likelihood at best that such an arrangement was accurate according to Sorenson et al's analysis. In Statistics, the likelihood function (often simply the likelihood) is a function of the Parameters of a Statistical model that plays a key role

Fain & Houde in 2004 proposed a dichotomy in the Neoaves (neognaths excluding fowl) based on β-fibrinogen intron 7 (FGB-int7) sequences. A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts Neognaths ( Neognathae) are Birds within the Subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. Neognaths ( Neognathae) are Birds within the Subclass Neornithes of the class Aves. Fibrin (also called Factor Ia) is a Protein involved in the clotting of blood Introns, derived from the term "intragenic regions" and also called intervening sequence (IVS are DNA regions in a Gene that are not translated into In their suggested phylogeny, the Hoatzin was a basal member of the Metaves, a proposed clade that would include many other historically problematic bird families, such as flamingos, grebes, tropicbirds, sandgrouse and mesites. Flamingos or flamingoes ( are gregarious Wading birds in the Genus Phoenicopterus and family Grebes are members of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds some of which visit the sea when migrating Tropicbirds are a family, Phaethontidae, of tropical pelagic Seabirds There are three species in one Genus Phaethon The mesites ( Mesitornithidae) are a family of Birds of uncertain affinities While the doves did also group with the "Metaves", no close relationship between these and the Hoatzin was recovered.

On the other hand, while the other major Neoaves lineage, the Coronaves, largely agreed in its internal phylogeny with what is currently emerging as consensus[4], the interrelationships of the "Metaves" were not well resolvable. Nor do supposed metavian groupings like flamingos and nightjars or tropicbirds and hummingbirds seem to have a factual basis rather than being bogus "clades" based on molecular homoplasies. This article is about the bird For the aircraft see Gloster Nightjar. Hummingbirds are Birds in the family Trochilidae, and are endemic to the Americas. Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages The doves group, with low confidence, with the frogmouths in Fain & Houde's analysis. The frogmouths are a group of Nocturnal Birds related to the Nightjars They are found from India across southern Asia to

Nonetheless, it seems probable that the taxa lumped in the Metaves by Fain & Houde (2004) do contain some good clades, such as Caprimulgiformes, the Mirandornithes, or the Apodiformes. A clade is a taxonomic group comprising a single Common ancestor and all the descendants of that ancestor The Caprimulgiformes is an order of Birds that includes a number of Birds with global distribution (except Antarctica) Considering that some "odd Gruiformes" which might be each other's closest living relatives make up most of the remaining Metaves, doves, the Hoatzin, and sandgrouse would remain as "Metaves incerta sedis". The diverse order Gruiformes contains a considerable number of living and extinct Bird families with on first sight little in common This would seem to suggest that the Hoatzin is at least closer related to doves than to any other living birds. Still, the analysis found a Hoatzin-doves clade, placing the frogmouths with some of what with near certainty are their actual relatives - other Cypselomorphae -, even less likely than the highly improbable dove-frogmouth grouping. Cypselomorphae is a Clade of Birds It includes the living families and orders Caprimulgidae (nightjars nighthawks and allies

As regards other material evidence, the undisputed fossil record of the hoatzins consists of a single backside of the cranium of a fossil hoatzin, specimen UCMP 42823[5]. FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. The University of California Museum of Paleontology ( UCMP) is a Paleontology museum located on the campus of the University of California Berkeley, It is of Miocene origin[6] and was recovered in the upper Rio Magdalena Valley, Colombia. The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23 The Magdalena River (Spanish Río Magdalena) also called Yuma River (Spanish Río Yuma) is the principal River of Colombia, running Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. This has been placed into a distinct, less derived genus, Hoazinoides, but clearly would be placed into the same family as the extant species. It markedly differs insofar as that the cranium of the living Hoatzin is characteristic, being much domed, rounded, and shortened, and that these autapomorphies were less pronounced in the Miocene bird. Miller discussed these findings in the light of the supposed affiliation of the hoatzins and the Galliformes, which was the favored hypothesis at that time, but had been controversial almost since its inception. He cautioned, however, "that Hoazinoides by no means establishes a phyletic junction point with other galliforms. " for obvious reasons, as we know today. Anything other than the primary findings of Miller are not to be expected in any case, as by the time of Hoazinoides, essentially all modern bird families are either known or believed to have been present and distinct. Going further back in time, the Late Eocene or Early Oligocene (some 34 million years ago) Filholornis from France has also been considered "proof" of a link between the Hoatzin and the gamebirds[3]. The Eocene epoch (558 ± 02 - 339 ± 01 Ma) is a major division of the Geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and extends from about 33 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The fragmentary fossil Hoatzi from the Eocene of Argentina and the quite complete but no less enigmatic Early-Middle Eocene (Ypresian-Lutetian, some 48 million years ago) Foro panarium[7] are sometimes used to argue for a hoatzin-cuculiform (including turacos) link. The Eocene epoch (558 ± 02 - 339 ± 01 Ma) is a major division of the Geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Argentina topics. The Ypresian is the first stage of the Eocene Epoch and usually corresponds to the Early Eocene subepoch though sometimes the Lutetian The Lutetian is a stage of the Eocene Epoch. It spans the time between 48 Foro is a mysterious Genus of Bird that lived during the early to mid-Eocene around the Ypresian - Lutetian boundary some 48 But as demonstrated above, this must be considered highly speculative, if not as crassly off the mark as the relationship with Cracidae discussed by Miller. The chachalacas guans and curassows are Birds in the family Cracidae.

More data has probably been analysed for the Hoatzin than for any other non-ratite bird. A ratite is any of a diverse group of large Flightless birds of Gondwanan origin most of them now extinct As can be seen, not even unequivocal distant relatives can be determined. Thus, those that place the Hoatzin into an order of its own, Opisthocomiformes[8], might express the continuing uncertainty most adequately. This article is about the taxonomic rank for the sequence of species in a taxonomic list see Taxonomic order In scientific classification used

View of head

Opisthocomus hoazin|Stuffed specimen, MCZ

Footnotes

  1. ^ Grajal, A. , S. D. Strahl, R. Parra, M. G. Dominguez, & A. Neher. 1989. Foregut fermentation in the Hoatzin, a Neotropical leaf-eating bird. Science 245: 1236-1238.
  2. ^ BirdLife International (2004)
  3. ^ a b c Thomas (1996)
  4. ^ E. g. that there is a major clade of "near passerines" and that the Charadriiformes are quite distinct. Near passerine or higher land-bird assemblage are terms often given to Arboreal Birds or those most often believed to be related to the true Passerines Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large Birds It includes about 350 Species and has members in all parts of the world
  5. ^ Miller (1953)
  6. ^ Originally believed to be of Late Miocene age - some 10-5 million years old -, the bone was found in association with fossils of the monkey Cebupitheca sarmientoi which today is usually considered of Early or Middle Miocene, or maybe 18 (Thomas 1996) but at least some 15 million years of age.
  7. ^ May be congeneric with Hoatzi
  8. ^ E. g. Thomas (1996)

References

External links

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