Tinaminae, the forest tinamou

Tinamou

The tinamous are a family comprising 47 species of birds found in Central and South America. One of the most ancient living groups of bird, they are related to the ratites. Generally ground dwelling, they are found in a range of habitats....

s, is a subfamily of the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Tinamidae. It contains three genera

Genera

Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...

, which are:

• Crypturellus
  Crypturellus
  Crypturellus is a genus of tinamous.-Etymology:Crypturellus is formed from the Greek words κρυπτός , "covered" or "hidden", οὐρά , "tail", and -ellus, a Latin diminutive suffix...
  
  
• Nothocercus
  Nothocercus
  Nothocercus is a genus of birds in the Tinamou family. Most of this family are flightless birds, with nothocerus being the exception, as they can fly, albeit, not too well...
  
  
• Tinamus
  Tinamus
  Tinamus is a genus of birds in the Tinamou family. This genus comprises some of the larger members of this South American family.The species in taxonomic order are:...
  
  

Description

These birds, like other tinamous, are ground birds that prefer to run and walk, but will fly when they must.

Taxonomy

The tinamous are related to the ratites (emus, ostriches, kiwis, and rheas), and are grouped with them in the superorder

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Paleognathae

Paleognathae

The Palaeognathae or paleognaths are one of the two living superorders of birds. The other living superorder is Neognathae. Together these two clades form the subclass Neornithes....

. All of these birds evolved from ancient birds that did fly; the tinamous are a primitive family closely related to these ancient birds.

Range and habitat

The members of this subfamily

Taxonomic rank

In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...

 live in South

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

. They prefer to live in forests, unlike the Nothurinae

Nothurinae

Nothurinae or aridland Tinamous is a subfamily of the Tinamidae family. It contains six genera.The six genera are:* Rhynchotus* Nothoprocta* Nothura* Taoniscus* Eudromia* Tinamotis-Description:...

, which do not require forests and can live in drier climates.