(Type humerus [upper arm bone] of Marocortyx africana [scale bar = 10 mm], from Zelenkov, 2024)

Meaning of name: Marocortyx = Morocco Ortyx [defunct genus name for the northern bobwhite, now in the genus Colinus]

Species included: M. africana (type species, previously in Plioperdix), M. novaki (previously in Palaeocryptonyx)

Age: Pliocene (Piacenzian)

Where found: Ahl al Oughlam, Casablanca-Settat, Morocco and Las Higueruelas, Castilla–La Mancha, Spain

Notes: Marocortyx was a phasianid, a group that includes chickens, partridges, and turkeys. In particular, it appears to have been closely related to Afro-Eurasian quails and rock partridges. The two named species of Marocortyx were previously assigned to different extinct phasianid genera, but a new study finds that they are more similar to one another, and reclassifies both of them in a new genus. In fact, the two species are so similar to each other that they may actually represent a single species, the main difference being that M. africana was slightly larger than M. novaki.