#oreophasis

Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus), family Cracidae, order Galliformes, found in SE Mexico and Guatemala

ENDANGERED.

Photo source

By KCZooFan, CC BY-SA 2.0 

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Name: Oreophasis derbianus 

Status: Extant

First Described: 1844 

Described By: Gray 

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Pangalliformes, Galliformes, Cracidae

Oreophasis, the Horned Guan, is a species of bird that isn’t actually a Guan - it just looks like one! Instead it’s probably more closely related to Currasows and Chachalacas. It has a large horn on its head, much like these birds, though the closer relationship to other members of the Cracids is determined more through genetic evidence than anything else. It has black feathers with white underfeathers, and a distinctive white stripe across its tail, in addition to the bright red horn on its head. It lives in the humid mountain forests of Mexico and Guatemala, up to 3.350 meters in altitude. It eats fruits, leaves, and some invertebrates. Due to habitat loss and an already small population size, in addition to hunting, it is an endangered species. 

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Source: 

Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus), family Cracidae, order Galliformes, found in SE Mexico and Guatemala

ENDANGERED.

Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus), family Cracidae, found in SE Mexico and Guatemala

Horned Guan (Oreophasis derbianus), family Cracidae, Chiapas, Mexico

Horned Guan 

(Oreophasis derbianus)

is a bird of the family Cracidae (guans). they can be found throughout Southern Mexico and Guatemala  they are a fairly large bird growing up to 85cm long. unlike their name suggests they are the only member of their genus and are not a true guan as they have their own evolutionary lineage in the family Cracidae different than guans and curassows. they are high altitude birds residing at 3,350 and live of an diet of mostly leaves and small invertebrates. unfortunately due to habitat loss and small population size they are listed as endangered by the IUCN.

Phylogeny