Scrubfowl
Genus of birds
title: "Scrubfowl" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["megapodius", "birds-of-oceania", "taxa-named-by-joseph-paul-gaimard"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/megapodius" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrubfowl" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| name = Scrubfowl | image = Mégapode de Reinwardt.jpg | image_caption = Orange-footed scrubfowl | taxon = Megapodius | authority = Gaimard, 1823 | type_species = Megapodius freycinet | type_species_authority = Gaimard, 1823 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = 14 total, 12 extant, see text.
The scrubfowl are mound-builders (stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae) in the genus ***Megapodius ***. They are found from south-east Asia to north Australia and islands in the west Pacific.
They do not incubate their eggs with their body heat in the orthodox way, but bury them. They are best known for building a massive mound of decaying vegetation, which the male attends, adding or removing litter to regulate the internal heat while the eggs hatch.
Taxonomy
The genus Megapodius was introduced in 1823 by the French naturalist Joseph Gaimard. He listed several species in his new genus but in 1840 the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby designated the type species as Megapodius freycinet, the dusky megapode. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek μεγας/megas, μεγαλη/megalē meaning "big" with πους/pous, ποδος/podos meaning "foot".
The genus contains 12 species: ::data[format=table]
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:MegapodiusPritchardiiBuller.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius pritchardii | Tongan megapode |
| [[File:Micronesian megapode 6.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius laperouse | Micronesian megapode |
| [[File:NICOBAR MEGAPOD .jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius nicobariensis | Nicobar megapode |
| [[File:Megapodius cumingii -North Sulawesi, Indonesia-8.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius cumingii | Philippine megapode |
| [[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA.AVES.25836 - Megapodius bernsteinii Schlegel, 1866 - Megapodiidae - skin specimen.jpeg | 120px]] | Megapodius bernsteinii | Sula megapode |
| [[File:Tanimbar Megapode imported from iNaturalist photo 332136347 on 6 December 2024.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius tenimberensis | Tanimbar megapode |
| [[File:Megapodius freycinet 1838.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius freycinet | Dusky megapode |
| [[File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - ZMA.AVES.25821 - Megapodius geelvinkianus Meyer, A.B., 1874 - Megapodiidae - skin specimen.jpeg | 120px]] | Megapodius geelvinkianus | Biak scrubfowl |
| [[File:Megapodius eremita.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius eremita | Melanesian megapode |
| [[File:LayardsMegapode.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius layardi | Vanuatu megapode |
| Megapodius decollatus | New Guinea scrubfowl | Northern New Guinea and adjacent islands | |
| [[File:Megapodius reinwardt Cairns.jpg | 120px]] | Megapodius reinwardt | Orange-footed scrubfowl |
| :: |
Two extinct species have been described from sub-fossil remains:
- †Megapodius molistructor (Pile-builder scrubfowl)
- †Megapodius amissus (Viti Levu scrubfowl)
In all of the above, the name "scrubfowl" is sometimes exchanged with "megapode". Traditionally, most have been listed as subspecies of M. freycinet, but today all major authorities consider this incorrect. Nevertheless, there are unresolved issues within the genus, and for example the taxon forstenii has been considered a subspecies of M. freycinet, a subspecies of M. cumingii, or a monotypic species. An additional species, the Moluccan megapode, has sometimes been placed in Megapodius, but today most place it in the genus Eulipoa instead. The maleo is also associated with these genera, and together the three form a group.
References
References
- Gaimard, Joseph Paul. (1823). "Mémoire sur un nouveau genre de Gallinacés établi sur de nom de ''Mégapode''". Bulletin Général et Universel des Annonces et de Nouvelles Scientifiques.
- Selby, Prideaux John. (1840). "A Catalogue of the Generic and Sub-Generic Types of the Class Aves, Birds, Arranged According to the Natural System". T. and J. Hodgson.
- (1934). "Check-List of Birds of the World". Harvard University Press.
- Jobling, James A.. "Megapodius". Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
- (February 2025). "Megapodes, guans, guineafowl, New World quail". International Ornithologists' Union.
- (1989). "Fossil birds from Late Quaternary Deposits in New Caledonia". Smithsonian Institutional Press.
- Worthy, T. H.. (2000). "The fossil megapodes (Aves: Megapodiidae) of Fiji with descriptions of a new genus and two new species". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
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