A Summary of Intergeneric New World Quail Hybrids, and a New Intergeneric Hybrid Combination

Abstract

The exceedingly close affinities of the quail genera Colinus, Callipepla, and Lophortyx have been recognized for some time and have recently been emphasized by additional morphological (Holman 1961; Hudson et al. 1966), biochemical (Sibley 1960), and pterylographic (Ohmart 1967) evidence. Indeed, Holman has suggested that these three taxa might best be regarded as subgenera. Phillips et al. (1964) pragmatically merged Lophortyx with Callipepla; and Delacour (1961-1962) synonymized not only Lophortyx, but also Oreortyx and Philortyx, with Callipepla, yet retained Colinus as a separate genus. Although Ohmart (1967) questioned the validity of generically separating Lophortyx and Callipepla, he suggested that any new taxonomic reorganization should also include consideration of such related genera as Colinus. One useful source of evidence for judging possible generic distinction is the occurrence of both naturally occurring and artificially obtained hybrids, and their relative fertility. Thus, before advocating any taxonomic changes among the New World quail genera, a review of recorded intergeneric hybrids would seem to be in order. LITERATURE CITED AIKEN, C. E. H. 1930. A Bobwhite X California Quail hybrid. Auk 47:80-81. BAILEY, V. 1928. A hybrid Scaled X Gambel's Quail from New Mexico. Auk 45:210.

Annotated Draft Genome Assemblies for the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and the Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata) Reveal Disparate Estimates of Modern Genome Diversity and Historic Effective Population Size

“…Moreover, we also performed a reciprocal search that sought to determine whether some microsatellites might be useful in both species, and found evidence for 23 shared microsatellites (see File S1 ). While natural and experimental hybridization has been documented between the bobwhite and the scaled quail ( Johnsgard 1970 ; Shupe 1990 ), the extent of historic hybridization has not been estimated using nuclear, genome-wide variation. However, a recent mitochondrial population study for the bobwhite ( n = 53), which also produced a complete scaled quail mitochondrial genome for comparison (GenBank accession KT722338), failed to detect any evidence of historic hybridization (bobwhite ♂ × scaled quail ♀), despite sampling from regions where both species naturally occur ( Halley et al 2015 ).…”

Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) Mitochondrial Population Genomics Reveals Structure, Divergence, and Evidence for Heteroplasmy

“…Since the majority of the diverged mitogenomes (i.e., Group 2, Figs 1C and 2C ) were recovered from bobwhites that occupied overlapping ranges with the scaled quail ( Callipepla squamata ; also known as the blue quail), we investigated whether hybridization might be explanatory for the observed divergence. This hypothesis was predicated on previous observations that bobwhites and scaled quail may hybridize, both in the wild and in captivity [ 76 , 77 ]. To address this question, we used standard Illumina PE sequencing technologies to produce a complete mitogenome sequence (n = 16,701 bp; GenBank Accession KT722338; see Methods ) for a hunter harvested scaled quail that was obtained from the same ranch where multiple diverged bobwhites were sampled (Group 2, Figs 1C and 2C ).…”

Grouse and Quails of North America

“…Dwight (1900) reported that in the genera Colinus, Cullipepla, and Cyrtonyx, and possibly also in Oreortyx, there is a restricted renewal of feathers in the face and throat regions of these quail prior to the onset of breeding. The occurrence of such a prenuptial molt in the New World quail has been questioned by later investigators (Raitt, 1961;Raitt and Ohmart, 1966) but observations on hybrid quail support its existence (Johnsgard, 1970). Dwight reported a correspondingly restricted chin and head molt in species of the genera Tympunuchus and Bonasa and possibly but not definitely in species of Dendragapus.…”

“…Peterle (1951) reviewed the cases of intergeneric hybrids reported in gallinaceous birds, and Cockrum (1952) provided a more complete survey of hybridization in North American birds. Sibley (1957) commented on the taxonomic significance of hybridization in grouse, and a similar review of the significance of hybridization in the New World quails is available (Johnsgard, 1970). For a complete listing of all known hybrids of gallinaceous birds, including those reported from Europe and Asia, the summary by Gray (1958) may be consulted.…”