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Red Junglefowl
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The Red Junglefowl, Gallus gallus, is a tropical member of the Pheasant family, and is often believed to be the direct ancestor of the domestic chicken. While the domestic chicken has mostly derived from the Red Junglefowl, recent research done by Eriksson et al. suggests possible hybridisation with the Grey Junglefowl. It was first raised in captivity at least several thousand years ago in the Indian subcontinent, and the domesticated form has been taken all around the world as a very productive food source for both meat and eggs, which some breeds have been specifically developed to produce.
birds are also domesticated in Kenya.
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Encyclopedia
The Red Junglefowl, Gallus gallus, is a tropical member of the Pheasant family, and is often believed to be the direct ancestor of the domestic chicken. While the domestic chicken has mostly derived from the Red Junglefowl, recent research done by Eriksson et al. suggests possible hybridisation with the Grey Junglefowl. It was first raised in captivity at least several thousand years ago in the Indian subcontinent, and the domesticated form has been taken all around the world as a very productive food source for both meat and eggs, which some breeds have been specifically developed to produce.
Range
The range of the true species stretches from northeast India (where the pure species has almost certainly been diluted with back-crosses from domestic breeds) eastwards across southern China and down into Malaysia and Indonesia.
The birds are also domesticated in Kenya. They were probably introduced into the country by the influx of Indians during the early 1900's, when they were brought into Kenya to build the railway.
Each of these various regions had its own subspecies such as:
- Gallus gallus gallus Indochina
- Gallus gallus bankiva Java - Bankiva Fowl
- Gallus gallus jabouillei Vietnam
- Gallus gallus murghi India
- Gallus gallus spadiceus Burma (considered by some the true ancestor of the domestic bird)
- Gallus gallus domesticus (Chicken)
Male and female birds show very strong sexual dimorphism. Males are much larger; they have large red fleshy wattles on the head and long, bright gold and bronze feathers forming a "shawl" or "cape" over the back of the bird from the neck to the lower back. The tail is composed of long, arching feathers that initially look black but shimmer with blue, purple and green in good light. The female's plumage is typical of this family of birds in being cryptic and designed for camouflage as she alone looks after the eggs and chicks. She also has no fleshy wattles on the head.
During the breeding season, the male birds announce their presence with the well known "cock-a-doodle-doo" call. This serves both to attract potential mates and to make other male birds in the area aware of the risk of fighting a breeding competitor. The lower leg just behind and above the foot has a long spur for just this purpose. Their call structure is complex and they have distinctive alarm calls for aerial and ground predators to which others react appropriately.
Behaviour
Males make a food-related display called tidbitting, performed upon finding food in the presence of a female. The display is composed of coaxing, cluck-like calls and eye-catching bobbing and twitching motions of the head and neck. During the performance, the male repeatedly picks up and drops the food item with his beak. The display usually ends when the hen takes the food item either from the ground or directly from the male’s beak and is associated with copulations and more offspring. Behaviour, not morphology, is the best predictor of paternity. Specifically, behaviours related to dominance and to signalling are critical, and the single best predictor is the rate at which males produce anti-predator alarm calls. This suggests that male alarm calling is a form of mate investment, increasing the survival of his chicks.
Flight in these birds is almost purely confined to reaching their roosting areas at sunset in trees or any other high and relatively safe places free from ground predators, and for escape from immediate danger through the day.
Current research testing the genetic integrity of this species across its natural range appears to prove that the pure form is quite rare and may even be extinct, only represented in the wild by birds with various degrees of back crossing with domestic selections (breeds) of the species.
The other three members of the genus — Sri Lanka Junglefowl (Gallus lafayetii), Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), and the Green Junglefowl (Gallus varius) — do not produce fertile hybrids with the Red Junglefowl, suggesting that it is the sole ancestor of the domestic chicken. However, recent research has revealed the absence of the yellow skin gene in the wild Red Junglefowl found in domestic birds, which suggests hybridisation with the Grey Junglefowl during the domestication of the species.
Genetic pollution and threat of extinction
- Wild Jungle fowl, specifically Red Junglefowl in India and South Asia are presumed to be the ancestor of all poultry chickens. These are thought to be facing a serious threat of extinction because of genetic pollution which is occurring at the edge of forests where domesticated free ranging chickens are commonly kept in bordering villages and towns.
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