Evolution and ecology of guineafowl

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dc.contributor.authorCrowe, Timothy Men_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-15T07:16:26Z
dc.date.available2016-03-15T07:16:26Z
dc.date.issued1978en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographies.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBy almost any definition, guineafowl (Numidinae) are characteristically African birds. This small subfamily (4-5 genera, 5-8 species) is endemic to, and possibly evolved, in Africa (Ghigi 1936). Nearly every major African biome and biotope has an associated guineafowl taxon (Crowe & Snow 1978). Guineafowl are sedentary birds (Chapin 1932; Elgood et al. 1973), and therefore should be more susceptible to local selection pressures than would be more mobile taxa (Ehrlich & Raven 1969). At least some inter- and intra-specific phenetic variation appears to be correlated with variation in the environment (Crowe & Snow 1978). In this dissertation, I investigate aspects of the evolution and ecology of guineafowl, and use the results of my analyses to formulate or test hypotheses concerning broad patterns of evolution and ecology of birds in Africa. Specifically, my seven aims are to: 1. re-evaluate the rather confused taxonomy of the subfamily, 2. produce a parsimonious phylogeny based on the analysis of shared derived Character-states, 3. develop models of speciation which are consistent with the above phylogeny and the likely geological and climatological history of Africa, 4. suggest a scheme of avifaunal zones based on the analysis of the distributions of, and phylogenetic relationships between recognized guineafowl taxa, 5. discover the possible adaptive significance of phenetic variation in polytypic guineafowl species, 6. demonstrate possible anatomical adaptations in the vascular system of the head and neck of Numida meleagris, 7. determine the likely mechanism of population limitation in N. meleagris. This dissertation consists of seven published or submitted papers which relate to one or more of the aims listed above.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCrowe, T. M. (1978). <i>Evolution and ecology of guineafowl</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17786en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCrowe, Timothy M. <i>"Evolution and ecology of guineafowl."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 1978. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17786en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCrowe, T. 1978. Evolution and ecology of guineafowl. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Crowe, Timothy M AB - By almost any definition, guineafowl (Numidinae) are characteristically African birds. This small subfamily (4-5 genera, 5-8 species) is endemic to, and possibly evolved, in Africa (Ghigi 1936). Nearly every major African biome and biotope has an associated guineafowl taxon (Crowe & Snow 1978). Guineafowl are sedentary birds (Chapin 1932; Elgood et al. 1973), and therefore should be more susceptible to local selection pressures than would be more mobile taxa (Ehrlich & Raven 1969). At least some inter- and intra-specific phenetic variation appears to be correlated with variation in the environment (Crowe & Snow 1978). In this dissertation, I investigate aspects of the evolution and ecology of guineafowl, and use the results of my analyses to formulate or test hypotheses concerning broad patterns of evolution and ecology of birds in Africa. Specifically, my seven aims are to: 1. re-evaluate the rather confused taxonomy of the subfamily, 2. produce a parsimonious phylogeny based on the analysis of shared derived Character-states, 3. develop models of speciation which are consistent with the above phylogeny and the likely geological and climatological history of Africa, 4. suggest a scheme of avifaunal zones based on the analysis of the distributions of, and phylogenetic relationships between recognized guineafowl taxa, 5. discover the possible adaptive significance of phenetic variation in polytypic guineafowl species, 6. demonstrate possible anatomical adaptations in the vascular system of the head and neck of Numida meleagris, 7. determine the likely mechanism of population limitation in N. meleagris. This dissertation consists of seven published or submitted papers which relate to one or more of the aims listed above. DA - 1978 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 1978 T1 - Evolution and ecology of guineafowl TI - Evolution and ecology of guineafowl UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17786 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/17786
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCrowe TM. Evolution and ecology of guineafowl. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Biological Sciences, 1978 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17786en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Scienceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherZoologyen_ZA
dc.titleEvolution and ecology of guineafowlen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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