White-breasted Guineafowl

SCI Name:  Agelastes meleagrides
Protonym:  Agelastes meleagrides Proc.Zool.Soc.London(1849) (1849), Pt17 no.199 p.145
Taxonomy:  Galliformes / Numididae / Agelastes
Taxonomy Code:  whbgui1
Type Locality:  No locality given = Gold Coast.
Author:  Bonaparte
Publish Year:  1850
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

AGELASTES
(Numididae; Ϯ White-breasted Guineafowl A. meleagrides) Gr. αγελαστος agelastos  sullen, grave  < negative prefix α- a- ; γελαστης gelastēs  laugher  < γελαω gelaō  to laugh (cf. Gr. myth. Agelastus, another name for Pluto, gloomy lord of the underworld; Gr. αγελαστικος agelastikos  gregarious  < αγελη agelē  herd  < αγω agō  to lead); "Of the Birds I shall only mention Agelastes meleagrides, Temm., a lesser Talegalla, furnished with a strong spur, very rounded wings, and a flat tail. The head and neck are naked; a very broad white collar; all the rest of the plumage black, finely undulated with white." (Bonaparte 1850); "Agelastes Bonaparte, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1849 (1850), p. 145. Type, by monotypy, Agelastes meleagrides Bonaparte." (Peters 1934, II, p. 133).
Var. Agelastus.

meleagrides
● L. meleagrides  guineafowl  < meleagris, meleagridis  guineafowl  < Gr. μελεαγρις meleagris, μελεαγριδος meleagridos  guineafowl.  In Gr. myth. the Meleagrides were the sisters of the warrior Meleager.  At his death they were so disconsolate that they went into deep mourning, fasted to death and were metamorphosed into guineafowl; "Of the Birds I shall only mention Agelastes meleagrides, Temm., a lesser Talegalla" (Bonaparte 1850) (see Agelastes) (Agelastes).
● Specific name Vutur [sic] Meleagris Pallas, 1811 (= syn. Neophron percnopterus); Gr. -οιδης -oidēs  resembling; "GENRE CATHARTE.   ...   La seconde section est composée du Cathartes meleagrides, qui m'est connu par le dessin de la tête.—Cathartes percnopterus sous le nom de Vautour de Norvège, pl. enl. 429, l'adulte; et sous le nom de Vautour de Malte, pl. enl. 427, le jeune de l'année. — Cat. monachus, espèce nouvelle de nos planches coloriées 222." (Temminck 1824) (syn. Neophron percnopterus).