Pedionomus torquatus

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Charadriiformes
Subordo: Charadrii

Familia: Pedionomidae
Genus: Pedionomus
Species: Pedionomus torquatus
Name

Pedionomus torquatus Gould, 1841
References

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1840) Pt8 no.92: p. 114 BHL.
IUCN: Pedionomus torquatus (Critically Endangered)

Vernacular names
azərbaycanca: Avstraliya səyyahı
Deutsch: Steppenläufer
English: Plains-wanderer
Esperanto: Pedionomo
español: Torillo australiano
فارسی: دشت‌گرد
suomi: Arojuoksija
français: Pédionome errant
magyar: Sztyeppefutó
italiano: Emipodio errante
日本語: クビワミフウズラ
한국어: 떠돌이메추라기
Nederlands: Trapvechtkwartel
norsk nynorsk: Slettevandrar
polski: Dropiatka
русский: Австралийский странник
svenska: Stäpplöpare
中文: 领鹑

The plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus) is a bird, the only representative of family Pedionomidae and genus Pedionomus. It is endemic to Australia. Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, including Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, but in recent years, it has become endangered with remaining known populations concentrated in the Riverina region of New South Wales and western Queensland.[2]
Description

The plains-wanderer is a quail-like ground bird, measuring 15–19 cm. It is such an atypical bird that it is placed in an entire family of its own, Pedionomidae. The adult male is light brown above, with fawn-white underparts with black crescents. The adult female is substantially larger than the male, and has a distinctive, white-spotted black collar. They have excellent camouflage and will first hide at any disturbance. If approached too closely, they will run rather than fly, at which they are very poor. Females lay four eggs, which the male then incubates.[3]
Taxonomy

It was formerly believed to be related to the buttonquails and thus placed in the gamebird order Galliformes or with the cranes and rails in Gruiformes. DNA–DNA hybridization and RAG-1 sequence data places it as a wader related to the jacanas.[4][5][6][7] It thus represents a remarkable case of morphological convergence, or perhaps it is simply extremely plesiomorphic in morphology (the buttonquails, meanwhile, having turned out to be a very basal offshoot of the wader radiation). In the latter case, this would mean that the jacanas, painted snipe and seedsnipes—all ecologically very different birds—all evolved from birds very similar to the living plains-wanderer.
Status and conservation

Population decline has been caused by the conversion of native grasslands to cultivation and intensive predation by the introduced fox—the species' ground-nesting habits, poor flying ability, and tendency to run rather than fly from predators make it easy prey for the fox.[8] Sites identified by BirdLife International as being important for plains-wanderer conservation are Boolcoomatta, Bindarrah and Kalkaroo Stations in north-eastern South Australia, Diamantina and Astrebla Grasslands in western Queensland, Patho Plains in northern Victoria and the Riverina Plains in New South Wales.[9]

A crucial aspect of Plains-wanderer conservation is their habitat needs. They require grasslands with both open and denser vegetation for foraging and roosting, which is essential for their survival and recovery.[10]
International

This bird is listed as Endangered on the 2022 IUCN Red List.[2]
Australia

Plains-wanderers are listed as critically endangered under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Their conservation status varies from state to state within Australia:[11]

New South Wales: Endangered, under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) (February 2022 list)
Queensland: Critically Endangered, under Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 (November 2021 list)
South Australia: Endangered, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (January 2020 list)
Victoria: Critically Endangered, under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (October 2021 list)

A 2018 study ranked it sixth in a list of Australian birds most likely to go extinct.[12]
Conservation efforts

A captive population was established in late 2018 within a purpose-built facility containing 30 aviaries at Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo. These captive individuals will form an insurance population as part of a breed-and-release program to support the wild population, as part of the national conservation plan for the species.[13]
See also

Pualco Range Conservation Park

References

Reed, Bourne, Elizabeth, Steven (2009). "Pleistocene Fossil Vertebrate Sites of the South East Region of South Australia II". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 133 (40). doi:10.1080/03721426.2009.10887108.
BirdLife International (2022). "Pedionomus torquatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2022: e.T22693049A212570062. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T22693049A212570062.en. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
Archibald, George W. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-85391-186-6.
Sibley, Charles G.; Ahlquist, Jon E. (1990). Phylogeny and Classification of the Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-04085-2. JSTOR j.ctt1xp3v3r.
Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A.; Székely, Tamás (24 August 2004). "A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 4 (1): 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 515296. PMID 15329156.
Van Tuinen, Marcel; Waterhouse, David; J. Dyke, Gareth (2004). "Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships". Journal of Avian Biology. 35 (3): 191–194. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03362.x. ISSN 0908-8857.
Paton, Tara A.; Baker, Allan J.; Groth, Jeff G.; Barrowclough, George F. (2003). "RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within Charadriiform birds". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 29 (2): 268–278. Bibcode:2003MolPE..29..268P. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 13678682.
Baker-Gabb, David; Antos, Mark; Brown, Geoff (2016). "Recent decline of the critically endangered Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), and the application of a simple method for assessing its cause: major changes in grassland structure". Ecological Management & Restoration. 17 (3): 235–242. Bibcode:2016EcoMR..17..235B. doi:10.1111/emr.12221. ISSN 1442-8903.
"Plains-wanderer". Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
Nugent, Daniel T.; Baker-Gabb, David J.; Green, Peter; Ostendorf, Bertram; Dawlings, Finella; Clarke, Rohan H.; Morgan, John W. (2022). "Multi-scale habitat selection by a cryptic, critically endangered grassland bird—The Plains-wanderer ( Pedionomus torquatus ): Implications for habitat management and conservation". Austral Ecology. 47 (3): 698–712. Bibcode:2022AusEc..47..698N. doi:10.1111/aec.13157. ISSN 1442-9985. S2CID 247098208.
"Pedionomus torquatus — Plains-wanderer". Species Profile and Threats Database. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, Australian Government. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
Geyle, Hayley M.; Woinarski, John C. Z.; et al. (20 April 2018). "Quantifying extinction risk and forecasting the number of impending Australian bird and mammal extinctions". Pacific Conservation Biology. 24 (2): 157–167. doi:10.1071/PC18006. hdl:10536/DRO/DU:30109156. ISSN 2204-4604. Retrieved 11 July 2022. PDF

"Dubbo Zoo welcomes two critically endangered chicks". Daily Liberal. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.