Red junglefowl

Red junglefowl
Male red junglefowl
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Gallus
Species:	G. gallus
Binomial name
Gallus gallus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Red junglefowl (Brown)
Synonyms
Phasianus gallus Linnaeus, 1758

The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), also known as the Indian red junglefowl (and formerly the bankiva or bankiva-fowl), is a species of tropical, predominantly terrestrial bird in the fowl and pheasant family, Phasianidae, found across much of Southeast and parts of South Asia. The red junglefowl was the primary species to give-rise to today's many breeds of domesticated chicken (G. g. domesticus); additionally, the related grey junglefowl (G. sonneratii), Sri Lankan junglefowl (G. lafayettii) and the Javanese green junglefowl (G. varius) have also contributed genetic material to the gene pool of the modern chicken.^[2][3]

Molecular evidence, derived from whole-genome sequencing, has revealed that the chicken was first domesticated from red junglefowl ca. 8,000 years ago,^[2] with this domestication-event involving multiple maternal origins.^[2][4] Since then, the domestic form has spread around the world, and they are bred by humans in their millions for meat, eggs, colourful plumage and companionship.^[5] Outside of their native range, mainly in the Americas and Europe, the wild form of Gallus gallus is sometimes used in zoos, parks or botanical gardens as a free-ranging form of beneficial "pest control", similarly to—and often kept with—the Indian blue peafowl (Pavo cristatus) or the helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris); hybridisation has been documented between Gallus and Numida.^[6]