Grey-breasted spurfowl

The grey-breasted spurfowl or grey-breasted francolin (Pternistis rufopictus) is a species of bird in the family Phasianidae. It is found only in Tanzania.

Grey-breasted spurfowl
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Phasianidae
Genus:	Pternistis
Species:	P. rufopictus
Binomial name
Pternistis rufopictus Reichenow, 1887
geographic distribution
Synonyms
Francolinus rufopictus

The grey-breasted spurfowl was described by the German ornithologist Anton Reichenow in 1887 and given its current binomial name Pternistis rufopictus.^[2] The specific epithet combines the Latin rufus meaning "red" and pictus meaning "painted".^[3] A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019 found that the grey-breasted spurfowl is sister to the red-necked spurfowl.^[4] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.^[5]