Jungle Fowl

Jungle Fowl, common name for four species of fowl found in Asia, south of the Himalayas, and on many islands in the East Indies: the gray jungle fowl of India, the Ceylon jungle fowl of Sri Lanka, the green jungle fowl of Indonesia, and the red jungle fowl.

Genetic analyses have shown that every breed of domestic chicken can be traced to the red jungle fowl. Scientists estimate that these birds were domesticated roughly 8,000 years ago in what is now Thailand and Vietnam. The red jungle fowl has been widely introduced, both in wild and domestic forms, around the world (see Poultry Farming). This is a rare case in which the domestication of a species did not result in the extinction of its wild ancestor.

The red jungle fowl is also the first bird to have its entire genetic makeup deciphered. An international team of scientists announced the mapping of the bird’s genetic material, its deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), in 2004. Although the ancestors of birds and the ancestors of mammals split off from a common ancestor more than 310 million years ago, humans and chickens share over half the same genes. Because the domestic chicken is widely used in biomedical research, it serves as an important model for vaccine production and the study of embryology and development, as well as for research into the connection between viruses and some types of cancer. Learning more about the chicken genome may also help scientists better understand the avian flu.

Scientific classification: Jungle fowl make up the genus Gallus of the family Phasianidae, order Galliformes. The gray jungle fowl is classified as Gallus sonneratii, the Ceylon jungle fowl as Gallus lafayettei, the green jungle fowl as Gallus varius, and the red jungle fowl as Gallus gallus.