Abstract

CAMACHO-ESCOBAR, MA et al. Natural history, domestication and distribution of the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in Mexico. Universidad y ciencia [online]. 2011, vol.27, n.3, pp.351-360. ISSN 0186-2979.

Historic studies of turkeys or guajolotes in Mexico have met complications generated by the different synonymies of the species. The first people that studied turkeys thought they were other species of similar characteristics, and there was also the presence of native domestic species. It is believed that the ancestors of the turkeys emigrated from Asia to America through the Bering strait in the Early Miocene, and by the time of the Pleistocene, a turkey ancestor had evolved. Apparently, the present turkey (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo) was domesticated four or five thousand years ago in the southern region of the Mexican high plateau, despite the Anasazi culture of Arizona and the Mogollon of New Mexico having domesticated other subspecies that have not prevailed as domestic species to the present. There are now six turkey subspecies in the world, of which M. g. mexicana and M. g. intermedia are known without doubt to be distributed in the wild in Mexico at present, and another one, M. g. gallopavo, exists as a domestic species, although it may possibly still be found in a wild state in Oaxaca. People in the Mexican states that historically had populations of wild turkeys, at present raise domestic turkeys, suggesting there is a close relationship between Man and the wild turkey.

Keywords : Present distribution; historic distribution; evolution; turkey; synonymy.

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