Tinamous are
paleognaths related to the
flightless ratites. They are probably close in appearance to the flying ancestors of the ratites. Unlike other ratites, tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers. This genus has a mere two
species, but the elegant crested tinamou has diversified into a considerable number of
subspecies: The species are:
Extant species }} }}
Fossils • †
Eudromia sp. (Late Miocene of La Pampa Province, Argentina) • †
E. olsoni Tambussi & Tonni 1985 [
Tinamisornis intermedius Dabbene & Lillo 1913 non Rovereto 1914;
Eudromia elegans intermedia (Dabbene & Lillo 1913)] (Late Pliocene of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) • †
E. intermedia (Rovereto 1914) [
Tinamisornis intermedia Rovereto 1914 non Dabbene & Lillo 1913] (Pliocene of Argentina) MPLK-03, a fossil specimen from
Argentina, possibly belongs to
Eudromia and surpasses the extinct
E. elegans and
E. formosa in size by 2.2–8% and 6–14%, respectively. It existed during the
Late Pleistocene, around the time of the
Last Glacial Maximum. ==Footnotes==