Swierstra's spurfowl was described in 1929 by the South African zoologist
Austin Roberts from a specimen that had been collected in Mombola, Angola. He coined the
binomial name Chaetopus swierstrai, choosing the
specific epithet to honour the South African entomologist
Cornelis Jacobus Swierstra. The species is now placed in the
genus Pternistis that was introduced by the German naturalist
Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. Swierstra's spurfowl is
monotypic: no
subspecies are recognised. ==References==