The gallopheasants (genus Lophura) are pheasants of the family Phasianidae. The genus comprises 11 species and several subspecies. Several species in this genus are known as firebacks, including crestless and crested firebacks, as well as the Siamese fireback.
Taxonomy The genus Lophura was introduced in 1822 by the Scottish naturalist John Fleming to accommodate a single species, the Bornean crested fireback (Phasianus ignitus Shaw, 1798) which is therefore considered to be the type species by monotypy. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek λοφος/lophos meaning "crest" with ουρα/oura meaning "tail".
Species The genus contains the following 11 species: Image Name Common name DistributionLophura edwardsiEdwards's pheasantVietnamLophura swinhoiiSwinhoe's pheasantTaiwan Lophura bulweri Bulwer's pheasant BorneoLophura leucomelanoskalij pheasantPakistan to western ThailandLophura nycthemerasilver pheasantmainland Southeast Asia, and eastern and southern China Lophura erythrophthalma Malayan crestless fireback Malay peninsula and Sumatra Lophura pyronota Bornean crestless fireback northern BorneoLophura rufaMalayan crested firebackThai-Malay Peninsula and SumatraLophura ignitaBornean crested firebackBorneoLophura diardiSiamese firebackCambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in Southeast Asia Lophura inornata Salvadori's pheasant Sumatra
The Vietnamese pheasant Lophura hatinhensis, formerly considered valid, has now been shown to be a variant of Edward's pheasant caused by inbreeding due to small population size.
The Imperial pheasant (Lophura × imperialis) is now known to be a hybrid between Edwards's pheasant (Lophura edwardsi) and a subspecies of silver pheasant (Lophura nycthemera annamensis).
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