
Taxonomy and Distribution 
Delacour (6), who published the most recent reclassification 
of genus Gallus, lists the junglefowls as follows: 
Order Galliformes 
Family Phasianidae 
Genus Gallus 
Species 
Gray junglefowl G. sonneratii Southern India 
Ceylon junglefowl G. Lafayettii Ceylon 
Green junglefowl G. varius Java, Bali, Lombok, Flores, 
Alor, Sumbawa, and Sumba 
gallus murghii Northern, central, eastern 
India and western Burma 
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Indian red junglefowl 
Burmese red junglefowl G. g. spadica Burma, Thailand, northern 
Laos, Malaya and northern 
Sumatra 
Tonkinese red junglefowl G. g. jabouilli Extreme southern China 
Cochin-Chinese red junglefowl G. g. gallus Cochin China, Cambodia, 
Annam, Laos 
Javan red junglefowl G. g. bankiva Southern Sumatra, Java, 
and Bali 
Domestication and Introductions 
No bird has contributed more to the welfare of the human 
race than has the junglefowl. Probably bred in captivity in southern 
and southeastern Asia before historic times, domestic fowls, descendents 
of the red junglefowl, were known in the Indus Valley about 2500 B.C. 
and in southeastern Asia before 1400 B.C. By 1500 B.C., Beebe (4) 
indicates that fowls had spread to central and northwestern Europe and 
subsequently to many other lands for use as food, fighting cocks, emblems, 
and as a religious symbol. 
It is likewise the red junglefowl that has been successfully 
acclimatized as a wild bird in several parts of the world. They were 
earlier introduced into the Phillippines and to many other islands in 
the western Pacific. These birds probably reverted to the wild from 
semi-domestic fowl which accompanied the movement of men from island to 
island. Red junglefowl were liberated in Natal, South Africa, in the 
present century and are now well established. 
