Abstract
Background
The new world family Meleagrididae
(turkeys) is comprised of two species,
the North American wild turkey
(Meleagris gallopavo) of which there
are seven subspecies distributed
throughout the United States, northern
and central Mexico, and the ocellated
turkey (Agriocharis ocellata) which is
monotypic and restricted in range to
southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala.
The family Meleagrididae was named
by Linnaeus (1758) from the Latin
Meleagris, the ancient Roman name for
the Guinea fowl, with which the turkey
was confused. The first turkeys seen in
Europe were the domesticated form of
the wild turkey, which the conquistadors
found in Mexico during the
Conquest. Oddly, these birds found
their way into most of Europe via the
Turkish Empire (hence the name). A
trading partner of Spain at the time,
Turkey controlled what is today
Bulgaria, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Albania
and Greece.