Nothurinae or aridland Tinamous is a subfamily of the Tinamidae family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

. It contains six genera

Genera

Genera is a commercial operating system and development environment for Lisp machines developed by Symbolics. It is essentially a fork of an earlier operating system originating on the MIT AI Lab's Lisp machines which Symbolics had used in common with LMI and Texas Instruments...

.
The six genera are:

• Rhynchotus
  Rhynchotus
  Rhynchotus is a genus of birds in the Tinamou family. This genus comprises two members of this South American family.-Taxonomy:Tinamous have evolved from Ratites and are the only extant Ratites that fly, and are the closest to the ancestral flying Ratites.-Species:The species are:* The Red-winged...
  
  
• Nothoprocta
  Nothoprocta
  Nothoprocta is a genus of birds belonging to the tinamou family Tinamidae. They inhabit scrubland, grassland and open woodland in western South America, particularly in the Andes. They are poor fliers and spend most of their time on the ground. Their diet includes seeds and insects. They nest on...
  
  
• Nothura
  Nothura
  Nothura is a genus of birds in the tinamou family. This genus comprises five members of this South American family.Tinamous are paleognaths related to the flightless ratites...
  
  
• Taoniscus
• Eudromia
  Eudromia
  Eudromia is a genus of birds in the tinamou family. This genus comprises two crested members of this South American family.-Etymology:...
  
  
• Tinamotis
  Tinamotis
  Tinamotis is a genus of birds in the tinamou family.-Taxonomy:All Tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also Ratites. Unlike other Ratites, Tinamous can fly, although in general, they are not strong fliers...
  
  

Description

These birds, as a member of the Tinamou, are ground birds that prefer to run and walk, but will fly when needed.

Taxonomy

They are related to the Ratites (Emus, Ostriches, Kiwis, and Rheas), and are placed with them in the Paleognathae

Paleognathae

The Palaeognathae or paleognaths are one of the two living superorders of birds. The other living superorder is Neognathae. Together these two clades form the subclass Neornithes....

. All of these birds evolved from ancient birds that did fly and Tinamous are believed to be a still living primitive family closely related to these ancient birds.

Range and habitat

The members of this superfamily

Taxonomic rank

In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...

 live in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and prefer hills and arid grasslands and scrublands as opposed to the Tinaminae

Tinaminae

Tinaminae, the forest tinamous, is a subfamily of the family Tinamidae. It contains three genera, which are:* Crypturellus* Nothocercus* Tinamus-Description:...

, which prefer forests.