Gray Junglefowl

Gallus sonneratii

The grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), also known as the Sonnerat's junglefowl or silver chicken, is one of the wild ancestors of the domestic chicken together with the red junglefowl and other junglefowls.

A gene from the grey junglefowl is responsible for the yellow pigment in the legs and different body parts of all the domestic chicken breeds. A more recent study revealed multiple grey junglefowl genomic regions introgressed the genome of the domestic chicken, with evidence of some domestic chicken genes also found in the grey junglefowl.This species is endemic to India, and even today it is found mainly in peninsular India and towards the northern boundary. It will sometimes hybridize in the wild with the red junglefowl. It also hybridizes readily in captivity and sometimes with free-range domestic chickens kept in habitations close to forests. Both the grey junglefowl and red junglefowl diverged about 2.6 million years ago.The species epithet commemorates the French explorer Pierre Sonnerat. Local names include Komri in Rajasthan, Geera kur or Parda komri in Gondi, Jangli Murghi in Hindi, Raan kombdi in Marathi, Kattu Kozhi in Tamil and Malayalam, Kaadu koli in Kannada and Tella adavi kodi in Telugu.