NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Tibetan Snowcock
Tetraogallus tibetanus Gould, 1854
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Tibetan Snowcock Tetraogallus tibetanus, Sagarmatha, Nepal 27°59'13"N 86°49'46"E, 5300m altitude.
Mckaysavage on Flickr · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Tibetan snowcock (Tetraogallus tibetanus) is a bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. This species is found in high-altitude regions of the Western Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, where it overlaps in part with the larger Himalayan snowcock. The head is greyish and there is a white crescent patch behind the eye and underside is white with black stripes. In flight the secondaries show a broad white trailing edge.
Wikipedia contributors, Tibetan snowcock; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:46:23.497111+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tetraogallus tibetanus Gould, 1854
- Name authority
- Gould, 1854
- Common name
- Tibetan Snowcock
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Galliformes
- Family
- Phasianidae
- Genus
- Tetraogallus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderGalliformes
- familyPhasianidae
- genusTetraogallus J. E. Gray, 1832
- speciesTetraogallus tibetanus Gould, 1854
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tetraogallus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Altai SnowcockTetraogallus altaicus (Gebler, 1836) | PhasianidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Caspian SnowcockTetraogallus caspius (S. G. Gmelin, 1784) | PhasianidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Caucasian SnowcockTetraogallus caucasicus (Pallas, 1811) | PhasianidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Himalayan SnowcockTetraogallus himalayensis G. R. Gray, 1843 | PhasianidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=175954 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:55QX4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.