The tinamous belong to the Order Tinamiformes which has only one family (Tinamidae) and two sub-familes Tinaminae, Rhynchotinae). The Tinaminae is represented by 3 genera (Crypturellus, Nothocercus, Tinamus ) with 29 species and the Rhynchotinae by 6 genera (Eudromia, Nothoprocta, Nothura, Rhynchotus, Taoniscus, Tinamotis) with 18 species.
The Tinaminae are forest dwelling species and inhabit diverse forest types in Central and South America. The Rhynchotinae are grassland, steppe and savanna dwelling species. They are mostly confined to the southern half of South America.
Below is the most recent phylogenetic tree of Tinamiformes from Bertelli and Porzecanski (2004) which illustrates the separation of the two sub-families. For more information consult the references available and listed on the Publications page.
List of tinamou species by country
Cladogram of species relationships in the Tinamiformes. Adapted from Bertelli and Porzecanski (2004)
