The turkey is native to North America, so its worldwide names are a fascinating record of historical confusion. When Europeans encountered the bird in the 16th century, they had limited knowledge of the geography of the Americas and often confused the New World with the “Indies.” Spanish explorers brought domesticated turkeys to Europe, where the bird quickly spread through trade. In English, “turkey” likely came from confusion with the guinea fowl, an African bird that reached Europe through Ottoman trade routes and was called “turkey” or “turkey cock.” The American bird looked somewhat similar, so the old name was eventually transferred to it. Other languages created their own geographical guesses. Turkish calls it hindi, meaning “Indian,” while French dinde comes from poule d’Inde, “Indian chicken.” Hindi uses peru, and Greek galopoula means “French chicken.” Want more interesting content like this ? Follow gravitonomy :) #turkey #science #evolution #geography