Tinamidae is the only family in the order Tinamiformes. Tinamous are generally cryptically coloured, sedentary ground-dwellers that, though not flightless, tend to hide or run from danger rather than taking flight. One of the most ancient living groups of bird, tinamous first appear in the fossil record in the Miocene epoch (23 to 5.333 million years ago).There are two subfamilies, broadly divided by habitat: the Nothurinae are referred to as steppe or open-country tinamous, and the Tinaminae are known as forest tinamous. Tinamous are exclusively neotropical and all 47 species live in South America, Mexico, and Central America.