Rallus

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Rallus
Rallus aquaticus 4 (Marek Szczepanek).jpg
Water rail
Rallus aquaticus
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Rallus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See list

Synonyms

Epirallus Miller, 1942

Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus)

Rallus is a genus of wetland birds of the rail family. Sometimes, the genera Lewinia and Gallirallus are included in it. Six of the species are found in the Americas, and the three species found in Eurasia, Africa and Madagascar are very closely related to each other, suggesting they are descended from a single invasion of a New World ancestor.[1]

These are slim, long-billed rails with slender legs. Their laterally flattened bodies are an adaptation to life in wet reedbeds and marshes, enabling them to slip easily through the dense semi-aquatic vegetation. Typically these birds have streaked brown upperparts, blue-grey on the face or breast, and barred flanks. Only the African rail has a plain back, and the plain-flanked rail lacks any blue-grey in its plumage and has no flank bars.[1]

Three endemic South American species are endangered by habitat loss, and the Madagascar rail is becoming rare.

Taxonomy[]

The genus Rallus was erected in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the water rail (Rallus aquaticus).[3] The genus name Rallus comes from the pre-binomial Latin name Rallus aquaticus for the water rail used by English ornithologist Francis Willughby in 1676,[4] and by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin in 1731.[5] The precise etymology of the word Rallus is uncertain.[6]

Species[]

The genus contains 14 extant species:[7]

Image Common Name Scientific name Distribution
Ecuadorian rail Rallus aequatorialis southwestern Colombia to southwestern Peru.
Rallus antarcticus.jpg Austral rail Rallus antarcticus Argentina and Chile.
Rallus aquaticus 2 (Marek Szczepanek) cropped.jpg Water rail Rallus aquaticus North Africa, Saudi Arabia and western China.
African Rail, Rallus caerulescens at Marievale Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa (20626467274).jpg African rail Rallus caerulescens from Ethiopia to South Africa.
Clapper Rail, Crisfield, Maryland 1.jpg Clapper rail Rallus crepitans eastern U.S., the Gulf of Mexico, eastern Mexico, some Caribbean islands, and south through eastern Central America,
Blending in.jpg King rail Rallus elegans southern United States and Mexico; in Canada, they are found in southern Ontario
Eastern Water Rail.jpg Brown-cheeked rail Rallus indicus northern Mongolia, eastern Siberia, northeast China, Korea and northern Japan
Rallus limicola -Cloisters Park, Morro Bay, California, USA-8 (1).jpg Virginia rail Rallus limicola southern United States and Central America.
Mangrove rail Rallus longirostris northeast Colombia, northwest Venezuela ,Brazil, Trinidad
Rallus madagascariensis.jpg Madagascar rail Rallus madagascariensis Madagascar.
Ridgway's Rail (16619348990).jpg Ridgway's rail Rallus obsoletus southeastern California and southern Arizona, to northwestern Mexico
Rallus semiplumbeus.jpg Bogotá rail Rallus semiplumbeus Colombia.
Aztec rail Rallus tenuirostris Mexico.
Plain-flanked rail Rallus wetmorei Venezuela.

Fossil record[]

  • Rallus sp. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary)[8]
  • Rallus sp. (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Saw Rock Canyon, USA)
  • Rallus adolfocaesaris (prehistoric of Madeira)
  • Rallus auffenbergi (Middle Pleistocene of SE North America) – formerly Porzana
  • Rallus carvaoensis (prehistoric of São Miguel Island in the Azores)
  • Rallus cyanocavi (Late Pleistocene of the Bahamas)
  • Rallus eivissensis, Ibiza rail (prehistoric)
  • Rallus ibycus (Shore Hills Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
  • Rallus lacustris (Late Pliocene of C North America)
  • Rallus lowei (prehistoric of Madeira)
  • Rallus minutus (prehistoric of São Jorge Island in the Azores) - scientific name is provisional
  • Rallus montivagorum (prehistoric of Pico Island in the Azores)
  • Rallus natator (Pleistocene of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico) – formerly Epirallus
  • Rallus phillipsi (Late Pliocene of Wickieup, USA)
  • Rallus prenticei (Late Pliocene of C North America)
  • Rallus recessus (St Georges Soil Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
  • Rallus richmondi – includes R. dubius

Formerly in Rallus[]

  • "R." arenarius – now
  • "R." beaumontii, "R." dispar – now or
  • "R." christyi, "R." eximius, "R." minor – now Palaeoaramides
  • "R." major – now
  • "R." porzanoides – now

"R." sumiderensis apparently refers to prehistoric remains of the Zapata rail (Cyanolimnas cerverai).

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Taylor & van Perlo (1998)
  2. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Volume 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae:Laurentii Salvii. p. 153. |volume= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 157. |volume= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Willughby, Francis (1676). Ornithologiae libri tres (in Latin). London: John Martyn. p. 234.
  5. ^ Albin, Eleazar; Derham, William (1731). A Natural History of Birds : Illustrated with a Hundred and One Copper Plates, Curiously Engraven from the Life. Volume 1. London: Printed for the author and sold by William Innys. p. 73. |volume= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Rallus". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive: Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  7. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  8. ^ Gál et al. (1998–1999)

References[]

  • Gál, Erika; Hír, János; Kessler, Eugén & Kókay, József (1998–99): Középsõ-miocén õsmaradványok, a Mátraszõlõs, Rákóczi-kápolna alatti útbevágásból. I. A Mátraszõlõs 1. lelõhely [Middle Miocene fossils from the sections at the Rákóczi chapel at Mátraszőlős. Locality Mátraszõlõs I.]. Folia Historico Naturalia Musei Matraensis 23: 33–78. [Hungarian with English abstract] PDF fulltext
  • Taylor, P. Barry & van Perlo, Ber (1998): Rails : a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules, and coots of the world. Yale University Press, New Haven. ISBN 0-300-07758-0

External links[]

  • Media related to Rallus at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Rallus at Wikispecies
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