Rallus

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File:Rallus obsoletus - San Francisco Bay, 2004.jpg
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
File:Rallus aequatorialis Keulemans.jpg Ecuadorian rail Rallus aequatorialis southwestern Colombia to southwestern Peru
File:Rallus antarcticus.jpg Austral rail Rallus antarcticus Argentina and Chile
File:Rallus aquaticus 2 (Marek Szczepanek) cropped.jpg Water rail Rallus aquaticus Europe, Asia and North Africa
File:African Rail, Rallus caerulescens at Marievale Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa (20626467274).jpg African rail Rallus caerulescens from Ethiopia to South Africa
File: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
File:Blending in.jpg King rail Rallus elegans southern United States and Mexico; in Canada, they are found in southern Ontario
File:Eastern Water Rail.jpg Brown-cheeked rail Rallus indicus northern Mongolia, eastern Siberia, northeast China, Korea and northern Japan.
File:Rallus limicola -Cloisters Park, Morro Bay, California, USA-8 (1).jpg Virginia rail Rallus limicola southern United States and Central America
File:Rallus longirostris - 1700-1880 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam - UBA01 IZ17500025.tif Mangrove rail Rallus longirostris northeast Colombia, northwest Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad
File:Rallus madagascariensis.jpg Madagascar rail Rallus madagascariensis Madagascar
File:Ridgway's Rail (16619348990).jpg Ridgway's rail Rallus obsoletus southeastern California and southern Arizona, to northwestern Mexico
File:Rallus semiplumbeus.jpg Bogotá rail Rallus semiplumbeus Colombia
File:Mexican Rail (Rallus tenuirostris) - Bird notes (1911).jpg Aztec rail Rallus tenuirostris Mexico
Plain-flanked rail Rallus wetmorei Venezuela

Fossil record

File:Macaronesian rails.jpg
Life restoration of the five now-extinct species from the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira
  • Rallus sp. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary)[8]
  • Rallus sp. (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Saw Rock Canyon, USA)
  • Rallus adolfocaesaris Porto Santo rail (prehistoric of Madeira)
  • Rallus auffenbergi (Middle Pleistocene of SE North America) – formerly Porzana
  • Rallus carvaoensis São Miguel rail (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 Madeira rail (prehistoric of Madeira)
  • Rallus montivagorum Pico rail (prehistoric of Pico Island in the Azores)
  • Rallus nanus São Jorge rail (prehistoric of São Jorge Island in the Azores) - erroneously previously described as Rallus minutus, which is a junior homonym[9]
  • 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." sumiderensis apparently refers to prehistoric remains of the Zapata rail (Cyanolimnas cerverai).

References

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  1. ↑ a b Taylor & van Perlo (1998)
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  8. ↑ Gál et al. (1998–1999)
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

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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. Template:ISBN

External links

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