Rallus

Taxobox
name = "Rallus"


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Water Rail "Rallus aquaticus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Gruiformes
familia = Rallidae
genus = "Rallus"
genus_authority = Linnaeus, 1758
subdivision_ranks = species
subdivision = "see list"
synonyms ="Epirallus" Miller, 1942

"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.Taylor & van Perlo (1998)]

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.

The three endemic South American species are endangered by habitat loss, and the Madagascar Rail is becoming rare.

pecies

Living species
* Clapper Rail, "Rallus longirostris"
** California Clapper Rail, "Rallus longirostris obsoletus"
* King Rail, "Rallus elegans"
* Plain-flanked Rail, "Rallus wetmorei"
* Virginia Rail, "Rallus limicola"
* Bogota Rail, "Rallus semiplumbeus"
* Austral Rail, "Rallus antarcticus"
* Water Rail, "Rallus aquaticus"
* African Rail, "Rallus caerulescens"
* Madagascar Rail, "Rallus madagascariensis"

Fossil record
* Ibiza Rail, "Rallus eivissensis" (prehistoric)
* "Rallus" sp. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary) [Gál "et al." (1998-1999)]
* "Rallus lacustris" (Late Pliocene of C North America)
* "Rallus phillipsi" (Late Pliocene of Wickieup, USA)
* "Rallus prenticei" (Late Pliocene of C North America)
* "Rallus" sp. (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Saw Rock Canyon, USA)
* "Rallus auffenbergi" (Middle Pleistocene of SE North America) - formerly "Porzana"
* "Rallus ibycus" (Shore Hills Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
* "Rallus recessus" (St Georges Soil Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
* "Rallus natator" (Pleistocene of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico) - formerly "Epirallus"
* "Rallus richmondi" - includes "R. dubius"

Formerly in Rallus
* "R." arenarius" – now "Quercyrallus"
* "R." beaumontii", "R." dispar" – now – now "Pararallus" or "Palaeoaramides"
* "R." christyi, "R." eximius, "R." major" – now "Palaeoaramides"
* "R." major" – now "Miorallus"
* "R." porzanoides" – now "Paraortygometra"

Footnotes

References

* (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] [http://www.matramuzeum.hu/Personal/folia/23/03MATSZOLOS.PDF PDF fulltext]
* (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