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Porphyrio Porphyrio MHNT
''Porphyrio'' is the swamphen or swamp hen bird genus in the rail family. It includes some smaller species of gallinules which are sometimes separated as genus ''Porphyrula'' or united with the gallinules proper (or "moorhens") in '' Gallinula''. The ''Porphyrio'' gallinules are distributed in the warmer regions of the world. The group probably originated in Africa in the Middle Miocene, before spreading across the world in waves from the Late Miocene to Pleistocene. The genus ''Porphyrio'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the western swamphen (''Porphyrio porphyrio'') as the type species. The genus name ''Porphyrio'' is the Latin name for "swamphen", meaning "purple". Species The genus contains ten extant species and two that have become extinct in historical times: Extant species * Purple swamphen complex ** Western swamphen, ''Porphyrio porphyrio'' ** African swamphen, ''Porphyrio madagascariensis'' ** Grey-headed swamphen, '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Miocene
The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago) to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma. During this period, a sharp drop in global temperatures took place. This event is known as the Middle Miocene disruption, Middle Miocene Climatic Transition. For the purpose of establishing European land mammal ages, this sub-epoch is equivalent to the Astaracian age. References External links GeoWhen Database - Middle Miocene Miocene, .02 Miocene geochronology, 02 Langhian, * Serravallian, * {{geochronology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-backed Swamphen
The black-backed swamphen (''Porphyrio indicus'') is a species of swamphen occurring from southeast Asia to Sulawesi and Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda .... It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, which it resembles, but has a large shield, black upperparts, and the side of the head is blackish. It tends to migrate away from urbanization and other human activity. It lives in wetlands, preferring those with slow-flowing water. References *''Transactions of the Linnean Society of London'' 13194 External links * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q21169704 black-backed swamphen Birds of Southeast Asia black-backed swamphen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huahine Swamphen
The Huahine swamphen (''Porphyrio mcnabi'') is an extinct species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was a small swamphen endemic to Huahine in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. It is known only from subfossil remains found at the Fa'ahia archaeological site on the island. Fa'ahia is an early Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...n occupation site with radiocarbon dates ranging from 700 CE to 1200 CE. The swamphen is only one of a suite of birds found at the site which became extinct either locally or globally following human occupation of the island. Etymology The species was named after Brian K. McNab to recognise his research on the evolution and ecology of flightless birds, especially rails, on oceanic islands. References * Kirchman, Jeremy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Caledonian Swamphen
The New Caledonian gallinule (''Porphyrio kukwiedei'') is an extinct species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was endemic to New Caledonia and probably became extinct due to hunting, habitat loss and the presence of invasive species following human settlement of the island. However a passage from an 1860 article refers to birds the size of turkeys being present in marshy areas of New Caledonia, suggesting that it may have survived into historic times. The native name ''n'dino'' is thought to refer to this bird. It was described from subfossil bones found at the Pindai Caves paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre. The specific epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ... derives from ''Kukwiede'', the name of a local deity associated with a legend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Island Takahē
The North Island takahē () (''Porphyrio mantelli'') is an extinct species of flightless swamphen that was native to the North Island of New Zealand. It is closely related to the living South Island takahē. Description This flightless species is known from subfossils from a number of sites across North Island. The North Island takahē compared to the South island species was proportionally larger, but had a smaller premaxilla (and thus beak) relative to body size. Other differences from the South island species include the more elongate tarsometatarsus bones of the legs relative to the tibiotarsus. Taxonomy Traditionally the North Island takahē was considered conspecific with the endangered South Island takahē. Trewick (1996) suggested that the two taxa were independently derived from two separate colonisations by flying ancestors, so proved to be separate species. However, this was challenged by the result of subsequent DNA analysis, which suggested that the two takahē ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Quaternary Prehistoric Birds
Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are Bird, avian taxa that became extinct during the Late Quaternary – the Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene – and before recorded history, specifically before they could be studied alive by ornithological science. They had died out before the period of global scientific exploration that started in the late 15th century. In other words, this list deals with avian extinctions between Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 BC and AD 1500. For the purposes of this article, a "bird" is any member of the clade Neornithes, that is, any descendant of the most recent common ancestor of all currently living birds. The birds are known from their remains, which are subfossil; as the remains are not completely fossilized, they may yield organic material for molecular analyses to provide additional clues for resolving their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic affiliations. Some birds are also known from folk memory, as in the case of Haast's eagle in New Zeala ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marquesas Swamphen
The Marquesas swamphen (''Porphyrio paepae'') is an extinct species of swamphen from the Marquesas Islands Hiva Oa and Tahuata. It was originally described from 600-year-old subfossil remains from Tahuata and Hiva Oa. It may have survived to around 1900; in the lower right corner of Paul Gauguin's 1902 painting ''Le Sorcier d'Hiva Oa ou le Marquisien à la cape rouge''''« €¦d’Hiva Oa €¦»'' as such, is pronounced /diˈva oˈa/, while the Polynesian h is always a /ɦ/: this shows Gauguin had a very poor knowledge of the Polynesian languages. He should have written ''de Hiva Oa''. Despite Polynesian inscriptions, often approximative, Gauguin seems to have been unable to speak any Polynesian languages, as it is said locally. there is a bird which resembles native descriptions of ''Porphyrio paepae''. Thor Heyerdahl claimed to have seen a similar flightless bird Flightless birds are birds that cannot Bird flight, fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Réunion Swamphen
The Réunion swamphen (''Porphyrio caerulescens''), also known as the Réunion gallinule or ' (French for "blue bird"), is a hypothetical extinct species of rail that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Réunion. While only known from 17th- and 18th-century accounts by visitors to the island, it was scientifically named in 1848, based on the 1674 account by Sieur Dubois. A considerable literature was subsequently devoted to its possible affinities, with current researchers agreeing it was derived from the swamphen genus ''Porphyrio''. It has been considered mysterious and enigmatic due to the lack of any physical evidence of its existence. This bird was described as entirely blue in plumage with a red beak and legs. It was said to be the size of a Réunion ibis or chicken, which could mean in length, and it may have been similar to the takahē. While easily hunted, it was a fast runner and able to fly, though it did so reluctantly. It may have fed on plant matter and inver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Swamphen
The white swamphen (''Porphyrio albus''), also known as the Lord Howe swamphen, Lord Howe gallinule or white gallinule, is an extinct species of rail which lived on Lord Howe Island, east of Australia. It was first encountered when the crews of British ships visited the island between 1788 and 1790, and all contemporary accounts and illustrations were produced during this time. Today, two skins exist: the holotype in the Natural History Museum of Vienna, and another in Liverpool's World Museum. Although historical confusion has existed about the provenance of the specimens and the classification and anatomy of the bird, it is now thought to have been a distinct species endemic to Lord Howe Island and most similar to the Australasian swamphen. Subfossil bones have also been discovered since. The white swamphen was long. Both known skins have mainly-white plumage, although the Liverpool specimen also has dispersed blue feathers. This is unlike other swamphens, but contemporary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azure Gallinule
The azure gallinule (''Porphyrio flavirostris'') is a species of bird in subfamily Rallinae of family Rallidae, the rails, gallinules, and coots. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.HBW and BirdLife International (2021) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip retrieved August 7, 2022Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 Taxonomy and systematics The azure gallinule was formally described in 1789 by the Germa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Purple Gallinule
The purple gallinule (''Porphyrio martinica'') is a swamphen in the genus ''Porphyrio''. It is in the order Gruiformes, meaning "crane-like", an order which also contains cranes, rails, and crakes. The purple gallinule is a rail species, placing it into the family Rallidae. It is also known locally as the yellow-legged gallinule. The specific name ''martinica'' denotes "of Martinique". Description The purple gallinule is a medium-sized rail, measuring in length, spanning across the wings and weighing . Males, averaging in mass, are slightly larger than females, at on average. An adult purple gallinule has purple-blue plumage that will shine green and turquoise when in good lighting. Adults also have a pale blue shield on their forehead, which connects with the red and yellow bill. Darkness or low light can dim the bright purple-blue plumage of the adult to make them look dusky or brownish, although the forehead shield color differentiates them from similar species such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allen's Gallinule
Allen's gallinule (''Porphyrio alleni''), formerly known as the lesser gallinule, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Taxonomy Its former binomial name is ''Porphyrula alleni''. ''Porphyrio'' is the Latin for "swamphen", and ''alleni'', like the English name, commemorates British naval officer Rear-Admiral William Allen (admiral), William Allen (1792–1864). Distribution and habitat Its breeding habitat is marshes and lakes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Remarkably, this apparently weakly flying bird is not only the only species with a purely sub-Saharan African range to have reached Great Britain, but has done so twice. It has also occurred as a vagrant in several other European countries. Description They are similar in size to the only slightly larger water rail. The Allen's gallinule has a short red bill, greenish back and purple upperparts. They have red legs with long toes, and a short tail which is white with a dark central bar underneath. Breeding males have a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
