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''Rallus'' is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
birds of the rail family. Sometimes, the genera ''
Lewinia ''Lewinia'' is a genus of birds in the family Rallidae. The genus was erected by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855 with Lewin's rail ''Lewinia pectoralis'' as the type species. The genus name is from a synonym of the type specie ...
'' and ''
Gallirallus ''Gallirallus'' is a genus of Rallidae, rails that live in the Australasian-Pacific region. The genus is characterised by an ability to colonise relatively small and isolated islands and thereafter to evolve flightless forms, many of which beca ...
'' are included in it. Six of the species are found in the
Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
, and the three species found in
Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...
,
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and
Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
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
marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...
es, 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. Three endemic
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
n 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 Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
in the tenth edition of his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...
''. The
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
was subsequently designated as the
water rail The water rail, western water rail or European water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this ...
(''Rallus aquaticus''). The genus name ''Rallus'' comes from the pre-binomial Latin name ''Rallus aquaticus'' for the water rail used by English ornithologist
Francis Willughby Francis Willughby (sometimes spelt Willoughby, ) Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (22 November 1635 – 3 July 1672) was an English ornithology, ornithologist, ichthyology, ichthyologist and mathematician, and an early student of linguistics an ...
in 1676, and by the English naturalist
Eleazar Albin Eleazar Albin (floruit, fl. 1690 – c. 1742)Michael A. Salmon, Peter Marren, Basil Harley. ''The Aurelian Legacy'' (University of California Press, 2000) pp. 109-110. was an England, English natural history, naturalist and Watercolor painti ...
in 1731. The precise etymology of the word ''Rallus'' is uncertain.


Species

The genus contains 14 extant species:


Fossil record

* ''Rallus'' sp. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary) * ''Rallus'' sp. (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Saw Rock Canyon, USA) * ''Rallus adolfocaesaris'' Porto Santo rail (
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
of Madeira) * ''Rallus auffenbergi'' (Middle Pleistocene of SE North America) – formerly ''Porzana'' * ''Rallus carvaoensis'' São Miguel rail (
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
of São Miguel Island in the Azores) * ''Rallus cyanocavi'' (Late Pleistocene of the Bahamas) * ''Rallus eivissensis,'' Ibiza rail (
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
) * ''Rallus ibycus'' (Shore Hills Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic) * ''Rallus lacustris'' (Late Pliocene of C North America) * ''Rallus lowei'' Madeira rail (
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
of Madeira) * ''Rallus montivagorum'' Pico rail (
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
of Pico Island in the Azores) * ''Rallus nanus'' São Jorge rail (
prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins  million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
of São Jorge Island in the Azores) - erroneously previously described as ''Rallus minutus'', which is a junior homonym * ''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 '' Quercyrallus'' * ''"R." beaumontii'', ''"R." dispar'' – now '' Pararallus'' or '' Palaeoaramides'' * ''"R." christyi, "R." eximius, "R." minor'' – now ''Palaeoaramides'' * ''"R." major'' – now '' Miorallus'' * ''"R." porzanoides'' – now '' Paraortygometra'' ''"R." sumiderensis'' apparently refers to prehistoric remains of the
Zapata rail The Zapata rail (''Mustelirallus cerverai'', syn.: ''Cyanolimnas cerverai'') is a medium-sized, dark-coloured Rallidae, rail. It has brown upperparts, greyish-blue underparts, a red-based yellow Beak, bill, white undertail Covert (feather), cov ...
(''Cyanolimnas cerverai'').


References


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 iddle Miocene fossils from the sections at the Rákóczi chapel at Mátraszőlős. Locality Mátraszõlõs I. ''Folia Historico Naturalia Musei Matraensis'' 23: 33–78. 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.


External links

* * {{Authority control Bird genera">Rallus"> Bird genera