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The rails, or Rallidae, are a large
cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable
diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce * Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers ...
and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
are associated with wetlands, although the family is found in every terrestrial habitat except dry deserts, polar regions, and
alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...
areas above the
snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...
. Members of the Rallidae occur on every continent except
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
. Numerous island species are known. The most common rail habitats are marshland and dense forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): pp. 206–207


Name

"Rail" is the anglicized respelling of the French ''râle'', from Old French ''rasle''. It is named from its harsh cry, in Vulgar Latin *''rascula'', from Latin ''rādere'' ("to scrape").


Morphology

The rails are a family of small to medium-sized, ground-living birds. They vary in length from and in weight from . Some species have long necks and in many cases are laterally compressed. The
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...
is the most variable feature within the family. In some species, it is longer than the head (like the
clapper rail The clapper rail (''Rallus crepitans'') is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. The taxonomy for this species is confusing and still being determined. It is a large brown rail that is resident in wetlands along the Atlantic coasts of the east ...
of
the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with ...
); in others, it may be short and wide (as in the
coot Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually ...
s), or massive (as in the purple gallinules).Horsfall & Robinson (2003): p. 208 A few coots and gallinules have a
frontal shield A frontal shield, also known as a facial shield or frontal plate, is a feature of the anatomy of several bird species. Located just above the upper mandible, and protruding along the forehead, it is composed of two main parts: a hard, proteinaceo ...
, which is a fleshy, rearward extension of the upper bill. The most complex frontal shield is found in the
horned coot The horned coot (''Fulica cornuta'') is a species of bird found in the Andes of South America. It was described by Bonaparte in 1853 based on a specimen collected in Bolivia. For a long time it was known only from the type specimen. Descriptio ...
.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): p. 210 Rails exhibit very little sexual dimorphism in either
plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
or size. Two exceptions are the
watercock The watercock (''Gallicrex cinerea'') is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Gallicrex''. Taxonomy The watercock was formally described in 17 ...
(''Gallicrex cinerea'') and the
little crake The little crake (''Zapornia parva'') is a very small waterbird of the family Rallidae. ''parva'' is Latin for "small". Its breeding habitat is reed beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and just into western Asia. This species is migratory, wi ...
(''Zapornia parva'').


Flight and flightlessness

The wings of all rails are short and rounded. The flight of those Rallidae able to fly, while not powerful, can be sustained for long periods of time, and many species migrate annually. The weakness of their flight, however, means they are easily blown off course, thus making them common
vagrants Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
, a characteristic that has led them to colonize many isolated oceanic islands. Furthermore, these birds often prefer to run rather than fly, especially in dense habitat. Some are also flightless at some time during their moult periods.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): p. 209 Flightlessness in rails is one of the best examples of
parallel evolution Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and paral ...
in the animal kingdom. Of the roughly 150 historically known rail species, 31 extant or recently extinct species evolved flightlessness from volant (flying) ancestors.Kirchman (2012) This process created the endemic populations of flightless rails seen on Pacific islands today. Many island rails are flightless because small island habitats without mammalian predators eliminate the need to fly or move long distances. Flight makes intense demands, with the
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
and flight muscles taking up to 40% of a bird's weight. Reducing the flight muscles, with a corresponding lowering of metabolic demands, reduces the flightless rail's energy expenditures. For this reason, flightlessness makes it easier to survive and colonize an island where resources may be limited.McNab (1994) This also allows for the evolution of multiple sizes of flightless rails on the same island as the birds diversify to fill niches. In addition to energy conservation, certain morphological traits also affect rail evolution. Rails have relatively small flight muscles and wings to begin with. In rails, the flight muscles make up only 12–17% of their overall body mass. This, in combination with their terrestrial habits and behavioral flightlessness, is a significant contributor to the rail's remarkably fast loss of flight; as few as 125,000 years were needed for the
Laysan rail The Laysan rail or Laysan crake (''Zapornia palmeri'') was a flightless bird endemic to the Northwest Hawaiian Island of Laysan. This small island was and still is an important seabird colony, and sustained a number of endemic species, includ ...
to lose the power of flight and evolve the reduced, stubby wings only useful to keep balance when running quickly. Indeed, some argue that measuring the evolution of flightlessness in rails in generations rather than millennia might be possible. Another factor that contributes to the occurrence of the flightless state is a climate that does not necessitate seasonal long-distance migration; this is evidenced by the tendency to evolve flightlessness at a much greater occurrence in tropical islands than in temperate or polar islands.McNab 2002 It is paradoxical, since rails appear loath to fly, that the evolution of flightless rails would necessitate high dispersal to isolated islands.McNab and Ellis 2006 Nonetheless, three species of small-massed rails, '' Gallirallus philippensis'', '' Porphyrio porphyrio'', and '' Porzana tabuensis'', exhibit a persistently high ability to disperse long distances among tropic Pacific islands, though only the latter two gave rise to flightless endemic species throughout the Pacific Basin.Kirchman 2012 In examining the phylogeny of ''G. philippensis'', although the species is clearly polyphyletic (it has more than one ancestral species), it is not the ancestor of most of its flightless descendants, revealing that the flightless condition evolved in rails before speciation was complete. A consequence of lowered energy expenditure in flightless island rails has also been associated with evolution of their "tolerance" and "approachability". For example, the (non-Rallidae) Corsican
blue tit The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size. Eurasian blue tits, usually resident and non-migratory birds, a ...
s exhibit lower aggression and reduced territorial defense behaviors than do their mainland European counterparts, but this tolerance may be limited to close relatives. The resulting kin-selecting altruistic phenomena reallocate resources to produce fewer young that are more competitive and would benefit the population as an entirety, rather than many young that would exhibit less fitness. Unfortunately, with the human occupation of most islands in the past 5,000 to 35,000 years, selection has undoubtedly reversed the tolerance into a wariness of humans and predators, causing species unequipped for the change to become susceptible to extinction.


Behaviour and ecology

In general, members of the Rallidae are omnivorous generalists. Many species eat invertebrates, as well as fruit or seedlings. A few species are primarily herbivorous. The calls of Rallidae species vary and are often quite loud. Some are whistle-like or squeak-like, while others seem unbirdlike.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): p. 207 Loud calls are useful in dense vegetation, or at night where seeing another member of the species is difficult. Some calls are territorial. The most typical family members occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers. Reed beds are a particularly favoured habitat. Those that migrate do so at night. Most
nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...
in dense vegetation. In general, they are shy, secretive, and difficult to observe. Most species walk and run vigorously on strong legs, and have long toes that are well adapted to soft, uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings, and although they are generally weak fliers, they are, nevertheless, capable of covering long distances. Island species often become flightless, and many of them are now extinct following the introduction of terrestrial predators such as
cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
s, foxes, weasels,
mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to s ...
s, rats, and
pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
s. Many reedbed species are secretive (apart from loud calls),
crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...
, and have laterally flattened bodies. In the
Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by th ...
, long-billed species tend to be called rails and short-billed species crakes. North American species are normally called rails irrespective of bill length. The smallest of these is Swinhoe's rail, at and 25 g. The larger species are also sometimes given other names. The black coots are more adapted to open water than their relatives, and some other large species are called gallinules and swamphens. The largest of this group is the takahe, at and . The rails have suffered disproportionally from human changes to the environment, and an estimated several hundred species of island rails have become extinct because of this. Several island species of rails remain endangered, and conservation organisations and governments continue to work to prevent their extinction.


Reproduction

The breeding behaviors of many Rallidae species are poorly understood or unknown. Most are thought to be monogamous, although polygyny and
polyandry Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...
have been reported.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): pp. 209–210 Most often, they lay five to 10
eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...
.
Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...
es as small as one or as large as 15 eggs are known. Egg clutches may not always hatch at the same time. Chicks become mobile after a few days. They often depend on their parents until fledging, which happens around 1 month old.


Rallidae and humans

Some larger, more abundant rails are hunted and their eggs collected for food.Horsfall & Robinson (2003): p. 211 The
Wake Island rail The extinct Wake Island rail (''Hypotaenidia wakensis'') was a flightless rail and the only native land bird on the Pacific atoll of Wake. It was found on the islands of Wake and Wilkes, but not on Peale, which is separated from the others by a ...
was hunted to extinction by the starving Japanese garrison after the island was cut off from supply during World War II. At least two species, the
common moorhen The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen or swamp chicken, is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World. The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated mar ...
and the American purple gallinule, have been considered pests.


Threats and conservation

Due to their tendencies towards flightlessness, many island species have been unable to cope with introduced species. The most dramatic human-caused extinctions occurred in the Pacific Ocean as people colonised the islands of Melanesia,
Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
, and Micronesia, during which an estimated 750–1800 species of birds became extinct, half of which were rails. Some species that came close to extinction, such as the
Lord Howe woodhen The Lord Howe woodhen (''Hypotaenidia sylvestris'') also known as the Lord Howe Island woodhen or Lord Howe (Island) rail, is a flightless bird of the rail family, (Rallidae). It is endemic to Lord Howe Island off the Australian coast. It is cur ...
, and the takahe, have made modest recoveries due to the efforts of conservation organisations. The
Guam rail The Guam rail (''Hypotaenidia owstoni'') is a species of flightless bird, endemic to the United States territory of Guam, where it is known locally as the ''Ko'ko bird. The Guam rail disappeared from southern Guam in the early 1970s and was ext ...
came perilously close to extinction when
brown tree snake The brown tree snake (''Boiga irregularis''), also known as the brown catsnake, is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, eastern Indonesia (Sulawesi to Papua), Papua New Guinea, and many island ...
s were introduced to Guam, but some of the last remaining individuals were taken into captivity and are breeding well, though attempts at reintroduction have met with mixed results.


Systematics and evolution

The family Rallidae was introduced (as Rallia) by the French polymath
Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz (; October 22, 1783September 18, 1840) was a French 19th-century polymath born near Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire and self-educated in France. He traveled as a young man in the United States, ultimat ...
in 1815. The family has traditionally been grouped with two families of larger birds, the
cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...
and bustards, as well as several smaller families of usually "primitive" midsized amphibious birds, to make up the order Gruiformes. The alternative Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, which has been widely accepted in America, raises the family to ordinal level as the Ralliformes. Given uncertainty about gruiform monophyly, this may or may not be correct; it certainly seems more justified than most of the Sibley-Ahlquist proposals. However, such a group would probably also include the
Heliornithidae The Heliornithidae are a small family of tropical birds with webbed lobes on their feet like those of grebes and coots. The family overall are known as finfoots, although one species is known as a sungrebe. The family is composed of three spec ...
(finfoots and sungrebes), an exclusively
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
group that is somewhat convergent with grebes, and usually united with the rails in the Ralli. The cladogram below showing the phylogeny of the living and recent extinct Rallidae is based a study by Juan Garcia-R and collaborators published in 2020. The genera and number of species are taken from the list maintained by
Frank Gill Frank Gill may refer to: * Frank Gill (Australian footballer) (1908–1970), Australian rules footballer with Carlton * Frank Gill (footballer, born 1948), footballer for Tranmere Rovers * Frank Gill (politician) (1917–1982), New Zealand politici ...
,
Pamela Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. She ...
and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). The names of the subfamilies and tribes are those proposed by Jeremy Kirchman and collaborators in 2021.


Extant genera

The list maintained on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC) contains 152 species divided into 45 genera. For more detail, see List of rail species. * ''Canirallus'' – grey-throated rail * ''Mustelirallus'' – ash-throated crake * '' Neocrex'' – (2 species) * ''Cyanolimnas'' – Zapata rail * '' Pardirallus'' (3 species) * ''Amaurolimnas'' – uniform crake * '' Aramides'' – wood rails (8 species) * ''
Rallus ''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 ...
'' – typical rails (14 species) * ''Crecopsis'' – African crake * ''Rougetius'' – Rouget's rail * '' Dryolimnas'' – (1 living species, 1 recently extinct) * ''Crex'' –
corn crake The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with buff ...
* ''Aramidopsis'' – snoring rail * ''
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 species ...
'' – (4 species) * ''Aptenorallus'' –
Calayan rail The Calayan rail (''Aptenorallus calayanensis'') is a flightless bird of the rail, moorhen, and coot family (Rallidae) that inhabits Calayan Island in the Philippines. It is the only member of the genus ''Aptenorallus''. Though well known to na ...
* ''Habroptila'' – invisible rail * ''
Gallirallus ''Gallirallus'' is a genus of 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 became extinct ...
'' – weka * ''Eulabeornis'' – chestnut rail * ''
Cabalus ''Cabalus'' is a genus of birds in the family Rallidae The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and g ...
'' – (1 possibly extinct species, 1 recently extinct) * ''
Hypotaenidia ''Hypotaenidia'' is a genus of birds in the family Rallidae. The genus is considered separate by the IOC and IUCN, while ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' / eBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scie ...
'' – Austropacific rails (8 living species, 4 recently extinct) * ''Porphyriops'' – spot-flanked gallinule * ''
Porzana ''Porzana'' is a genus of birds in the crake and rail family, Rallidae. Its scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake (''P. porzana'') is the type species. Taxonomy The genus ''Porzana'' was erected by ...
'' – (3 species) * ''
Tribonyx ''Tribonyx'' is a small genus of birds in the rail family, containing two extant species and one recently extinct species. The genus is endemic to Australia and New Zealand. They are sometimes lumped with the moorhens in ''Gallinula''. Spec ...
'' – nativehens (2 species) * ''Paragallinula'' –
lesser moorhen The lesser moorhen (''Paragallinula angulata'') is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is sometimes placed into the genus '' Gallinula''. It is the only member of the genus ''Paragallinula''. It is widely spread across Sub-Saharan Afri ...
* '' Gallinula'' – moorhens (5 living species, 2 recently extinct) * '' Fulica'' – coots (10 living species, one recently extinct) * ''
Porphyrio ''Porphyrio'' is the swamphen or swamp hen bird genus in the rail family. It includes some smaller species which are usually called "purple gallinules", and which are sometimes separated as genus ''Porphyrula'' or united with the gallinules pro ...
'' – swamphens and purple gallinules (10 living species, 2 recently extinct) * ''Micropygia'' – ocellated crake * '' Rufirallus'' – (2 species) * '' Coturnicops'' – (3 species) * ''
Laterallus ''Laterallus'' is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. These small, relatively short-billed terrestrial rails are found among dense vegetation near water in the Neotropics, although a single species, the black rail, also occurs in the U ...
'' – (13 species) * ''
Zapornia ''Zapornia'' is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. Taxonomy The genus ''Zapornia'' was introduced in 1816 by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a catalogue of animals in the British Museum. He included a single species, the ...
'' – (10 living species, 5 recently extinct) * '' Rallina'' – (4 species) * ''
Gymnocrex ''Gymnocrex'' is a genus of bird in the rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters * Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), ...
'' – (3 species) * ''Himantornis'' – Nkulengu rail * ''Megacrex'' – New Guinea flightless rail * ''Poliolimnas'' – white-browed crake * ''Aenigmatolimnas'' – striped crake * ''Gallicrex'' –
watercock The watercock (''Gallicrex cinerea'') is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae that is widely distributed across Southeast Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Gallicrex''. Taxonomy The watercock was formally described in 17 ...
* '' Amaurornis'' – bush-hens (5 species) Additionally, many prehistoric rails of extant genera are known only from fossil or subfossil remains, such as the Ibiza rail (''Rallus eivissensis''). These have not been listed here; see the genus accounts and the articles on fossil and Late Quaternary prehistoric birds for these species.


Recently extinct genera

*''Mundia'' – Ascension crake (recently extinct; flightless, single island, lost by early 1800s to introduced cats and rats) * ''Aphanocrex'' – Saint Helena rail (recently extinct; flightless, single island, lost by 1500s to introduced cats and rats) *''Diaphorapteryx'' – Hawkins's rail (recently extinct; flightless, two islands, lost between 1500 and 1700 to overhunting) *''Aphanapteryx'' – Red rail (recently extinct; flightless, single island, lost by 1700 to overhunting and introduced pigs, cats and rats) * ''Erythromachus'' –
Rodrigues rail The Rodrigues rail (''Erythromachus leguati''), also known as Leguat's gelinote or Leguat's rail, is an extinct species of the rail family that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is g ...
(recently extinct; flightless, single island, lost by 1760 to overhunting, destruction of habitat by tortoise hunters, and introduced cats) *Genus ''
Cabalus ''Cabalus'' is a genus of birds in the family Rallidae The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and g ...
'' – Chatham rail and New Caledonian rail (sometimes included in ''Gallirallus''; extinct around 1900) *Genus ''Capellirallus'' – Snipe-rail (recently extinct; flightless, single island, lost by no later than 1400s to introduced rats) *Genus ''Vitirallus'' – Viti Levu rail (recently extinct; flightless, single island, lost by no later than early Holocene) *Genus ''Hovacrex'' –
Hova gallinule The Hova gallinule (''Hovacrex roberti'') is an extinct bird in a monotypic genus in the rail family. It was a large gallinule that was endemic to Madagascar. About the size of the Tasmanian nativehen, it was originally placed in the same genus ...
(recently extinct; flight ability uncertain, single island, lost by no later than Late Pleistocene) The undescribed Fernando de Noronha rail, genus and species undetermined, survived to historic times. The extinct genus ''
Nesotrochis ''Nesotrochis'' is a genus of extinct flightless birds, formerly native to the islands of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean. Its species are considered examples of insular gigantism. It contains 3 species known from subfossil remains of Late ...
'' from the Greater Antilles was formerly considered to be a rail, but based on DNA evidence is now known to be an independent lineage of gruiform more closely related to
Sarothruridae Sarothruridae is a family of small- to medium-sized ground-living birds found mostly in Madagascar and sub-Saharan Africa, with the genus ''Rallicula'' being restricted to New Guinea and the Moluccas. The species in this family were once consider ...
and
adzebill The adzebills, genus ''Aptornis'', were two closely related bird species, the North Island adzebill, (''Aptornis otidiformis''), and the South Island adzebill, (''Aptornis defossor''), of the extinct family Aptornithidae. The family was endemic ...
s.


Fossil record

Fossil species of long- extinct
prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
rails are richly documented from the well-researched formations of Europe and North America, as well from the less comprehensively studied strata elsewhere: *Genus ''Eocrex'' (Wasatch Early Eocene of Steamboat Springs, USA; Late Eocene – ?Oligocene of Isfara, Tadzhikistan) *Genus ''Palaeorallus'' (Wasatch Early Eocene of Wyoming, USA) *Genus ''Parvirallus'' (Early – Middle Eocene of England) *Genus ''Aletornis'' (Bridger Middle Eocene of Uinta County, USA) – includes ''Protogrus'' *Genus ''Fulicaletornis'' (Bridger Middle Eocene of Henry's Fork, USA) *Genus ''Latipons'' (Middle Eocene of Lee-on-Solent, England) *Genus ''Ibidopsis'' (Hordwell Late Eocene of Hordwell, UK) *Genus ''Quercyrallus'' (Late Eocene -? Late Oligocene of France) *Genus ''Belgirallus'' (Early Oligocene of WC Europe) *Genus ''Rallicrex'' (Corbula Middle/Late Oligocene of Kolzsvár, Romania) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Late Oligocene of Billy-Créchy, France) *Genus ''Palaeoaramides'' (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene – Late Miocene of France) *Genus '' Rhenanorallus'' (Late Oligocene/Early Miocene of Mainz Basin, Germany) *Genus ''Paraortygometra'' (Late Oligocene/?Early Miocene -? Middle Miocene of France) – includes ''Microrallus'' *Genus '' Australlus'' (Late Oligocene – Middle Miocene of NW Queensland, Australia) *Genus ''Pararallus'' (Late Oligocene? – Late Miocene of C Europe) – possibly belongs in ''Palaeoaramides'' *Genus ''Litorallus'' (Early Miocene of New Zealand) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Bathans Early/Middle Miocene of Otago, New Zealand) *Genus ''Miofulica'' (Anversian Black Sand Middle Miocene of Antwerp, Belgium) *Genus ''Miorallus'' (Middle Miocene of Sansan, France -? Late Miocene of Rudabánya, Hungary) *Genus ''Youngornis'' (Shanwang Middle Miocene of Linqu, China) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of Grive-Saint-Alban, France) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Late Miocene of Lemoyne Quarry, USA) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. UMMP V55013-55014; UMMP V55012/V45750/V45746 (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Saw Rock Canyon, USA) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. UMMP V29080 (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Fox Canyon, USA) *Genus ''Creccoides'' (Blanco Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of Crosby County, USA) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (Bermuda, West Atlantic) *Rallidae gen. et sp. indet. (formerly '' Fulica podagrica'') (Late Pleistocene of Barbados) *Genus '' Pleistorallus'' (mid-Pleistocene New Zealand). The holotype of ''Pleistorallus flemingi'' is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.


Doubtfully placed here

These taxa may or may not have been rails: * Genus '' Ludiortyx'' (Late Eocene) – includes ''"Tringa" hoffmanni'', ''"Palaeortyx" blanchardi'', ''"P." hoffmanni'' * Genus ''Telecrex'' (Irdin Manha Late Eocene of Chimney Butte, China) * Genus '' Amitabha'' (Bridger middle Eocene of Forbidden City, USA) – phasianid? * Genus ''Palaeocrex'' (Early Oligocene of Trigonias Quarry, USA) * Genus ''Rupelrallus'' (Early Oligocene of Germany) * Neornithes incerta sedis (Late Oligocene of Riversleigh, Australia) * Genus ''Euryonotus'' (Pleistocene of Argentina) The presumed scolopacid
wader 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
''Limosa gypsorum'' (Montmartre Late Eocene of France) is sometimes considered a rail and then placed in the genus ''Montirallus''.Olson (1985), Mlíkovský (2002)


See also

* * * * List of Gruiformes by population


References


Further reading

* *
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...
(BLI) (2007)
Wake Island Rail BirdLife Species Factsheet
Retrieved 2007-07-04. * * Dinkins, Walter (2014): The Rail Bird Hunter's Bible. A History of Rail Bird Hunting in the USA. Virtualbookworm.com Publishing. * 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
* *_Granjon,_L.,_and_G._Cheylan_(1989):_The_fate_of_black_rats_(rattus-rattus,_l)_introduced_on_an_island,_as_revealed_by_radio-tracking._Comptes_Rendus_De_L_Académie_des_Sciences,_Série_III_Sciences_de_la_Vie_309:571–575. *_Horsfall,_Joseph_A._&_Robinson,_Robert_(2003):_Rails._''In:''_Perrins,_Christopher_(ed.):_''Firefly_Encyclopedia_of_Birds''._Firefly_Books. *_ * *Livezey,_B._(2003):_Evolution_of_Flightlessness_in_Rails_(Gruiformes:_Rallidae):_Phylogenetic,_Ecomorphological,_and_Ontogenetic_Perspectives._Ornithological_Monographs_No._53._(Book) *_ * *_ *_Mlíkovský,_Jirí_(2002):_''Cenozoic_Birds_of_the_World,_Part_1:_Europe''._Ninox_Press,_Prague._PDF_fulltext
* *_ PDF_fulltext
* *_Granjon,_L.,_and_G._Cheylan_(1989):_The_fate_of_black_rats_(rattus-rattus,_l)_introduced_on_an_island,_as_revealed_by_radio-tracking._Comptes_Rendus_De_L_Académie_des_Sciences,_Série_III_Sciences_de_la_Vie_309:571–575. *_Horsfall,_Joseph_A._&_Robinson,_Robert_(2003):_Rails._''In:''_Perrins,_Christopher_(ed.):_''Firefly_Encyclopedia_of_Birds''._Firefly_Books. *_ * *Livezey,_B._(2003):_Evolution_of_Flightlessness_in_Rails_(Gruiformes:_Rallidae):_Phylogenetic,_Ecomorphological,_and_Ontogenetic_Perspectives._Ornithological_Monographs_No._53._(Book) *_ * *_ *_Mlíkovský,_Jirí_(2002):_''Cenozoic_Birds_of_the_World,_Part_1:_Europe''._Ninox_Press,_Prague._PDF_fulltext
* *_Storrs_L._Olson">Olson,_Storrs_L._(1985):_Section_X.D.2.b._Scolopacidae._''In:''_Farner,_D.S.;_King,_J.R._&_Parkes,_Kenneth_C._(eds.):_''Avian_Biology''_8:_174–175._Academic_Press,_New_York. *_ *_Steadman,_David_William_(2006):_''Extinction_and_Biogeography_of_Tropical_Pacific_Birds''._University_of_Chicago_Press._ *__(Full_text) *_ *Guide,_Joe._Rail_Bird_Hunter's_Bible._N.p.:_Virtualbookworm.com_Publishing,_Incorporated,_2014._ISBN_9781621374527 *Taylor,_Barry.,_van_Perlo,_Ber._Rails:_A_Guide_to_Rails,_Crakes,_Gallinules_and_Coots_of_the_World._United_Kingdom:_Bloomsbury_Publishing,_2010._ISBN_9781408135372 *Australia's_Amazing_Wildlife._2009,_(Original_Publisher:_Cornell_University)._United_Kingdom:_Bay_Books,_1985._ISBN_9780858358300


__External_links_

*_ *_ *_ {{Authority_control Rallidae.html" ;"title="Storrs_L._Olson.html" ;"title="ungarian with English abstract
PDF fulltext
* * Granjon, L., and G. Cheylan (1989): The fate of black rats (rattus-rattus, l) introduced on an island, as revealed by radio-tracking. Comptes Rendus De L Académie des Sciences, Série III Sciences de la Vie 309:571–575. * Horsfall, Joseph A. & Robinson, Robert (2003): Rails. ''In:'' Perrins, Christopher (ed.): ''Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds''. Firefly Books. * * *Livezey, B. (2003): Evolution of Flightlessness in Rails (Gruiformes: Rallidae): Phylogenetic, Ecomorphological, and Ontogenetic Perspectives. Ornithological Monographs No. 53. (Book) * * * * Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext
* * Storrs L. Olson">Olson, Storrs L. (1985): Section X.D.2.b. Scolopacidae. ''In:'' Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): ''Avian Biology'' 8: 174–175. Academic Press, New York. * * Steadman, David William (2006): ''Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds''. University of Chicago Press. * (Full text) * *Guide, Joe. Rail Bird Hunter's Bible. N.p.: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing, Incorporated, 2014. ISBN 9781621374527 *Taylor, Barry., van Perlo, Ber. Rails: A Guide to Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2010. ISBN 9781408135372 *Australia's Amazing Wildlife. 2009, (Original Publisher: Cornell University). United Kingdom: Bay Books, 1985. ISBN 9780858358300


External links

* * * {{Authority control Rallidae"> Extant Eocene first appearances Rails Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque