''Rallina'' 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 ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the rail family,

Rallidae Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes ...

. It contains four species found in forest and marshland in Asia and Australasia. They are 18–34 cm long and mainly chestnut or brown, often with black and white markings. Four African species formerly usually placed in ''Rallina'' are now placed in the genus ''

Rallicula ''Rallicula'' is a genus of bird in the family Sarothruridae. It contains four species endemic to the island of New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands ...

''; some taxonomic authorities continue to place them in ''Rallina'', but as the pronounced

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

of ''Rallicula'' shows, they are no true rails at all, but instead belong to the recently separated (though outwardly similar) flufftail family

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 ...

Species

The genus contains the following four species: A fifth ''Rallina'' species, the Great Nicobar crake, was proposed but not formally described in 2012. As of 2023, the supposed new species was only recorded twice, in 2011 and 2015; however, in 2021 populations of Red-legged and Slaty-legged crakes were discovered to inhabit Great Nicobar Island. It is thus more likely that the "Great Nicobar crake" is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

between these two species, or even between a local Red-legged crake and a stray individual of the Andaman crake (being essentially intermediate in appearance between them).

References

Bird genera Taxa named by George Robert Gray Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Gruiformes-stub