The Tsingy forest rail (''Mentocrex beankaensis''), also known as the Tsingy wood rail, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 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 ...

that was

scientifically described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it diffe ...

in 2011. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to areas with

dry deciduous forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

and

limestone karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. There is some eviden ...

in the lowlands of west-central

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 ...

. It is larger than the

Madagascar forest rail The Madagascar forest rail (''Mentocrex kioloides''), also known as the Madagascar wood rail or the kioloides rail, is a species of bird in the family Sarothruridae. It is endemic to forests, often in wet areas, in northern and eastern Madagascar. ...

, and also differs in the colour of the throat, moustachial stripe and region near the eyes. This species was formerly placed in the genus '' Canirallus'' together with adagascar forest rail and the grey-throated rail (''Canirallus oculeus''). A molecular genetic study published in 2019 found that the grey-throated rail is not closely related to the forest rails. The forest rails were therefore moved to the resurrected genus ''Mentocrex''.

References

Mentocrex Birds described in 2011 {{Gruiformes-stub