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 are very closely related to each other, suggesting they are descended from a single invasion of a New World ancestor.
These are slim, long-billed rails with slender legs. Their laterally flattened bodies are an adaptation to life in wet reedbeds and marshes, 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 American 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 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The type species was subsequently designated as the water rail. The genus name Rallus comes from the pre-binomial Latin name Rallus aquaticus for the water rail used by English ornithologist Francis Willughby in 1676, and by the English naturalist Eleazar Albin in 1731. The precise etymology of the word Rallus is uncertain.Species
The genus contains 14 extant species:| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
| Ecuadorian rail | Rallus aequatorialis | southwestern Colombia to southwestern Peru | |
| Austral rail | Rallus antarcticus | Argentina and Chile | |
| Water rail | Rallus aquaticus | Europe, Asia and North Africa | |
| African rail | Rallus caerulescens | from Ethiopia to South Africa | |
| Clapper rail | Rallus crepitans | eastern U.S., the Gulf of Mexico, eastern Mexico, some Caribbean islands, and south through eastern Central America | |
| King rail | Rallus elegans | southern United States and Mexico; in Canada, they are found in southern Ontario | |
| Brown-cheeked rail | Rallus indicus | northern Mongolia, eastern Siberia, northeast China, Korea and northern Japan. | |
| Virginia rail | Rallus limicola | southern United States and Central America | |
| Mangrove rail | Rallus longirostris | northeast Colombia, northwest Venezuela, Brazil, Trinidad | |
| Madagascar rail | Rallus madagascariensis | Madagascar | |
| Ridgway's rail | Rallus obsoletus | southeastern California and southern Arizona, to northwestern Mexico | |
| Bogotá rail | Rallus semiplumbeus | Colombia | |
| Aztec rail | Rallus tenuirostris | Mexico | |
| Plain-flanked rail | Rallus wetmorei | Venezuela |
Fossil record
Rallus sp. Rallus sp. Rallus adolfocaesaris Porto Santo rail Rallus auffenbergi – formerly PorzanaRallus carvaoensis São Miguel rail Rallus cyanocavi Rallus eivissensis, Ibiza rail Rallus ibycus Rallus lacustris Rallus lowei Madeira rail Rallus montivagorum Pico rail Rallus nanus São Jorge rail - erroneously previously described as Rallus minutus, which is a junior homonymRallus natator – formerly EpirallusRallus phillipsi Rallus prenticei Rallus recessus 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.