| Laterallus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Rufous-sided crake (Laterallus melanophalus) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Laterallus Gray, G.R., 1855 |
| Type species | |
| Rallus melanophaius1 Vieillot, 1819
| |
| Species | |
|
see text | |
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 United States.
Taxonomy
The genus was erected by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855 with the rufous-sided crake (Laterallus melanophaius) as the type species.2 The genus name is a portmanteau of Rallus lateralis, a synonym of the binomial name for the rufous-sided crake.3 The authors of a molecular genetic study published in 2019 proposed that the yellow-breasted crake, the dot-winged crake, and the flightless Inaccessible Island rail should be moved to this genus.4 Additional changes to the content of the genus were made based on the molecular phylogenetic study by Emiliano Depino and collaborators that was published in 2023.56
Species
The genus contains 11 species:6
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Laterallus notatus | Speckled rail | 
|
 |
Laterallus spiloptera | Dot-winged crake | 
|
 |
Laterallus rogersi | Inaccessible Island rail | Inaccessible Island |
 |
Laterallus jamaicensis | Black rail | 
|
 |
Laterallus spilonota | Galapagos crake | 
|
 |
Laterallus flaviventer | Yellow-breasted crake | 
|
 |
Laterallus exilis | Grey-breasted crake | 
|
 |
Laterallus albigularis | White-throated crake | 
|
 |
Laterallus ruber | Ruddy crake | 
|
 |
Laterallus levraudi | Rusty-flanked crake | 
|
| |
Laterallus melanophalus | Rufous-sided crake | 
|
The rufous-faced crake (Rufirallus xenopterus), red-and-white crake (Rufirallus leucopyrrhus) and the black-banded crake (Rufirallus fasciatus) were formerly placed in this genus.6
References
References
- "Rallidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- Gray, George Robert (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. London: British Museum. p. 120.
- Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Laterallus". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive: Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- Stervander, M.; Ryan, P.G.; Melo, M.; Hansson, B. (2019). "The origin of the world's smallest flightless bird, the Inaccessible Island rail Atlantisia rogersi (Aves: Rallidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 130: 92–98. Bibcode:2019MolPE.130...92S. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.007. PMID 30321695. S2CID 53024581.
- Depino, E.A.; Pérez-Emán, J.L.; Bonaccorso, E.; Areta, J.I. (2023). "Evolutionary history of New World crakes (Aves: Rallidae) with emphasis on the tribe Laterallini". Zoologica Scripta. 52 (4): 394–412. doi:10.1111/zsc.12595.
- Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Flufftails, finfoots, rails, trumpeters, cranes, limpkin". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
Further reading
Further reading
- Taylor, B., & van Perlo, B. (1998). Rails – A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World. ISBN 1-873403-59-3