Porzana

Spotted crake Porzana porzana, from here.

Belongs within: Gallinula.

Porzana has historically been recognised as one of the primary genera of crakes, short-billed rails without significant aquatic adaptations (Livezey 1998). However, recent phylogenetic analyses indicate that the genus as previously recognised is polyphyletic with only a small number of species directly related to the type species, the spotted crake P. porzana. This species breeds in western Eurasia and migrates to Africa and India; it is brown above with black barring and white spots on the flanks, a yellow bill with a red base, and green legs.

<==Porzana Vieillot 1816 CC10
    |  i. s.: P. astrictocarpus Olson 1973 L98
    |         P. estramosi Jánossy 1979 [incl. P. estramosi veterior Jánossy 1979] M02
    |         P. keplororum Olson & James 1991 L98
    |         P. menehune Olson & James 1991 L98
    |         P. nigra HSS13
    |         P. ralphorum Olson & James 1991 L98
    |         P. rua Steadman 1986 L98
    |         P. severnsi Olson & James 1991 L98
    |         P. ziegleri Olson & James 1991 L98
    |--P. carolina (Linnaeus 1758) L98 [=Rallus carolinus G-RGT14]
    `--+--*P. porzana (Linnaeus 1766) CC10, L98, M02 [=Rallus porzana M02]
       `--P. fluminea Gould 1842 L98, G-RGT14 [=Ortygometra fluminea CC10]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[G-RGT14] Garcia-R, J. C., G. C. Gibb & S. A. Trewick. 2014. Deep global evolutionary radiation in birds: diversification and trait evolution in the cosmopolitan bird family Rallidae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 81: 96–108.

[HSS13] Hirschfeld, E., A. Swash & R. Still. 2013. The World's Rarest Birds. Princeton University Press: Princeton (New Jersey).

[L98] Livezey, B. C. 1998. A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B—Biological Sciences 353: 2077–2151.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

Last updated: 20 August 2019.