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.
| Laterallus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Black rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Laterallus Gray, G.R., 1855 |
| Type species | |
| Rallus melanophaius[1] Vieillot, 1819 | |
| Species | |
see text | |
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]
Species
The genus contains 13 species:[5]
- Black-banded crake, Laterallus fasciatus
- Rufous-sided crake, Laterallus melanophaius
- Rusty-flanked crake, Laterallus levraudi
- Ruddy crake, Laterallus ruber
- White-throated crake, Laterallus albigularis
- Grey-breasted crake, Laterallus exilis
- Yellow-breasted crake, Laterallus flaviventer
- Black rail, Laterallus jamaicensis
- Junin crake, Laterallus jamaicensis tuerosi
- Galapagos crake, Laterallus spilonota
- Dot-winged crake, Laterallus spiloptera
- Inaccessible Island rail, Laterallus rogersi
- Red-and-white crake, Laterallus leucopyrrhus
- Rufous-faced crake, Laterallus xenopterus
References
- Taylor, B., & van Perlo, B. (1998). Rails – A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World. ISBN 1-873403-59-3