True rail



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.

The three endemic South American species are endangered by habitat loss, and the Madagascar Rail is becoming rare.

Taxonomy
Based on Maley (2012) and Maley and Brumfield (2013), King Rail, Rallus elegans, has been split into King Rail, Rallus elegans and Aztec Rail, Rallus tenuirostris; Clapper Rail, Rallus longirostris, has also been split into Clapper Rail, Rallus crepitans, Ridgway's Rail, Rallus obsoletus, and Mangrove Rail, Rallus longirostris.

Based on Ridgely and Greenfield (2001), because the fact that the birds in Ecuador sound very different than the birds in North America, the Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola, is split into:
 * Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola
 * Ecuadorian Rail, Rallus aequatorialis, including meyerdeschauenseei

Species
Living species
 * Ridgway's Rail, Rallus obsoletus
 * Aztec Rail, Rallus tenuirostris
 * Mangrove Rail, Rallus longirostris
 * Clapper Rail, Rallus crepitans
 * King Rail, Rallus elegans
 * Plain-flanked Rail, Rallus wetmorei
 * Virginia Rail, Rallus limicola
 * Bogota Rail, Rallus semiplumbeus
 * Austral Rail, Rallus antarcticus
 * Water Rail, Rallus aquaticus
 * Brown-cheeked Raill, Rallus indicus
 * African Rail, Rallus caerulescens

Madagascan Rail, Biensis madagascariensis is in its own genus.

Fossil record
 * Ibiza Rail, Rallus eivissensis (prehistoric)
 * Rallus sp. (Sajóvölgyi Middle Miocene of Mátraszõlõs, Hungary)
 * Rallus lacustris (Late Pliocene of C North America)
 * Rallus phillipsi (Late Pliocene of Wickieup, USA)
 * Rallus prenticei (Late Pliocene of C North America)
 * Rallus sp. (Rexroad Late Pliocene of Saw Rock Canyon, USA)
 * Rallus auffenbergi (Middle Pleistocene of SE North America) - formerly Porzana
 * Rallus ibycus (Shore Hills Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
 * Rallus recessus (St Georges Soil Late Pleistocene of Bermuda, W Atlantic)
 * Rallus natator (Pleistocene of San Josecito Cavern, Mexico) - formerly Epirallus
 * Rallus richmondi - includes R. dubius

Formerly in Rallus
 * "R." arenarius – now Quercyrallus
 * "R." beaumontii, "R." dispar – now – now Pararallus or Palaeoaramides
 * "R." christyi, "R." eximius, "R." major – now Palaeoaramides
 * "R." major – now Miorallus
 * "R." porzanoides – now Paraortygometra

"R" sumiderensis apparently refers to prehistoric remains of the Zapata Rail (Cyanolimnas cerverai).