''Gallirallus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

rails Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

that live in the

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

region. The genus is characterised by an ability to colonise relatively small and isolated islands and thereafter to evolve flightless forms, many of which became extinct following Polynesian settlement.

Taxonomy

Following recent taxonomic revisions, there is only one known extant species in this genus along with several extinct species of dubious classification, with all other species being moved to ''

Hypotaenidia ''Hypotaenidia'' is a genus of birds in the family Rallidae. The genus is considered separate by the IOC and IUCN, while ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' / eBird consider the species to be part of ''Gallirallus ''Gallirallus ...

'', ''

Cabalus ''Cabalus'' is a genus of birds in the family Rallidae. It contains the following species: * New Caledonian rail, ''Cabalus lafresnayanus'' * Chatham rail The Chatham rail (''Cabalus modestus'') is an extinct flightless species of bird in ...

'', or '' Aptenorallus''.

Description

Many of the rails, including the well-known

weka The weka, also known as the Māori hen or woodhen (''Gallirallus australis'') is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is the only extant member of the genus ''Gallirallus''. Four subspecies are recognize ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, are flightless or nearly so. Many of the resultant flightless island

endemics Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

became

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

after the arrival of humans, which hunted these birds for food, introduced novel

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s like rats, dogs or pigs, and upset the local

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

s. A common Polynesian name of these rails, mainly relatives of ''G. philippensis'', is ''veka''/''weka'' (in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, this name is generally limited to '' Gallirallus australis''). On the other hand, ''Gallirallus'' species are (with the exception of the weka) notoriously retiring and shy birds with often drab coloration.

Living and recently extinct species

In the online list maintained by

Frank Gill Frank Gill may refer to: * Frank Gill (Australian footballer) (1908–1970), Australian rules footballer with Carlton * Frank Gill (footballer, born 1948), footballer for Tranmere Rovers *Frank Gill (politician) (1917–1982), New Zealand politicia ...

Pamela Rasmussen Pamela Cecile Rasmussen (born October 16, 1959) is an American ornithologist and expert on Asian birds. She was formerly a research associate at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and is based at the Michigan State University. She ...

and David Donsker on behalf of the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

(IOC), the genus contains only one extant species: These species are placed by BirdLife International and IUCN in the separate genus ''

'' but are still considered part of ''Gallirallus'' by ''

The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world. The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 2022 ...

/''

eBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

: *

Okinawa rail The Okinawa rail (''Hypotaenidia okinawae'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is endemic to Okinawa Island in Japan where it is known as the . Its existence was only confirmed in 1978 and it was formally described in 1981 a ...

, ''Gallirallus okinawae'' *

Barred rail The barred rail (''Hypotaenidia torquata'') is a species of rail found across the Philippines, Sulawesi (Indonesia) and Salawati (western New Guinea). The species is common, but shy and difficult to see.Taylor, B. (2018). Barred Rail (''Hypotaenid ...

, ''Gallirallus torquatus'' *

Pink-legged rail The pink-legged rail (''Hypotaenidia insignis''), also known as the New Britain rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. Distribution and habitat It is endemic to the island of New Britain. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tro ...

, ''Gallirallus insignis'' *

Roviana rail The Roviana rail (''Hypotaenidia rovianae'') is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to the Western Province (Solomon Islands) Western Province is the largest of the nine provinces of Solomon Islands. The area is renowned ...

, ''Gallirallus rovianae'' *

Guam rail The Guam rail (''Hypotaenidia owstoni'') is a species of flightless bird, endemic to the United States territory of Guam, where it is known locally as the ''Ko'ko bird. The Guam rail disappeared from southern Guam in the early 1970s and was exti ...

, ''Gallirallus owstoni'' –

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...

(late 1980s) *

Lord Howe woodhen The Lord Howe woodhen (''Hypotaenidia sylvestris'') also known as the Lord Howe Island woodhen or Lord Howe (Island) rail, is a flightless bird of the rail family, (Rallidae). It is endemic to Lord Howe Island off the Australian coast. It is curr ...

, ''Gallirallus sylvestris'' *

Buff-banded rail The buff-banded rail (''Hypotaenidia philippensis'') is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the rail family, Rallidae. This species comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south-we ...

, ''Gallirallus philippensis'' *

Dieffenbach's rail Dieffenbach's rail (Moriori: ''meriki'' or ''mehoriki'', ''Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii'') is an extinct flightless species of bird from the family Rallidae. It was endemic to the Chatham Islands. The only recorded living specimen of Dieffenbach ...

, ''Gallirallus dieffenbachii'' –

(mid-19th century) *

Wake Island rail The extinct Wake Island rail (''Hypotaenidia wakensis'') was a flightless rail and the only native land bird on the Pacific atoll of Wake. It was found on the islands of Wake and Wilkes, but not on Peale, which is separated from the others by a ...

, ''Gallirallus wakensis'' –

(1945) *

Tahiti rail The Tahiti rail, Tahitian red-billed rail, or Pacific red-billed rail (''Hypotaenidia pacifica'') is an extinct species of rail that lived on Tahiti. It was first recorded during James Cook's second voyage around the world (1772–1775), o ...

, ''Gallirallus pacificus'' –

(late 18th – 19th century) The

Calayan rail The Calayan rail (''Aptenorallus calayanensis'') is a flightless bird of the rail, moorhen, and coot family (Rallidae) that inhabits Calayan Island in the Philippines. It is the only member of the genus ''Aptenorallus''. Though well known to nat ...

(formerly ''Gallirallus calayanensis'') was classified into the genus '' Aptenorallus'' in 2021.

Species extinct before A.D. 1500

Aside from the weka, all species classified in the genus ''Gallirallus'' are only known from subfossil remains, having gone extinct in the

Quaternary extinction event The Quaternary period (from 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present) has seen the extinctions of numerous predominantly megafaunal species, which have resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity and the extinction of key ecolog ...

. Given the recent taxonomic changes that have led to the weka being the only remaining ''Gallirallus'' species, it is possible these may also belong to different genera, but are presently retained in ''Gallirallus'' due to uncertainty. *

Astolfo's rail Astolfo's rail (''Gallirallus astolfoi'') is an extinction, extinct species of flightless bird in the Rallidae, or rail family (biology), family. It lived in Rapa Iti, one of the Bass Islands (French Polynesia), Bass Islands in French Polynesia. ...

, ''Gallirallus astolfoi'' *

Nuku Hiva rail The Nuku Hiva rail (''Gallirallus epulare'') is an extinct species of flightless bird in the Rallidae, or rail family. History The rail was described in 2007 from subfossil bones collected in 1994-1995 by archaeologists B. V. Rolett, E. Conte ...

, ''Gallirallus epulare'' * New Ireland rail, ''Gallirallus ernstmayri'' * Ua Huka rail, ''Gallirallus gracilitibia''(subscription required) *

Niue rail The Niue rail (''Gallirallus huiatua'') is an extinct species of flightless bird in the Rallidae, or rail family. History The rail was described in 2000 from subfossil bones collected in January 1995 by paleozoologist Trevor Worthy at the Anaku ...

, ''Gallirallus huiatua'' * Tinian rail, ''Gallirallus pendiculentus'' * Aguiguan rail, ''Gallirallus pisonii'' *

Mangaia rail The Mangaia rail (''Gallirallus ripleyi'') is an extinction, extinct species of flightless bird in the rail family (biology), family, Rallidae. History The rail was described in 1986 from subfossil bones of late Holocene age found in caves o ...

, ''Gallirallus ripleyi'' * Tahuata rail, ''Gallirallus roletti'' * Tubuai rail, ''Gallirallus steadmani'' *

Huahine rail The Huahine rail (''Gallirallus storrsolsoni'') was a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was a medium-sized ''Gallirallus'' rail endemic to Huahine in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. It is known only from subfossil remains found ...

, ''Gallirallus storrsolsoni'' * Rota rail, ''Gallirallus temptatus'' * ‘Eua rail, ''Gallirallus vekamatolu'' – possibly survived to the early 19th century * Hiva Oa rail, ?''Gallirallus'' sp. * Vava'u Rail, ''Gallirallus ypotaenidiavavauensis'' Worthy & Burley 2020.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q147880 Bird genera with one living species