The short-legged ground roller (''Brachypteracias leptosomus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the ground roller family

Brachypteraciidae The ground rollers are a small family of non-migratory near-passerine birds restricted to Madagascar. They are related to the kingfishers, bee-eaters and rollers. They most resemble the latter group, and are sometimes considered a sub-family of ...

. It is the only living species in the genus ''Brachypteracias'' and is

endemic 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 ...

to Madagascar. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The short-legged ground roller is the only extant species in the genus ''Brachypteracias'', although a fossil species, '' Brachypteracias langrandi'', has been described. The short-legged ground roller is more arboreal than other ground rollers, and may represent the ancestral form of the family.Langrand, O. (2017). Ground-rollers (Brachypteraciidae). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/52276 on 20 March 2017). The genus ''Brachypteracias'' once included the

scaly ground roller The scaly ground roller (''Geobiastes squamiger'') is a species of bird in a monotypic genus in the near-passerine family Brachypteraciidae. It is endemic to eastern Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest ...

, but a 2001 study of the DNA of the family found that the two are not closely related. The same study found that the short-legged ground roller is basal in the family. The genus name is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''brakhupteros'' for short-winged.Jobling, J. A. (2017)
''Brachypteracias'' in Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology
In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2017). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from www.hbw.com). The species name ''leptosomus'' is also Greek and derived from ''leptos'' for delicate and ''sōma'' for body.Jobling, J. A. (2017)
''leptosomus'' in Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology
In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.) (2017). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from www.hbw.com).

Distribution and habitat

The short-legged ground roller is

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, where is occurs in the northern part of the island through the eastern coast to the southern end of the island. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is humid tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s, from sea-level to , although it is commoner at lower altitudes. It is almost exclusively found in mature closed forest with large trees but can also be found on slopes with numerous saplings, and is rare in disturbed forest.Langrand, O. & Kirwan, G.M. (2017). Short-legged Ground-roller (''Brachypteracias leptosomus''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/55865 on 20 March 2017).

Description

Short-legged Ground-Roller - Masoala - Madagascar S4E7329 (15101189650)

The short-legged ground roller has a large head and bill, a puffy throat. It is the largest forest ground roller, and is stouter than the other species (except for the scaly ground roller). It measures in length and weighs . Where sexed individuals have been weighed the males were heavier, but the sample size was small. Females are smaller in other body measurements, for example wing chord length, which is in females compared to in males. As the name suggests the legs are short for the family, but contrary to its generic name the wings are the longest in the family, making this the most arboreal species, but is still not a strong flier. Like the other members of the family, the plumage is cryptic.

Behaviour

The short-legged ground roller is a secretive species that has been little studied. Everything that is known about the behaviour of the species has come from a single systematic study of a single pair in

Masoala National Park Masoala National Park, in northeast Madagascar, is the largest of the island's protected areas. Most of the park is situated in Sava Region and a part in Analanjirofo. Created in 1997, the park protects 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest and ...

and from incidental observations of other birds.

Status and conservation

The short-legged ground roller is considered to be fairly common in its natural habitat. Nevertheless it is considered to be threatened with extinction due to the rapid loss of its habitat to slash and burn for subsistence agriculture. Its habitat is also considered to be threatened by

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. Modelling of habitat change due to climate change predicts that the species may lose up to 62% of its current habitat. The species is also hunted.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1190023 short-legged ground roller Endemic birds of Madagascar short-legged ground roller Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Fauna of the Madagascar lowland forests