''Zapornia'' is a genus 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 lightweigh ...
s in the rail family
Rallidae
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, althoug ...
.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Zapornia'' was introduced in 1816 by the English zoologist
William Elford Leach
William Elford Leach Royal Society, FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist.
Life and work
Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a me ...
in a catalogue of animals in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. He included a single species, the
little crake
The little crake (''Zapornia parva'') is a very small waterbird of the family Rallidae. ''parva'' is Latin for "small".
Its breeding habitat is reed beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and just into western Asia. This species is migratory, wi ...
which is therefore the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
. The genus name is an anagram of the genus ''
Porzana
''Porzana'' is a genus of birds in the crake and rail family, Rallidae. Its scientific name is derived from Venetian terms for small rails. The spotted crake (''P. porzana'') is the type species.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Porzana'' was erected by th ...
'' that was introduced by the French ornithologist
Louis-Pierre Vieillot. The species now placed in this genus were formerly assigned to ''Porzana'' and ''
Amaurornis
''Amaurornis'' is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. The species in this genus are typically called bush-hens. A monotypic subtribe, Amaurornithina, was proposed for this genus.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Amaurornis'' was erected by the Ge ...
''.
Black crake
The black crake (''Zapornia flavirostra'') is a waterbird in the rail and crake family, Rallidae. It breeds in most of sub-Saharan Africa except in very arid areas. It undertakes some seasonal movements in those parts of its range which are subj ...
, ''Zapornia flavirostra'' (formerly placed in ''Amaurornis'')
* Sakalava rail, ''Zapornia olivieri'' (formerly placed in ''Amaurornis'')
* Ruddy-breasted crake
The ruddy-breasted crake (''Zapornia fusca''), or ruddy crake, is a waterbird in the rail and crake family Rallidae.
Its breeding habitat is swamps and similar wet areas across South Asia from the Indian subcontinent east to south China, Japa ...
, ''Zapornia fusca'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Band-bellied crake, ''Zapornia paykullii'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Black-tailed crake, ''Zapornia bicolor'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Brown crake, ''Zapornia akool'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Baillon's crake
Baillon's crake (''Zapornia pusilla''), also known as the marsh crake, is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae.
Distribution
Their breeding habitat is Cyperaceae, sedge beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and across the Palearctic. They used ...
, ''Zapornia pusilla'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* † St. Helena crake, ''Zapornia astrictocarpus'' (extinct) (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Little crake
The little crake (''Zapornia parva'') is a very small waterbird of the family Rallidae. ''parva'' is Latin for "small".
Its breeding habitat is reed beds in Europe, mainly in the east, and just into western Asia. This species is migratory, wi ...
, ''Zapornia parva'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Spotless crake
The spotless crake (''Zapornia tabuensis'') is a species of bird in the rail family, Rallidae. It is widely distributed species occurring from the Philippines, New Guinea and Australia, across the southern Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands a ...
, ''Zapornia tabuensis'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* † Kosrae crake, ''Zapornia monasa'' (extinct) (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* † Tahiti crake
The Tahiti crake (''Zapornia nigra''), also known as Miller's rail, was a species of bird in the family Rallidae.
It was endemic to Tahiti. It was discovered and painted by Georg Forster during the second Cook voyage. John Frederick Miller
John F ...
, ''Zapornia nigra'' (extinct) (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* Henderson crake
The Henderson crake or red-eyed crake (''Zapornia atra'') is a species of flightless bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to Henderson Island in the southeast Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth' ...
, ''Zapornia atra'' (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* † Hawaiian rail
The Hawaiian rail (''Zapornia sandwichensis''), Hawaiian spotted rail, or Hawaiian crake is an extinct species of diminutive rail that lived on Big Island of Hawaii.
A dark form and a lighter, spotted one are known (see below).
Taxonomy
Co ...
, '' Zapornia sandwichensis'' (extinct) (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
* † Laysan rail
The Laysan rail or Laysan crake (''Zapornia palmeri'') was a flightless bird endemic to the Northwest Hawaiian Island of Laysan. This small island was and still is an important seabird colony, and sustained a number of endemic species, includ ...
, ''Zapornia palmeri'' (extinct) (formerly placed in ''Porzana'')
References
Bird genera
{{Gruiformes-stub