''Porphyrio'' is the swamphen or swamp hen

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 ...

genus in the rail family. It includes some smaller species which are usually called "purple gallinules", and which are sometimes separated as genus ''Porphyrula'' or united with the gallinules proper (or "moorhens") in '' Gallinula''. The ''Porphyrio'' gallinules are distributed in the warmer regions of the world. The group probably originated in Africa in the Middle Miocene, before spreading across the world in waves from the Late Miocene to Pleistocene. The

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Porphyrio'' was introduced by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

in 1760 with the western swamphen (''Porphyrio porphyrio'') as 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 specime ...

. The genus name ''Porphyrio'' is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name for "swamphen", meaning "

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, ...

Species

The genus contains ten extant species and two that have become extinct in historical times:

Extant species

Purple swamphen The purple swamphen has been split into the following species: * Western swamphen, ''Porphyrio porphyrio'', southwest Europe and northwest Africa * African swamphen, ''Porphyrio madagascariensis'', sub-Saharan continental Africa and Madagascar * ...

complex ** Western swamphen, ''Porphyrio porphyrio'' **

African swamphen The African swamphen (''Porphyrio madagascariensis'') is a species of swamphen occurring in Egypt, Sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasik ...

, ''Porphyrio madagascariensis'' **

Grey-headed swamphen The grey-headed swamphen (''Porphyrio poliocephalus'') is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, b ...

, ''Porphyrio poliocephalus'' ** Black-backed swamphen, ''Porphyrio indicus'' **

Philippine swamphen Philippine swamphen (''Porphyrio pulverulentus'' Temminck, 1826) is a species of swamphen occurring in The Philippines. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen The purple swamphen has been split into the following species: ...

, ''Porphyrio pulverulentus'' **

Australasian swamphen The Australasian swamphen (''Porphyrio melanotus'') is a species of swamphen (''Porphyrio'') occurring in eastern Indonesia (the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands), Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is known as the pu ...

, ''Porphyrio melanotus'' * South Island takahē, ''Porphyrio hochstetteri'' * Allen's gallinule, also known as lesser gallinule, ''Porphyrio alleni'' (formerly ''Porphyrula alleni'') * American purple gallinule, ''Porphyrio martinicus'' (formerly ''Porphyrula martinica'') * Azure gallinule, ''Porphyrio flavirostris''

Extinct species

Lord Howe swamphen The white swamphen (''Porphyrio albus''), also known as the Lord Howe swamphen, Lord Howe gallinule or white gallinule, is an extinct species of rail which lived on Lord Howe Island, east of Australia. It was first encountered when the crews ...

, ''Porphyrio albus'' (early 19th century) * Réunion swamphen, or ', ''Porphyrio coerulescens'' (18th century, hypothetical species) * Marquesas swamphen, ''Porphyrio paepae'' ( prehistoric or ) * North Island takahē, or ', ''Porphyrio mantelli'' ( prehistoric or 1890s) * New Caledonian swamphen, ''Porphyrio kukwiedei'' ( prehistoric or more recent) *

Huahine swamphen The Huahine swamphen (''Porphyrio mcnabi'') was a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was a small swamphen endemic to Huahine in the Society Islands of French Polynesia. It is known only from subfossil remains found at the Fa'ahia archae ...

, ''Porphyrio mcnabi'' ( prehistoric) * Buka swamphen, ''Porphyrio'' sp. ( prehistoric) * Giant swamphen, ''Porphyrio'' sp. ( prehistoric) * New Ireland swamphen, ''Porphyrio'' sp. ( prehistoric) * Norfolk Island swamphen, ''Porphyrio'' sp. ( prehistoric) * Rota swamphen, ''Porphyrio'' sp. ( prehistoric) * Mangaia swamphen/woodhen, ?''Porphyrio'' sp. ( prehistoric) - would belong into ''Porphyrula'', ''Gallinula'' or ''Pareudiastes''

References

*Taylor, P. Barry & van Perlo, Ber (1998): ''Rails: a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules, and coots of the world''. Yale University Press, New Haven.

External links

Swamphens fighting, Centennial Park, Sydney
YouTube
Swamphens fighting, Centennial Park, Sydney
YouTube Bird genera Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson {{Gruiformes-stub