Pardirallus

Pardirallus
Temporal range: 2.588–0 Ma
↓
 Late Pliocene to present
Plumbeous rail (Pardirallus sanguinolentus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Pardirallus
Bonaparte, 1856
Type species
Rallus variegatus[1]
Gmelin, 1789
Species

P. maculatus
P. nigricans
P. sanguinolentus

Pardirallus is a genus of bird in the family Rallidae. It contains three species native to marshland areas of Southern, Central America and the Caribbean, although fossil evidence indicates they once ranged north to what is now Idaho.[2] They are 25–38 cm long and have a long greenish bill and reddish legs. The spotted rail is blackish-brown with white markings while the other two are brown above and dark grey below.[2]

The genus Pardirallus was erected by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1856 with the spotted rail (Pardirallus maculatus) as the type species.[3][4] The generic name combines the Ancient Greek pardos meaning "leopard" with the genus Rallus.[5]

  1. ^ "Rallidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  2. ^ a b Taylor, Barry & Ber van Perlo (1998). Rails: A Guide to the Rails, Crakes, Gallinules and Coots of the World. Sussex: Pica Press.
  3. ^ Bonaparte, Charles Lucien (1856). "Excusion dans les divers Musées d'Allemagne, de Hollande et de Belgique (suite)". Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences (in French). 43: 593–601 [599].
  4. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 169.
  5. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 292. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.