Gallinula

Belongs within: Fulicini.

The genus Gallinula contains the moorhens, aquatic birds that are all fairly similar in appearance with dark heads and bodies and commonly a red frontal shield. Representatives are found nearly worldwide with many populations often treated as subspecies of a single widespread species, the common moorhen G. chloropus. However, this species is now treated as restricted to the Old World with New World populations recognised as a distinct species, the common gallinule G. galeata. The dusky moorhen G. ventralis of Australasia is also distinct and lacks the white flank-markings of the common moorhen. Two South Atlantic insular species, the Gough moorhen G. comeri and Tristan moorhen G. nesiotis, have historically been treated as a distinct genus Porphyriornis and are stockier with shorter wings than the common moorhen. The Tristan da Cunha species is now extinct.

<==Gallinula Brisson 1760G-RGT14 (see below for synonymy)
    |  i. s.: G. balcanica Boev 1999M02
    |         G. disneyi Boles 2005M09
    |         G. gigantea Tchernov 1980M02
    |         G. gularisS42
    |         G. porzana [incl. Ortygometra maruetta, Zaporina minuta]F17
    |--G. tenebrosa Gould 1846KM21, SG-RT15 (see below for synonymy)
    `--+--+--G. comeri Allen 1892L98 [=G. nesiotis comeriL81, G. (*Porphyriornis) comeriL98, SG-RT15]
       |  `--G. nesiotis Sclater 1861KM21, L98 [=G. (Porphyriornis) nesiotisL98]
       `--+--*G. chloropus (Linnaeus 1758)G-RGT14 (see below for synonymy)
          |    |--G. c. chloropusFR98
          |    |--G. c. guamiFR98
          |    `--G. c. meridionalisL81
          |--G. cachinnans Bangs 1815 [incl. G. cerceris]L98
          |--G. galeata (Lichtenstein 1818)KM21, G-RGT14 [=Crex galeataG-RGT14]
          |    |--G. g. galeataG-RGT14
          |    `--G. g. sandvicensis Streets 1877G-RGT14, L98 [=G. chloropus sandvicensisL81]
          `--G. pyrrhorrhoa Newton 1861 [incl. G. seychellarum]L98

Inorganic: Gallinula chloropus minilorientalis Okamura 1987O87

Gallinula Brisson 1760^G-RGT14 [=Hydrogallina Lacépède 1799^CC10, Stagnicola Brehm 1831^CC10; incl. Porphyriornis Allen 1892^L98; Gallinulinae]

*Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus 1758)^G-RGT14 [=Fulica chloropus^G-RGT14, *Hydrogallina chloropus^CC10, *Stagnicola chloropus^CC10; incl. G. correiana^L98, G. chloropus indica Blyth 1842^CC10, G. orientalis^L98]

Gallinula tenebrosa Gould 1846^{KM21, SG-RT15} [incl. G. tenebrosa magnirostris Mathews 1912^CC10, G. tenebrosa subfrontata Mathews 1912^CC10]

*Type species of generic name indicated

References

[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica 4^th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.

[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.

[FR98] Fritts, T. H., & G. H. Rodda. 1998. The role of introduced species in the degradation of island ecosystems: a case history of Guam. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 29: 113–140.

[G-RGT14] Garcia-R, J. C., G. C. Gibb & S. A. Trewick. 2014. Deep global evolutionary radiation in birds: diversification and trait evolution in the cosmopolitan bird family Rallidae. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 81: 96–108.

[KM21] Kirchman, J. J., N. R. McInerney, T. C. Glarla, S. L. Olson, E. Slikas & R. C. Fleischer. 2021. Phylogeny based on ultra-conserved elements clarifies the evolution of rails and allies (Ralloidea) and is the basis for a revised classification. Ornithology 138: 1–21.

[L98] Livezey, B. C. 1998. A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B—Biological Sciences 353: 2077–2151.

[L81] Long, J. L. 1981. Introduced Birds of the World: The worldwide history, distribution and influence of birds introduced to new environments. Reed: Sydney.

[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[O87] Okamura, C. 1987. New facts: Homo and all Vertebrata were born simultaneously in the former Paleozoic in Japan. Original Report of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory 15: 347–573.

[SG-RT15] Sangster, G., J. C. García-R & S. A. Trewick. 2015. A new genus for the lesser moorhen Gallinula angulata Sundevall, 1850 (Aves, Rallidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 153: 1–8.

[S42] Strickland, H. E. 1842. Account of the birds in the Chinese collection exhibited at Hyde Park Corner. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 10: 166–168.