Porphyrio
Encyclopedia
- For the Latin grammarian sometimes known as Porphyrio, see Pomponius PorphyrionPomponius PorphyrionPomponius Porphyrion was a Latin grammarian and commentator on Horace, possibly a native of Africa, who flourished during the 2nd or 3rd century....
.
Porphyrio is the swamphen genus of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s in the rail family
Rallidae
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...
. 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. There are two living species of swamphen, the majority of the group having become extinct in the Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
. As opposed to the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
and especially Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
n swamphens, the four Porphyrio gallinules are distributed in the warmer regions of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, barely reaching into Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Living species
- Purple SwamphenPurple SwamphenThe Purple Swamphen , also known as the African Purple Swamphen, Purple Moorhen, Purple Gallinule, Pūkeko or Purple Coot, is a large bird in the family Rallidae . From its name in French, talève sultane, it is also known as the Sultana Bird...
formerly known as Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio porphyrio- African Swamphen formerly known as African Purple Gallinule, Porphyrio (p.) madagascariensis
- Grey-headed Swamphen, Porphyrio (p.) poliocephalus
- TakahēTakaheThe Takahē or South Island Takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand and belonging to the rail family. It was thought to be extinct after the last four known specimens were taken in 1898...
or South Island Takahē, Porphyrio hochstetteri
Recent taxonomy changes in Porphyrula or Gallinula:
- Allen's GallinuleAllen's GallinuleThe Allen's Gallinule , formerly known as the Lesser Gallinule is a small waterbird of the family Rallidae. Its former binomial name is Porphyrula alleni....
also known as Lesser Gallinule, Porphyrio alleni (formerly Porphyrula alleni) - American Purple GallinuleAmerican Purple GallinuleThe American Purple Gallinule is a "swamp hen" in the rail family Rallidae.A medium-sized rail with big yellow feet, purple-blue plumage with a green back, and red and yellow bill. It has a pale blue forehead shield and white undertail.Juveniles are brown overall with a brownish olive back...
, Porphyrio martinica (formerly Porphyrula martinica) - Azure GallinuleAzure GallinuleThe Azure Gallinule is a species of bird in the Rallidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, and Venezuela.The bill and frontal shield is a pale greenish-yellow.The wing...
, Porphyrio flavirostris
Extinct species
- Lord Howe SwamphenLord Howe SwamphenThe Lord Howe Swamphen or White Gallinule, Porphyrio albus, was a large bird in the family Rallidae endemic to Lord Howe Island, Australia. It was similar to the Purple Swamphen, but with shorter and more robust legs and toes. Its plumage was white, sometimes with a few blue feathers, and it was...
, Porphyrio albus (early 19th century) - Réunion SwamphenRéunion SwamphenThe Réunion Swamphen, Réunion Gallinule or Oiseau bleu is a hypothetical species of extinct rail from Réunion, Mascarenes until now only known from reports of travellers....
or Oiseau bleu, Porphyrio coerulescens (18th century, hypothetical species) - Marquesas SwamphenMarquesas SwamphenMarquesas Swamphen is a presumably extinct species of swamphen from the Marquesas Islands. It was originally described from 600 year old subfossil remains from Tahuata and Hiva Oa...
, Porphyrio paepae (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
or c.1900) - North Island TakahēNorth Island TakaheThe North Island Takahē or Mōho, Porphyrio mantelli, is an extinct rail that was found in the North Island of New Zealand. This flightless species is known from subfossils from a number of archeological sites and from one possible 1894 record...
or mōho, Porphyrio mantelli (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
or 1890s) - New Caledonian Swamphen, Porphyrio kukwiedei (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
or more recent) - Huahine SwamphenHuahine SwamphenThe Huahine Swamphen was a species of bird in the Rallidae family. 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 archaeological site on the island. Fa'ahia is an early Polynesian occupation site...
, Porphyrio mcnabi (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - Buka Swamphen, Porphyrio sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - Giant Swamphen, Porphyrio sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - New Ireland Swamphen, Porphyrio sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - Norfolk Island Swamphen, Porphyrio sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - Rota Swamphen, Porphyrio sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - Mangaia Swamphen/Woodhen, ?Porphyrio sp. (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
) - would belong into Porphyrula, Gallinula or Pareudiastes