Swamphen

Swamphen
Temporal range: Middle Miocene-Present 15–0 Ma
Western swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio in Mallorca, Spain
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Porphyrio
Brisson, 1760
Type species
Porphyrio porphyrio
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Synonyms

Notornis
Porphyrula

Porphyrio, also known as swamphens or swamp hens, is a genus of semi-aquatic birds in the rail family Rallidae. It includes some smaller species of gallinules which are sometimes separated as the genus Porphyrula or united with the gallinules proper (or "moorhens") in the genus 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 the Pleistocene.

The genus Porphyrio was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the western swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) as the type species. The genus name Porphyrio is the Latin name for "swamphen".

Species

The genus contains 10 extant species and two that have become extinct in historical times:

Extant species

Extinct species

References

  1. 1 2 García-R, J.C.; Trewick, S.A. (2015). "Dispersal and speciation in purple swamphens (Rallidae: Porphyrio)". Auk. 122 (1): 140–155. doi:10.1642/AUK-14-114.1.
  2. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 48, Vol. 5, p. 522.
  3. ↑ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 207. Archived from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  4. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 314. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  6. ↑ Sangster, G. (1998). "Purple Swamp-hen is a complex of species" (PDF). Dutch Birding. 20 (1): 13–22. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-04-04. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  7. ↑ Worthy, Trevor Henry; Scofield, Richard Paul; Suresh, Sneha; Barker, Simon J.; Wilson, Colin J. N.; Williams, Paul W.; Baker, Joel A. (26 January 2026). "The first Early Pleistocene ( ca 1 Ma) fossil terrestrial vertebrate fauna from a cave in New Zealand reveals substantial avifaunal turnover in the last million years". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology: 1–40. doi:10.1080/03115518.2025.2605684. ISSN 0311-5518. Retrieved 3 February 2026 – via Taylor and Francis Online.