Laterallus
Laterallus is a genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae. These small, relatively short-billed terrestrial rails are found among dense vegetation near water in the Neotropics, although a single species, the black rail, also occurs in the United States.
The genus was erected by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855 with the rufous-sided crake as the type species. The genus name is a portmanteau of Rallus lateralis, a synonym of the binomial name for the rufous-sided crake. The authors of a molecular genetic study published in 2019 proposed that the yellow-breasted crake, the dot-winged crake, and the flightless Inaccessible Island rail should be moved to this genus.Species
The genus contains 11 species:
- Russet-crowned crake, Laterallus viridis
- Black-banded crake, Laterallus fasciatus
- Rufous-sided crake, Laterallus melanophaius
- Rusty-flanked crake, Laterallus levraudi
- Ruddy crake, Laterallus ruber
- White-throated crake, Laterallus albigularis
- Grey-breasted crake, Laterallus exilis
- Black rail, Laterallus jamaicensis
- *Junin crake, Laterallus jamaicensis tuerosi
- Galapagos crake, Laterallus spilonota
- Red-and-white crake, Laterallus leucopyrrhus
- Rufous-faced crake, Laterallus xenopterus
