Nkulengu rail

{{short description|Species of bird}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Nkulengu rail

| image = Nkulengu rails (Himantornis haematopus) Ankasa.jpg

| image_caption = in Ankasa Forest Reserve, Ghana

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2020 |title=Himantornis haematopus |volume=2020 |page=e.T22692256A181597957 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22692256A181597957.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}

| genus = Himantornis

| parent_authority = Hartlaub, 1855

| species = haematopus

| authority = Hartlaub, 1855

}}

File:Nkulengu rails (Himantornis haematopus) Ankasa 2.jpg

The Nkulengu rail (Himantornis haematopus) is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It belongs to the monotypic genus Himantornis.

For long, this singular rail was considered a member of a distinct subfamily Himantornithinae. This was based on the assumption that it was a sort of "living fossil", as it resembles other Gruiformes rather than other rails in many traits. But as it seems, the supposed plesiomorphies are actually atavistic or otherwise re-evolved traits in reaction to its African rainforest habitat. Its closest living relatives seem to be the Asian genera Amaurornis, Gallicrex, Megacrex, and the widespread African Aenigmatolimnas, with Megacrex and Himantornis representing ancient and ecologically quite similar lineages at the extreme ends of the group's distribution.Garcia-R et al. (2014): "Deep global evolutionary radiation in birds: Diversification and trait evolution in the cosmopolitan bird family Rallidae" However a later genetic study found that it was basal to the radiation containing Porzana, Tribonyx, Gallinula and Fulica.{{Cite journal|last1=Garcia-R|first1=Juan C.|last2=Lemmon|first2=Emily Moriarty|last3=Lemmon|first3=Alan R.|last4=French|first4=Nigel|date=2020-02-07|title=Phylogenomic Reconstruction Sheds Light on New Relationships and Timescale of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) Evolution|journal=Diversity|volume=12|issue=2|pages=70|doi=10.3390/d12020070|issn=1424-2818|doi-access=free}}

It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and Uganda.

It is notoriously difficult to visually observe, preferring to hide, but has a loud and distinctive call often made in pairs.{{Cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=David |last2=Demey |first2=Ron |date=March 2012 |title=Nkulengu Rail Himantornis haematopus |journal=Bulletin of the African Bird Club |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=81–82 |doi=10.5962/p.309969 |issn=1352-481X|doi-access=free }}

References

{{Reflist |refs =

{{cite web

| url = https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176348

| title = ITIS Report: Himantornis

| publisher = Integrated Taxonomic Information System

| access-date = 14 September 2014}}

}}

{{Gruiformes|R.|state=collapsed}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1261397}}

Nkulengu rail

Category:Birds of the African tropical rainforest

Nkulengu rail

Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

{{Gruiformes-stub}}