An international team of ornithologists from Sweden and New Zealand has described a new genus for a bird species called the lesser moorhen.
A new genus Paragallinula is established for the lesser moorhen, which was previously assigned to the genus Gallinula. This photograph illustrates two diagnostic character states differentiating the new genus from Gallinula: the orange coloration on the frontal shield does not cover the entire shield, and the lack of a contrasting reddish band on the legs proximal to the ankle joint. Image credit: Mark Tittley, via George Sangster et al, doi: 10.5852/ejt.2015.153.
The team, headed by Dr George Sangster from Swedish Museum of Natural History, named the new genus Paragallinula.
“The generic name is derived from the Greek para (beside) and the Latin gallinula (a little hen or chicken),” Dr Sangster and co-authors wrote in a paper in the European Journal of Taxonomy.
“It denotes the resemblance of P. angulata to species of Gallinula but highlights that they are independent evolutionary lineages.”
According to the scientists, Paragallinula angulata is found in most of the African continent from Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
_____
George Sangster et al. 2015. A new genus for the Lesser Moorhen Gallinula angulata Sundevall, 1850 (Aves, Rallidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 153: 1 – 8; doi: 10.5852/ejt.2015.153
