Cranes, rails, and allies (Gruiformes)
Abstract The avian Order Gruiformes, as traditionally conceived, consists of as many as a dozen families of extant or recently extinct birds and nearly as many more families known only from fossils. theFamily Gruidae is represented by 15 species of cranes, which are found worldwide except in Antarct...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University PressOxford
2009
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199535033.003.0064 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52373976/isbn-9780199535033-book-part-64.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract The avian Order Gruiformes, as traditionally conceived, consists of as many as a dozen families of extant or recently extinct birds and nearly as many more families known only from fossils. theFamily Gruidae is represented by 15 species of cranes, which are found worldwide except in Antarctica and South America. thenearly cosmopolitan Family Rallidae comprises some 135–142 species of rails, crakes, coots, moorhens, gallinules, and Pufftails (1, 2). Cranes and rails comprise the genetically closely related and relatively morphologically homogeneous Suborder Grues (3), which in turn is divided into the stocky rail-like Superfamily Ralloidea (rails, Anfoots, adzebills) and the lanky crane-like Superfamily Gruoidea (cranes, Limpkin, trumpeters). Ralloids and gruoids represent extremes along a continuum of size from 139 to 1524 mm in length (4). Most are drab somber birds of wetlands or aquatic habitats, although gallinules are colorful and many others have pigmented patches of skin on the head (Fig. 1). |
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