Swamphen
| Swamphen Temporal range: Middle Miocene-Present
| |
|---|---|
| Western swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio in Mallorca, Spain | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Porphyrio Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Porphyrio porphyrio Linnaeus, 1758
| |
| Species | |
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See text | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Notornis | |
Porphyrio, also known as the swamphen or swamp hen, is a genus of semi-aquatic birds in the rail family Rallidae. It includes some smaller species of gallinules which are sometimes separated as genus Porphyrula or united with the gallinules proper (or "moorhens") in 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 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".