Laterallus

Taxonomy

The genus was erected by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855 with the rufous-sided crake (Laterallus melanophaius) 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. Additional changes to the content of the genus were made based on the molecular phylogenetic study by Emiliano Depino and collaborators that was published in 2023.