NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Dusky Moorhen
Gallinula tenebrosa Gould, 1846
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Dusky moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa tenebrosa), Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The dusky moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa) is a bird species in the rail family and is one of the eight extant species in the moorhen genus. It occurs in Australia, New Guinea, Borneo and Indonesia. It is often confused with the purple swamphen and the Eurasian coot due to similar appearance and overlapping distributions. They often live alongside birds in the same genus, such as the Tasmanian nativehen and the common moorhen.
Wikipedia contributors, Dusky moorhen; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:21:43.864192+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gallinula tenebrosa Gould, 1846
- Name authority
- Gould, 1846
- Common name
- Dusky Moorhen
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Gruiformes
- Family
- Rallidae
- Genus
- Gallinula
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderGruiformes
- familyRallidae
- genusGallinula Brisson, 1760
- speciesGallinula tenebrosa Gould, 1846
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gallinula. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Common MoorhenGallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758) | RallidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tristan GallinuleGallinula nesiotis P. L. Sclater, 1861 | RallidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Samoan MoorhenGallinula pacifica (Hartlaub & Finsch, 1871) | RallidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
| Makira MoorhenGallinula silvestris (Mayr, 1933) | RallidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176288 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3F6W5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.