NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Short-legged Ground Roller
Brachypteracias leptosomus (R. Lesson, 1833)
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.
Short-legged Ground-roller, Masoala National Park, Madagascar This Short-legged Ground-roller was "digiscoped" with an incredible 2 seconds exposure time ! It was displaying its typical courtship call, under dark forest cover, perched ca. 4 meters above ground. Swarowski 80 HD 30 X, Coolpix P5100 (Adapter DCB)
Frank Vassen · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The short-legged ground roller (Brachypteracias leptosomus) is a species of bird in the ground roller family Brachypteraciidae. It is the only living species in the genus Brachypteracias and is endemic to Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Wikipedia contributors, Short-legged ground roller; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:31:25.530687+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Brachypteracias leptosomus (R. Lesson, 1833)
- Name authority
- (R. Lesson, 1833)
- Common name
- Short-legged Ground Roller
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Coraciiformes
- Family
- Brachypteraciidae
- Genus
- Brachypteracias
- 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
- orderCoraciiformes
- familyBrachypteraciidae
- genusBrachypteracias Lafresnaye, 1834
- speciesBrachypteracias leptosomus (R. Lesson, 1833)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Colaris leptosomus R. Lesson, 1833 R. Lesson, 1833 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
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=554529 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:MYWB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.