A monotypic subtribe, Amaurornithina, was proposed for this genus.

[1] The genus Amaurornis was erected by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach in 1853 with the plain bush-hen (Amaurornis olivacea) as the type species.

The first cladistic studies of rails, based on morphology, strongly suggested that Amaurornis as traditionally defined is not monophyletic, and that several species placed here are in fact closer to the small crakes traditionally placed in Porzana.

However, these smallish species are probably not close to the large members of Porzana either, and would warrant re-establishment of the old genus Zapornia.

[1][4] The genus contains five species:[5] Media related to Amaurornis at Wikimedia Commons This Gruiformes-related article is a stub.