Since that time, the range of Heliopais has shrunk to southeast Asia, leaving Podica as the only finfoot genus in Africa.

[3] The masked finfoot is an underwater specialist with a long neck, a striking sharp beak, and lobed feet which are green.

Both males and females have a black mask and eyebrow that contrasts with a white eyering and lateral cervical stripe.

The rest of the neck is grey, the breast is pale and the back, wings, and tail are a rich brown.

The finfoot feeds on aquatic invertebrates, including both adults and larval mayflies, dragonflies, crustaceans, also snails, fish and amphibians.

This likely indicates that the species should be updated to critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, and major steps towards its protection have to be taken to avoid it becoming Asia's next avian extinction.

Major threats to the species are human disturbance and habitat loss in the low-lying forested wetlands that it inhabits.