10 living, and see text Aphanolimnas Sharpe, 1892 Aphanolymnas (lapsus) Corethrura G.R.Gray, 1846 (non Hope, 1843[verification needed]: preoccupied) (but see below) Kittlitzia Hartlaub, 1891[verification needed] (non Hartert, 1891: preoccupied) Limnobaenus Sundevall, 1873 Limnocorax Peters, 1854 Nesophylax Murphy, 1924 Palugalla Balatzki, 2011 Pennula Dole, 1878 Phalaridion Kaup, 1829 Porzanoidea Mathews, 1912 Porzanula Frohawk, 1892 Rallites Pucheran, 1845 Schoenocrex Roberts, 1922 Schoenoscrex (lapsus) Zapornia is a recently revalidated genus of birds in the rail family Rallidae; it was included in Porzana for much of the late 20th century.

[2] These smallish to tiny rails are found across most of the world, but are entirely absent from the Americas except as wind-blown stray birds (which are regularly encountered on the Atlantic coasts however).

Between legs and tail, the plumage is brown to black, and in many species features more or less conspicuous whitish barring as in many other genera of rails (including Porzana proper).

[6] The first cladistic analyses, using morphological data, found it almost impossible to resolve any phylogenetic structure in Porzana and similar genera, but indicated that the entire group was closely related to Amaurornis bush-hen and the Laterallus crakes, as well as to coots (Fulica) and moorhen (Gallinula).

[3][7] Molecular phylogenetic studies starting in 2002[8] revealed that Porzana proper was a well-distinct lineage which had a basal position among the entire aforementioned group, to which the subfamily name Himanthornithinae was applied as it also included the singular Nkulengu rail of genus Himantornis, a highly aberrant tropical rainforest species that was long considered to be the most "primitive" living rail.

Rallina crakes are adapted to a more terrestrial habitat and thus differ more strongly from Zapornia in anatomy than might be expected given their close relationship; also, Rallina as traditionally circumscribed included a number of species which – similar to the Slender-billed flufftail initially being placed in Zapornia – actually belonged to the flufftail family and are nowadays separated as genus Rallicula.

The Ruddy-breasted and Band-bellied crakes, on the other hand, were never considered anything but sister species with almost parapatric distribution; this is supported by all molecular phylogenetic studies including those two species, but their placement with regard to the Black Rail lineage is uncertain;[2][8][15][19][20] Ruddy-breasted and Band-bellied crakes may also represent an ancient lineage of Zapornia – perhaps even older than Limnocorax – and warrant recognition as subgenus (or even genus) Limnobaenus.

[8][20] The Brown crake has been variously assigned to the Limnocorax[8] or Zapornia sensu lato[2][15] clades; as mentioned above, the bulk of its published mtDNA data is erroneous.

Intriguingly, one study combining morphological and DNA data[20] found the Isabelline bush-hen – one of the species generally retained in Amaurornis today – to be closely allied to the Brown crake, and consequently also warranting inclusion in Zapornia.

[7] As mentioned above, a number of recently-extinct Pacific island rails are also assigned to Zapornia nowadays: The specimen used to describe the Tahiti crake has long been lost, quite likely even before it arrived at a museum, and thus the species' affiliations and even its very existence remain conjectural until new material evidence is found.

Neither the raw DNA sequence data, not details regarding analytic methods, nor any results have been published except a brief summary, so no further conclusions can be drawn for the time being.

The extremely tiny Liliput crake from Molokaʻi directly to the west of Maui, by contrast, turns out close to Laterallus in the combined analysis, but without obvious affiliations to any particular group of species in that genus.

Since a purely morphological cladistic analysis[7] could not assign it (or any other prehistoric Hawaiian "Porzana", for that matter) to any particular lineage within Himanthornithinae, the Liliput crake's apparent similarity to tribe Laterallini might, on the other hand, simply be chance convergence.

The Great and Small Oʻahu crakes did not turn up anywhere near Zapornia (nor Porzana) in the morphological-molecular analysis,[20] but robustly fell within the other rail subfamily Rallinae.

[36] Until more individuals of the extinct rails of the Big Island of Hawaiʻi are found, the exact relationships and even the distinctness of the two unnamed species remain elusive.