The ground rollers, Brachypteraciidae, are a small family of non-migratory birds restricted to Madagascar.

They are members of the order Coraciiformes and are most closely related to the rollers in the family Coraciidae.

Description

Ground rollers share the generally crow-like size and build of the true rollers, ranging from in length, and also hunt reptiles and large insects. They are more terrestrial than Coraciidae species, and this is reflected in their longer legs and shorter, more rounded wings.

They lack the highly colourful appearance of the true rollers, and are duller in appearance, with striped or flecked plumage. They are much more elusive and shy than their relatives, and are normally difficult to find in the Malagasy forests. The number of species in each family is taken from the list maintained by Frank Gill, Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

mtDNA analyses confirmed the systematics of this group but indicated that merging Geobiastes into Brachypteracias, as was usually done since the 1960s, should be reversed at least until a more comprehensive review (e.g. supported by fossils) is possible (Kirchman et al., 2001). Also, 2000-year-old subfossil remains of ground rollers are known from the Holocene of Ampoza (Goodman, 2000); Eocene remains from Europe at first tentatively assigned to this family were later recognized as quite distinct (Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2000). Presently, there is no indication that ground rollers ever occurred anywhere outside Madagascar (Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2001).

Species

There are five extant species in four genera in the family Brachypteraciidae:

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! Image !! Genus !! Living species

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|175px||Brachypteracias ||

  • Short-legged ground roller, Brachypteracias leptosomus

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|175px||Geobiastes ||

  • Scaly ground roller, Geobiastes squamiger

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|175px||Uratelornis ||

  • Long-tailed ground roller, Uratelornis chimaera

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|175px||Atelornis ||

  • Pitta-like ground roller, Atelornis pittoides
  • Rufous-headed ground roller, Atelornis crossleyi

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An extinct species, the Ampoza ground roller (Brachypteracias langrandi), of presumed Holocene age, was described in 2000 based on a single humerus.

References

  • Kirchman, Jeremy J.; Hackett, Shannon J.; Goodman, Steven M. & Bates, John M. (2001): Phylogeny and systematics of ground rollers (Brachypteraciidae) of Madagascar, Auk 118(4): 849–863. <small>DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118[0849:PASOGR]2.0.CO;2</small> HTML abstract
  • Mayr, Gerald & Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile (2000): Rollers (Aves: Coraciiformes. s.s.) from the Middle Eocene of Messel (Germany) and the Upper Eocene of the Quercy (France). J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 20(3): 533–546. <small>DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0533:RACSSF]2.0.CO;2</small> PDF fulltext
  • Mayr, Gerald & Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile (2003): Phylogeny and fossil record of the Brachypteraciidae: A comment on Kirchman et al. (2001). Auk 120(1): 202–203. <small>DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0202:PAFROT]2.0.CO;2</small> PDF fulltext
  • Goodman, S.M. (2000). A description of a new species of Brachypteracias (Family Brachypteraciidae) from the Holocene of Madagascar. Ostrich 71 (1 & 2):p 318–322
  • Ground roller videos on the Internet Bird Collection
  • Don Roberson's Bird Families of the World