biology

Swinhoe's rail

Swinhoe's rail is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Swinhoe's rail rather than just read about it. In short: Swinhoe's rail (Coturnicops exquisitus) is a species of bird in the family Rallidae occurring in northeastern Asia. It was known only in two locations in Manchuria and southeastern Siberia, separated by more than 1000 km; however, in 2018, a new breeding population was found in the Amur region, situated between the two.

Key takeaways

Swinhoe's rail belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Swinhoe's rail to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Swinhoe's rail from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Swinhoe's rail (Coturnicops exquisitus) is a species of bird in the family Rallidae occurring in northeastern Asia. It was known only in two locations in Manchuria and southeastern Siberia, separated by more than 1000 km; however, in 2018, a new breeding population was found in the Amur region, situated between the two. Its natural habitats are swamps, freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and arable land. It is the world's smallest rail at 13 cm (5.2 in) and 24.5 grams. It is threatened by habitat loss, though its population is now considered to be larger than previously believed, and is thus classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The common name commemorates the British naturalist Robert Swinhoe who first described the species in 1873.

References

External links BirdLife Species Factsheet.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Swinhoe's rail

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Swinhoe's rail claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Swinhoe's rail before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Swinhoe's rail ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Swinhoe's rail

In research: Swinhoe's rail appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Swinhoe's rail in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Swinhoe's rail is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds described in 1873, Birds of Manchuria, Coturnicops, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Swinhoe's rail outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Swinhoe's rail in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Swinhoe's rail means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Swinhoe's rail out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Swinhoe's rail in simple terms?

Why does Swinhoe's rail matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Swinhoe's rail?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Swinhoe's rail.