The Kosrae crake or Kusaie Island crake (''Zapornia monasa''), sometimes also stated as Kittlitz's rail, is an extinct bird from the family
Rallidae. It occurred on the island of
Kosrae and perhaps on
Ponape in the south-western Pacific which belong both to the
Caroline Islands. Its preferred habitat were coastal swamps and marshland covered with
taro plants (''Colocasia esculenta'').
Description
It was discovered in 1827 by
Heinrich von Kittlitz. Von Kittlitz described its plumage as general black with bluish gloss. The quills were more brownish. The chin and the middle of the throat were brown. The surface of its tail were brownish-black. The undertail coverts exhibit white spots. The inner wing coverts were brownish and were spotted with white. The outer edged of the first primary was dull brown. Eyes, legs and feet had a reddish hue. The bill was black. Its size was about 18 cm.
Controversial data exists as to its ability to fly. X-ray measurements of the
carpometacarpi
The carpometacarpus is a bone found in the hands of birds. It results from the fusion of the carpal and metacarpal bone, and is essentially a single fused bone between the wrist and the knuckles. It is a smallish bone in most birds, generally flatt ...
lead to the assumption that it was flightless. However its native name ''nay-tay-mai-not'' which means "the one who lands in the taro plot" might imply that the ability to fly was present.
[David Day (1981). ''The Doomsday Book of Animals'', p. 87, Ebury Press, London, ]
Extinction
The Kosrae crake is only known by two specimens taken by von Kittlitz in December 1827 in the swamps of Kosrae. The two skins are now in the
Russian Academy of Sciences in
Saint Petersburg. The story of its extinction is similar to the vanishing of the
Kosrae starling
The Kosrae starling, also known as Kosrae Island starling, and formerly as Kusaie Mountain starling, (''Aplonis corvina'') is an extinct bird from the family of starlings (Sturnidae). It was endemic to the montane forests on the island of Kosrae ...
(another extinct species from Kosrae). Even in 1828 von Kittlitz described this bird as uncommon. German ornithologist
Otto Finsch failed to find this bird on his expedition in 1880 and also the
Whitney South Seas Expedition of the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
in 1931 remained unsuccessful on a survey after that species. They became apparently victims of rats which had overrun Kosrae after they were able to escape from missionary and whaling vessels which were careened on the beach of Kosrae.
References
Further reading
* Greenway, James (1967): ''Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World'', Dover Publications Inc. New York,
* Errol Fuller (2000). ''Extinct Birds'',
* Flannery, Tim & Schouten, Peter (2001). ''A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals'', Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. .
* David Day (1981). ''The Doomsday Book of Animals'', Ebury Press, London,
{{Taxonbar, from=Q672048
Kosrae crake
The Kosrae crake or Kusaie Island crake (''Zapornia monasa''), sometimes also stated as Kittlitz's rail, is an extinct bird from the family Rallidae. It occurred on the island of Kosrae and perhaps on Pohnpei, Ponape in the south-western Pacific ...
†
A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species). It is one of the modern descendan ...
Extinct flightless birds
Bird extinctions since 1500
Kosrae crake
The Kosrae crake or Kusaie Island crake (''Zapornia monasa''), sometimes also stated as Kittlitz's rail, is an extinct bird from the family Rallidae. It occurred on the island of Kosrae and perhaps on Pohnpei, Ponape in the south-western Pacific ...
Taxa named by Heinrich von Kittlitz