The Mangaia rail (''Gallirallus ripleyi'') is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
species of
flightless bird in the rail
family,
Rallidae.
History
The rail was described in 1986 from
subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
bones of late
Holocene age found in caves on the island of
Mangaia, in the southern
Cook Islands of West
Polynesia. The cause of its extinction is ascribed to a combination of predation and habitat alteration following human settlement of the island and the introduction of exotic mammals.
See also
*
List of birds of the Cook Islands
This is a list of the bird species recorded in the Cook Islands. The avifauna of the Cook Islands include a total of 88 species, of which 7 are endemic and 3 have been introduced by humans.
This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequ ...
References
Mangaia rail
The Mangaia rail (''Gallirallus ripleyi'') is an extinction, extinct species of flightless bird in the rail family (biology), family, Rallidae.
History
The rail was described in 1986 from subfossil bones of late Holocene age found in caves o ...
Birds of Mangaia
Extinct flightless birds
Extinct birds of Oceania
Late Quaternary prehistoric birds
Holocene extinctions
Fossil taxa described in 1986
Mangaia rail
The Mangaia rail (''Gallirallus ripleyi'') is an extinction, extinct species of flightless bird in the rail family (biology), family, Rallidae.
History
The rail was described in 1986 from subfossil bones of late Holocene age found in caves o ...
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