Sharpe's rail (''Gallirallus sharpei'') is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is known only from the type specimen of unknown origin, but it has been speculated that it originated from Indonesia. Due to the lack of recent records, it has been considered

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 ...

, but new evidence suggests it is possibly better regarded as a

morph Morph may refer to: Biology * Morph (zoology), a visual or behavioral difference between organisms of distinct populations in a species * Muller's morphs, a classification scheme for genetic mutations * "-morph", a suffix commonly used in tax ...

of the

buff-banded rail The buff-banded rail (''Hypotaenidia philippensis'') is a distinctively coloured, highly dispersive, medium-sized rail of the rail family, Rallidae. This species comprises several subspecies found throughout much of Australasia and the south-we ...

. The common name and Latin binomial name commemorate the British zoologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe.

References

* BirdLife International Globally Threatened Forums (2008).
Sharpe’s Rail (Gallirallus sharpei): no longer recognised taxonomically.
' Accessed 2008-12-15. Sharpe's rail Birds of Indonesia Controversial bird taxa Sharpe's rail Taxa named by Johann Büttikofer Articles containing video clips Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN Species known from a single specimen Endemic birds of Indonesia Morphas {{Gruiformes-stub