The story This species seems to provide a fairly typical example of the way in which rails develop on isolated islands. It is assumed that this is another form that has evolved from an ancestral stock resembling the Buff-banded Rail, but in this case the evolution was rather more advanced than in others. Following the […]
Category: extinct
Dieffenbachs Rail (Gallirallus dieffenbachii)
The story The remote Chatham Islands lie way to the south of New Zealand and here, in isolation, two species seem to have developed from an ancestral stock that resembled the Buff-banded Rail. The less evolved of these is Dieffenbach’s Rail, and this form seems to have developed from a comparatively recent invasion of the […]
Mauritian Red Rail (Aphanapteryx bonasia)
The story Scattered among the seventeenth century written accounts and illustrations that relate to the celebrated Dodo are descriptions and pictures of a flightless bird of a rather different kind. These pictures show a creature that in overall shape and appearance looks something like a kiwi. A long, down-curved beak, rather hair-like plumage and stout […]
Tanna Ground-dove (Gallicolumba ferruginea)
The story The Tanna Ground-dove is known today from just a single, rather crude, painting by Georg Forster that was produced during Captain Cook’s second voyage around the world. This painting is in the Forster portfolio at the Natural History Museum, London, and in the margin the following words are inscribed: Tanna, female, 17th August […]
Ascension Rail (Atlantisea elpenor)
The story The evidence for the former existence of a small rail on Ascension Island is of two kinds. First, bones from a rail have been found on the island and, second, there exists a seventeenth century written account of just such a creature. This account was written by the much travelled Englishman Peter Mundy, […]
Ellis Sandpiper (Prosobonia ellisi)
The story Whether there was one extinct species of sandpiper occupying the Pacific islands of Tahiti and Moorea or whether there were, in fact, two remains something of an enigma. The naturalists who actually saw the birds in life and handled fresh specimens were convinced that there was only one, but more recent commentators have […]
Mauritius Blue-pigeon (Alectroenas nitidissima)
The story When the first Dutch mariners landed on Mauritius, they were hungry after weeks at sea on meager rations. Naturally, they caught Dodos and ate them. Soon, however, they tired of the rather tough meat on these easily caught creatures and turned their attentions to smaller, tastier birds. Among those that they mentioned particularly […]
Wake Rail (Gallirallus wakensis)
The story The Wake Rail has acquired the grim celebrity of having been eaten out of existence by hungry Japanese soldiers during World War II. Unable to fly, these rails could scuttle about their island home quickly, but despite their agility any efforts to escape would have been no match for the concerted efforts of […]
Dodo (Raphus cucullatus)
The Dodo was endemic to Mauritius, but is now Extinct because of hunting by settlers and nest predation by introduced pigs. The last individuals were killed on the offshore islet Ile d’Ambre in 1662. Raphus cucullatus is known from numerous bones, specimen fragments, reports and paintings from Mauritius. It was last reported from an offshore […]
Grand Cayman Thrush (Turdus ravidus)
The story The Grand Cayman Thrush became extinct towards the middle of the twentieth century, but considering the comparative lateness of this date very little is known of it. One of the few things on record is a description of its song, which was apparently rather weak and hesitant, more, perhaps, a subdued warbling than […]