| Snipe-rail | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Capellirallus Falla, 1954 |
| Species: | C. karamu |
| Binomial name | |
| Capellirallus karamu Falla, 1954 |
|
The Snipe-rail (Capellirallus karamu) is an extinct flightless rail endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The species' name is derived from the Karamu Cave[1] 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Hamilton[1] where the holotype was discovered in 1954.[1]
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The Snipe-rail was a relatively small rail [2] which had a bill of about 7 centimetre,[2] very long in proportion to its body size.[2] Its weight was about 240 grams.[2] The type material consists of an incomplete skeleton, including vertebrae, a pelvis, and a hind limb.[1] Since the discovery of these remains, many complete skeletons[1] consisting of hundreds of bones[2] have been unearthed on different sites in the North Island.[2] The Snipe-rail has a specific position among New Zealand rail species.[2] Its evolutionary relationships to other rail species are unclear [2] but the structure of its bones suggests that it might have been a relative of the likewise extinct Chatham Rail.[1][2] As measured by its body size the Snipe-rail had the smallest wings of all known rail species.[1][2] It also had a disproportionally large tarsometatarsus.[2]
The bone findings were in the western areas of the North Island[2] where wetter, closed-canopy rainforests prevailed.[2] The bird's long bill suggests that it was able to forage by probing in a similar manner to kiwi.[2]
The exact date of the snipe-rail's extinction is unknown, but it is supposed that the decline began in the 13th century[2] when the Polynesian Rat became widespread in New Zealand.[2][3]
