Mangaia rail
| Mangaia rail | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Gallirallus |
| Species: | G. ripleyi |
| Binomial name | |
| Gallirallus ripleyi Steadman, 1986[1] | |
The Mangaia rail (Gallirallus ripleyi) is an extinct species of flightless bird in the Rallidae, or rail family.
History
The rail was described in 1986 from subfossil 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.[1]