Ascension crake
| Ascension crake | |
|---|---|
| |
| Drawing by Peter Mundy, 1656 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | †Mundia Bourne, Ashmole, & Simmons, 2003 |
| Species: | †M. elpenor
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| Binomial name | |
| †Mundia elpenor (Olson, 1973)
| |
The Ascension crake (Mundia elpenor) is an extinct flightless bird that previously lived on
The bird was
a strange kind of fowle, much bigger then our sterlings ore stares: collour gray or dappled, white and blacke feathers intermixed, eies red like rubies, wings very imperfitt, such as wherewith they cannot raise themselves from the ground. They were taken running, in which they are exceeding swift, helping themselves a little with their wings (as it is said of the estridge), shortt billed, cloven footed, that can neither fly nor swymme.
It most likely lived in the near-desert areas of the island and primarily ate sooty tern (Sterna fuscata) eggs. It is probable that it became extinct after rats were introduced to the island in the 18th century, but it may have survived until the introduction of feral cats in 1815.
The bird was regarded by Storrs Olson as a relative of
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ISSN 0081-0282.
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. ISBN 84-87334-20-2.
- Bourne, W. R. P., Ashmole, N. P. & Simmons K. E. L.: A new subfossil night heron and a new genus for the extinct rail from Ascension Island, central tropical Atlantic Ocean in Ardea; 91, Heft 1, 2003: pp. 45–51 PDF fulltext
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