Dieffenbach's rail

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Dieffenbach's rail

Extinct (1872) (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Extinct (1872) (NZ TCS)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Hypotaenidia
Species:
H. dieffenbachii
Binomial name
Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii
(Gray, 1843)
Synonyms
  • Gallirallus dieffenbachii
  • Cabalus dieffenbachii
Juvenile
Head

Dieffenbach's rail (Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii), known in the

endemic to the Chatham Islands
.

Extinction

The only recorded living specimen of Dieffenbach's rail was captured in 1840 by

extinct
due to hunting and introduced predators, perhaps soon after 1872.

Taxonomy

The Dieffenbach's rail was

sympatric with the flightless Chatham rail (Cabalus modestus). Their sympatry suggests parallel evolution after separate colonisation of the Chatham Islands by a common volant ancestor, presumably the buff-banded rail (Hypotaenidia philippensis).[3] A 2014 genetic analysis found that the taxa were not particularly closely related, with Dieffenbach's rail being sister to the group of Hypotaenidia including the buff-banded rail, while the Chatham rail was found to be in a more basal position.[4] It is still considered to be in the genus Gallirallus
by some experts.

Gallery

See also

  • Hawkins's rail, another extinct flightless rail endemic to the Chatham Islands.

References