Dieffenbach's rail

Dieffenbach's rail (Gallirallus dieffenbachii) is an extinct flightless species of bird from the family Rallidae. It was endemic to the Chatham Islands and referred to as meriki, or mehoriki, by the indigenous Moriori. The only recorded living specimen of Dieffenbach's rail was captured in 1840 by Ernst Dieffenbach, who is commemorated in the scientific and common name of the species. It became extinct due to hunting and introduced predators, perhaps soon after 1840.

Dieffenbach's rail
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Gallirallus
Species:
G. dieffenbachii
Binomial name
Gallirallus dieffenbachii
(Gray, 1843)
Synonyms

Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii (Gray, 1843)

Juvenile
Head

The Dieffenbach's rail was sympatric with the flightless Chatham rail. Their sympatry suggests parallel evolution after separate colonisation of the Chatham Islands by a common volant ancestor, presumably the buff-banded rail (Gallirallus philippensis).[2]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Hypotaenidia dieffenbachii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22692455A93354540.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  2. Trewick, S.A. (1997). "Sympatric flightless rails Gallirallus dieffenbachiii and G. modestus on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand; morphometrics and alternative evolutionary scenarios". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 27 (4): 451–464. doi:10.1080/03014223.1997.9517548.


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