Ibiza rail
| Ibiza rail | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Rallus eivissensis | ||||||||||
| McMinn , Palmer & Alcover , 2005 |
The Ibiza rail ( Rallus eivissensis ) is an extinct species of rail that was endemic to the island of Ibiza , which belongs to the Pityuses . The type epithet refers to Eivissa, the Catalan name for Ibiza.
features
The Ibiza rail was described in 2005 on the basis of 161 bone fragments that were found between 1988 and 1993 in Late Pistocene / Holocene deposits in the Es Pouàs fossil site near Santa Agnès de Corona in northwest Ibiza. It was closely related to the water rail ( Rallus aquaticus ), but the body shape was somewhat stockier and clumsier. The relatively small wings lead to the conclusion that this rail was hardly airworthy. The legs were short and sturdy. In relation to the size of the skull, the beak was slightly shorter than that of the water rail.
In the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, the pityuses were characterized by a diverse range of avifauna . There were no predators as there were no mammals or reptiles on the islands. Therefore, an island form of the water rail with a severely restricted flight apparatus was able to develop on Ibiza.
die out
The Ibiza rail is the first endemic bird species of the Pityuses to become extinct in the Holocene . The age of the bones found is dated to between 5,300 and 16,700 years before Christ. Due to the presumably small population and the restricted flight ability of the Ibiza railroad, an extinction during the early settlement of Ibiza between 4,350 and 1,880 BC is considered to be likely.
literature
- Josep Antoni Alcover: Nous avenços en el coneixement dels ocells fòssils de les Balears. In: Anuari Ornitològic de les Balears Issue 16, 2001: pp. 3–13. (Catalan, English summary) PDF full text
- Miguel McMinn, Miquel Palmer & Josep Antoni Alcover: A new species of rail (Aves: Rallidae) from the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene of Ibiza (Pityusic Islands, western Mediterranean). In: Ibis 147, Heft 4, 2005: pp. 706-716. doi : 10.1111 / j.1474-919X.2005.00442.x
- Bartomeu Segui & Josep Antoni Alcover: Comparison of Paleontological Patterns in Insular Bird Faunas: A Case Study from the Western Mediterranean and Hawaii. In: Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology Issue No. 89, 1999: pp. 67–73 PDF full text (file size 128 MB!)