Niue rail
| Niue rail | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Gallirallus huiatuia | ||||||||||||
| Steadman , Worthy , Anderson & Walter , 2000 |
The Niue rail ( Gallirallus huiatua ) is a medium-sized, extinct flightless rail with a size of 25 cm. The species epithet is derived from hui-atua, a compound word from the Niue language. "Hui" means "the bones" and "atua" means "the dead".
Physique and inability to fly
It was developed by David William Steadman et al. described in 2000 using only four bones , a tarsometatarsus (fused metacarpal bones), part of the ulna , the shaft of the thigh and the distal end of the tibiotarsus (part of the foot skeleton), so little can be said about them so far. Their physique does not resemble any of the known Gallirallus species more than the others. The dimensions of the bones suggest that the species was flightless.
Time of extinction
The bones of the Niue rail date from before the first human settlement by the Polynesians. Hunting and habitat loss may have caused the species to become extinct.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c David W. Steadman, Trevor H. Worthy, Atholl J. Anderson, and Richard Walter: NEW SPECIES AND RECORDS OF BIRDS FROM PREHISTORIC SITES ON NIUE, SOUTHWEST PACIFIC. The Wilson Bulletin, Volume 112, Issue 2 (June 2000), pp. 165-186
- ↑ Trevor H. Worthy: The fossil rails (Aves: Rallidae) of Fiji with descriptions of a new genus and species. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand Volume 34, Number 3, September 2004, pp 295-314
- ↑ RG Powlesland, JR HAY, MH Powlesland: Bird fauna of Niue Iceland in 1994-95. Notornis, 2000, Vol. 47: 39-53