Bar-winged rail

The bar-winged rail (Hypotaenidia poeciloptera) was a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was endemic to Fiji and was last collected ca 1890 in Viti Levu. The species was identified from twelve 19th century specimens, some of which are known to be in Boston, London and New York. The last unconfirmed sighting of this bird was in 1973.

Bar-winged rail
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene–Late Holocene
↓
Drawing from 1867
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Hypotaenidia
Species:
H. poeciloptera
Binomial name
Hypotaenidia poeciloptera
(Hartlaub, 1866)
Synonyms
  • Hypotaenidia poeciloptera
  • Gallirallus poecilopterus

Fossil remains dating back to the late Pleistocene or early Holocene are known from some caves in Fiji.[2]

Description
Egg

It was a flightless island ground-nesting forest/freshwater swamp dweller and is believed to have disappeared after the introduction of the mongoose and cats to the islands.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Hypotaenidia poeciloptera". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Worthy, Trevor H. (2004-09-01). "The fossil rails (Aves: Rallidae) of Fiji with descriptions of a new genus and species". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 34 (3): 295–314. doi:10.1080/03014223.2004.9517768. ISSN 0303-6758.
  • University of Wisconsin Reference Downloaded 22 December 2007.


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