Kingdom Animalia Class Aves Family Rallidae Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Gruiformes Genus Gallirallus | |
Similar ‘Eua rail, Great O‘ahu crake, New Zealand stiff‑tailed, O'ahu moa‑nalo | ||
The Nuku Hiva rail (Gallirallus epulare) is an extinct species of flightless bird in the Rallidae, or rail family.
Contents
History
The rail was described in 2007 from subfossil bones collected in 1994-1995 by archaeologists B. V. Rolett, E. Conte and their colleagues at the Ha'atuatua archaeological site, on the island of Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. The site dates to about 1000 yr BP, from the early period of human settlement of the island.
Etymology
The specific epithet comes from the Latin epularis (pertaining to a banquet) which refers to the discovery of the specimens in a kitchen midden containing the remains of meals eaten by prehistoric Polynesians.
References
Nuku Hiva rail Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA