The snipe-rail (Capellirallus karamu) is an extinct flightless rail endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The species' name is derived from the Karamu Cave[2] 21 kilometres (13 mi) from Hamilton[2] where the holotype was discovered in 1954.[2]
The snipe-rail was a relatively small rail[3] which had a bill of about 7 cm, very long in proportion to its body size.[3] Its weight was about 240 g.[3] The type material consists of an incomplete skeleton, including vertebrae, a pelvis, and a hind limb.[2] Since the discovery of these remains, many complete skeletons[2] consisting of hundreds of bones[3] have been unearthed on different sites in the North Island.[3] Its evolutionary relationships to other rail species are unclear [3] but the structure of its bones suggests that it might have been a relative of the likewise extinct Chatham rail.[2][3] Relative to its body size, the snipe-rail had the smallest wings of all known rail species.[2][3] It also had a disproportionately large tarsometatarsus.[3]
Habitat and ecologyedit
The bone findings were in the western areas of the North Island[3] where wetter, closed-canopyrainforests prevailed.[3] The bird's long bill suggests that it was able to forage by probing in a similar manner to kiwi.[3]
Extinctionedit
The exact date of the snipe-rail's extinction is unknown, but it is supposed that the decline began in the 13th century,[3] when the Kiori/Polynesian rat became widespread in New Zealand.[3][4]
Referencesedit
^Falla, R. (1954) A new rail from cave deposits in the North Island of New Zealand. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 4: 241-244
^ abcdefgRipley, S. D. (1977): Rails of the World - A Monograph of the Family Rallidae. Boston. ISBN0-87474-804-6
^ abcdefghijklmnTennyson, A. & Martinson, P. (2006): Extinct Birds of New Zealand; Te Papa Press, Wellington, New Zealand. ISBN978-0-909010-21-8
^Janet M. Wilmshurst, Atholl J. Anderson, Thomas F. G. Higham, and Trevor H. Worthy (2008). Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105, pp. 7676-7680.
Further readingedit
Worthy, Trevor H. & Holdaway, Richard N. : The Lost World of the Moa. Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2002. ISBN0-253-34034-9
Scarlett, Ron (1970): The genus Capellirallus In: Notornis (1970) :pp. 303–319. Quarterly Journal of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand.
snipe, rail, snipe, rail, capellirallus, karamu, extinct, flightless, rail, endemic, north, island, zealand, species, name, derived, from, karamu, cave, kilometres, from, hamilton, where, holotype, discovered, 1954, temporal, range, late, holoceneholotype, fro. The snipe rail Capellirallus karamu is an extinct flightless rail endemic to the North Island of New Zealand The species name is derived from the Karamu Cave 2 21 kilometres 13 mi from Hamilton 2 where the holotype was discovered in 1954 2 Snipe railTemporal range Late HoloceneHolotype from Auckland Museum Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass AvesOrder GruiformesFamily RallidaeGenus CapellirallusFalla 1954Species C karamuBinomial name Capellirallus karamuFalla 1954 1 Contents 1 Description 2 Habitat and ecology 3 Extinction 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksDescription editThe snipe rail was a relatively small rail 3 which had a bill of about 7 cm very long in proportion to its body size 3 Its weight was about 240 g 3 The type material consists of an incomplete skeleton including vertebrae a pelvis and a hind limb 2 Since the discovery of these remains many complete skeletons 2 consisting of hundreds of bones 3 have been unearthed on different sites in the North Island 3 Its evolutionary relationships to other rail species are unclear 3 but the structure of its bones suggests that it might have been a relative of the likewise extinct Chatham rail 2 3 Relative to its body size the snipe rail had the smallest wings of all known rail species 2 3 It also had a disproportionately large tarsometatarsus 3 Habitat and ecology editThe bone findings were in the western areas of the North Island 3 where wetter closed canopy rainforests prevailed 3 The bird s long bill suggests that it was able to forage by probing in a similar manner to kiwi 3 Extinction editThe exact date of the snipe rail s extinction is unknown but it is supposed that the decline began in the 13th century 3 when the Kiori Polynesian rat became widespread in New Zealand 3 4 References edit Falla R 1954 A new rail from cave deposits in the North Island of New Zealand Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 4 241 244 a b c d e f g Ripley S D 1977 Rails of the World A Monograph of the Family Rallidae Boston ISBN 0 87474 804 6 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Tennyson A amp Martinson P 2006 Extinct Birds of New Zealand Te Papa Press Wellington New Zealand ISBN 978 0 909010 21 8 Janet M Wilmshurst Atholl J Anderson Thomas F G Higham and Trevor H Worthy 2008 Dating the late prehistoric dispersal of Polynesians to New Zealand using the commensal Pacific rat In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 pp 7676 7680 Further reading editWorthy Trevor H amp Holdaway Richard N The Lost World of the Moa Prehistoric Life of New Zealand Indiana University Press Bloomington 2002 ISBN 0 253 34034 9 Scarlett Ron 1970 The genus Capellirallus In Notornis 1970 pp 303 319 Quarterly Journal of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand External links editIllustration of a snipe rail Portals nbsp Birds nbsp New Zealand Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Snipe rail amp oldid 1178344325, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
