Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	Gruiformes	Rallidae

Scientific Name:

Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi

Species Authority:

(Forbes, 1892)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Hawkins's Rail

Taxonomic Notes:

This species was not included in Brooks (2000) but new evidence suggests the species survived later than was supposed; into the 1500-1600s and perhaps even more recently (Cooper and Tennyson 2004).

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Extinct ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Evaluator/s:

Bird, J. & Butchart, S. (BirdLife International Red List Authority)

History:

2005	–	Extinct
2004	–	Not Recognized
2000	–	Not Recognized
1994	–	Not Recognized
1988	–	Not Recognized

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi was endemic to the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, where its remains have been found on the main Chatham Island and Pitt Island, frequently associated with middens of the islands' initial Polynesian inhabitants, the Moriori. The species was flightless, stood approximately 40 cm tall and weighed an estimated 2 kg. It is thought to have been a ground-dwelling insectivore, also feeding on fern root and capable of preying on small ground-nesting species. Recent evidence, including a letter from Sigvard Jacob Dannefarerd to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild in 1895 describing the species's appearance, behaviour and Moriori hunting method, suggests that this species survived into at least the late 1800s.
Countries:	Regionally extinct: New Zealand

Range Description:

Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi was endemic to the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, where its remains have been found on the main Chatham Island and Pitt Island, frequently associated with middens of the islands' initial Polynesian inhabitants, the Moriori. The species was flightless, stood approximately 40 cm tall and weighed an estimated 2 kg. It is thought to have been a ground-dwelling insectivore, also feeding on fern root and capable of preying on small ground-nesting species. Recent evidence, including a letter from Sigvard Jacob Dannefarerd to Lord Lionel Walter Rothschild in 1895 describing the species's appearance, behaviour and Moriori hunting method, suggests that this species survived into at least the late 1800s.

Countries:

Regionally extinct:

New Zealand

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Systems:	Terrestrial

Systems:

Terrestrial

Citation:	BirdLife International 2008. Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 18 March 2010.
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