Gallirallus dieffenbachii

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	GRUIFORMES	RALLIDAE

Scientific Name:

Gallirallus dieffenbachii

Species Authority:

(Gray, 1843)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Dieffenbach's Rail

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Extinct ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s:

Justification:
This species was found on the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, but was driven to extinction by the depredations of introduced species. The type material was collected in 1840, and it was Extinct by 1872.

History:

2008	–	Extinct
2004	–	Extinct
2000	–	Extinct
1994	–	Extinct
1988	–	Extinct

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Gallirallus dieffenbachii was endemic to Chatham, Mangere and Pitt Islands, New Zealand (Marchant and Higgins 1993). It is known from the type, in Tring(Knox and Walters 1994), with one other specimen reported to be in Bremen (Greenway 1967), and from abundant subfossil material (Tennyson and Millener 1994). The species was already scarce when the type was collected in 1840, and was extinct by 1872 (Marchant and Higgins 1993).
Countries:	Regionally extinct: New Zealand
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	Nothing is known, though it may have inhabited scrub or forest.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Its extinction was presumably due to predation by introduced rats, cats and dogs, and habitat loss from fire (Marchant and Higgins 1993).

Major Threat(s):

Its extinction was presumably due to predation by introduced rats, cats and dogs, and habitat loss from fire (Marchant and Higgins 1993).

Bibliography [top]

	Greenway, J. C. 1967. Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. Dover Publications, New York. IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2012.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 19 June 2012). Knox, A. G.; Walters, M. P. 1994. Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of the Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club, Tring, U.K. Marchant, S.; Higgins, P. J. 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, 2: raptors to lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Scarlett, R. J. 1979. Letters. Notornis 26: 99. Tennyson, A. J. D.; Millener, P. R. 1994. Bird extinctions and fossil bones from Mangere Island, Chatham Islands. Notornis (supplement) 41: 165-78. Trewick, S. A. 1997. Flightlessness and phylogeny amongst endemic rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the New Zealand region. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 352: 429-446.

Greenway, J. C. 1967. Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. Dover Publications, New York.

IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver. 2012.1). Available at: http://www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 19 June 2012).

Knox, A. G.; Walters, M. P. 1994. Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of the Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club, Tring, U.K.

Marchant, S.; Higgins, P. J. 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds, 2: raptors to lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

Scarlett, R. J. 1979. Letters. Notornis 26: 99.

Tennyson, A. J. D.; Millener, P. R. 1994. Bird extinctions and fossil bones from Mangere Island, Chatham Islands. Notornis (supplement) 41: 165-78.

Trewick, S. A. 1997. Flightlessness and phylogeny amongst endemic rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the New Zealand region. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 352: 429-446.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Gallirallus dieffenbachii. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 May 2013.
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