Jamaican wood rail

The Jamaican wood rail, also called the Jamaican uniform rail was a subspecies of the uniform rail found on Jamaica. It became extinct circa 1881.[1]

Jamaican wood rail
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Amaurolimnas
Species:
Subspecies:
A. c. concolor
Trinomial name
Amaurolimnas concolor concolor
(P. H. Gosse, 1847)

Appearance

The Jamaican wood rail was a reddish-brown bird some 10 inches in length.[1]

Ecology

Although capable of flight, the wood rail was primarily a terrestrial bird, preferring to run to escape predators. It was originally widespread on the island, inhabiting swamps, jungle undergrowth and streambeds, to fairly high altitudes.[2]

Extinction

The Jamaican wood rail was driven to extinction by the introduction of rats, cats and mongooses to Jamaica.[1] The last specimens of the bird were collected in 1881.[3]

References

  1. Day, David (1989). The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species. Hong Kong: Mclaren Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-947889-30-2.
  2. Clive Roots (2006). Flightless Birds. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 131. ISBN 0-313-33545-1.
  3. David Watts; Alan R. H. Baker; Richard Dennis (1990). The West Indies: Patterns of Development, Culture and Environmental Change Since 1492. Cambridge University Press. p. 515. ISBN 0-521-38651-9.
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