Jamaican wood rail
| Jamaican wood rail | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| 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)
| |
The Jamaican wood rail, also called the Jamaican uniform rail was the nominate subspecies of the uniform crake found on Jamaica. It became extinct around 1881.[2]
Appearance
[edit]The Jamaican wood rail was a reddish-brown bird some 10 inches in length.[2]
Ecology
[edit]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.[3]
Extinction
[edit]Already rare and threatened by rats and cats, the Jamaican wood rail was ultimately driven to extinction shortly after the introduction of small Indian mongooses to Jamaica in 1872.[4][2] The last specimens of the bird were collected in 1881.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ BirdLife International (2021). "Amaurolimnas concolor". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22692601A163610586. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T22692601A163610586.en. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
- ^ a b c Day, David (1989). The Encyclopedia of Vanished Species. Hong Kong: Mclaren Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-947889-30-2.
- ^ Clive Roots (2006). Flightless Birds. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 131. ISBN 0-313-33545-1.
- ^ Espeut, W. B. (1882). "On the acclimatization of the Indian mongoose in Jamaica". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (November): 712–714.
- ^ 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.