What is Tahiti rail?
{{Taxobox | name = Tahiti rail | status = EX | status_system = iucn3.1 | extinct = late 18th - 19th century | image = Gallirallus pacificus.jpg | image_width = | image_caption = Many paintings of the bird. | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | classis = [[Bird|Aves]] | ordo = [[Gruiformes]] | familia = [[Rallidae]] | genus = ''[[Gallirallus]]'' | binomial = ''Gallirallus pacificus''}} The '''Tahiti rail''' (''Gallirallus pacificus''), also known as the '''Tahiti red-billed rail''', or '''Pacific red-billed rail''', is an [[extinct]] species of [[rail (bird)|rail]]. It once lived on [[Tahiti]]. The second voyage of [[James Cook]] in 1773 got one. It was described by [[Johann Reinhold Forster]] and painted by his son, Georg. The [[Tahiti|Tahitian]] name was '''''ebōnā''''' or '''''ōmnā'''''. == Name == [[File:Buff-banded Rail LEI Jan08.jpg|thumb|left|The related [[buff-banded rail]]]] Due to confusion about the name, the name ''Rallus ecaudatus'' was commonly used in the mid-late 20th century to refer to this bird. This is, however, in error, as the name is a [[subspecies]] of the [[buff-banded rail]]. Today it is known as ''Gallirallus philippensis ecaudatus''. Also, at least once, the Tahitian bird has been referred to by the scientific name of the Samoan wood rail, ''Gallinula pacifica'', in a major scientific work. == Extinction == Not much is known about the bird's extinction. One idea is that the bird might have been prey to other species. The bird's habitat had active volcanos. == Sources == * {{IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2004|id=8876|title=Gallirallus pacificus|downloaded=29 June 2006}} Database entry of the bird includes justification for why this species is extinct. * Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1879): [Description of ''Gallirallus pacificus'']. ''In: [[Systema Naturae]] (13th edition)'' '''1''', part 2: 717. [[Category:Flightless birds]] [[Category:Extinct birds]] [[Category:Rallidae]]