New Caledonian Rail
Encyclopedia
The New Caledonian Rail (Gallirallus lafresnayanus) is a large and drab flightless rail that is found on the island of New Caledonia
in the Pacific. It is a dull brown above, with grey underparts, and has a yellowish, downward-curving bill. No one knows what it sounds like and it is not even known if it is a nocturnal or crepuscular
rail.
This cryptic rail is only known from seventeen specimens taken between 1860 and 1890 on New Caledonia. This bird is supposed to live in evergreen forests and seems to have moved higher up on the island to escape introduced predators. Its diet consists of invertebrates, including earthworms.
Though the bird has not been confirmed since 1890, unconfirmed reports from the 1960s and 1984 say that some still live in the higher montane forests. A survey in 1998 produced no firm evidence from hunters or fieldwork. However, many still believe it persists in small numbers.
This bird was host to a species of parasite, the phtilopterid
louse
Rallicola piageti. This is not believed to have occurred on any other bird species http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/abrs/fauna/details.pl?pstrVol=PHTHIRAPTERA;pstrTaxa=201;pstrChecklistMode=1. Hence, R. piageti may be coextinct
today (May 1990).
The binomial commemorates the French ornithologist Frederic de Lafresnaye
.
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
in the Pacific. It is a dull brown above, with grey underparts, and has a yellowish, downward-curving bill. No one knows what it sounds like and it is not even known if it is a nocturnal or crepuscular
Crepuscular
Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is during dawn and dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight." Crepuscular is, thus, in contrast with diurnal and nocturnal behavior. Crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright...
rail.
This cryptic rail is only known from seventeen specimens taken between 1860 and 1890 on New Caledonia. This bird is supposed to live in evergreen forests and seems to have moved higher up on the island to escape introduced predators. Its diet consists of invertebrates, including earthworms.
Though the bird has not been confirmed since 1890, unconfirmed reports from the 1960s and 1984 say that some still live in the higher montane forests. A survey in 1998 produced no firm evidence from hunters or fieldwork. However, many still believe it persists in small numbers.
This bird was host to a species of parasite, the phtilopterid
Ischnocera
The Ischnocera is a large suborder of lice mostly parasitic on birds but including a large family parasitic on mammals. The genus Trichophilopterus is also found on mammals but probably belongs to the "avian Ischnocera" and represents a host switch from birds to mammals...
louse
Louse
Lice is the common name for over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents...
Rallicola piageti. This is not believed to have occurred on any other bird species http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/abrs/fauna/details.pl?pstrVol=PHTHIRAPTERA;pstrTaxa=201;pstrChecklistMode=1. Hence, R. piageti may be coextinct
Coextinction
Coextinction of a species is the loss of a species as a consequence of the extinction of another. The term was originally used in the context of the extinction of parasitic insects following the loss of their specific hosts...
today (May 1990).
The binomial commemorates the French ornithologist Frederic de Lafresnaye
Frédéric de Lafresnaye
Baron Nöel Frédéric Armand André de Lafresnaye was a French ornithologist and collector.Lafresnaye was born into an aristocratic family at Chateau de La Fresnaye in Falaise, Normandy. He took an early interest in natural history, particularly entomology...
.