Cheke's wood rail (Dryolimnas chekei), also known as Sauzier's wood rail, is an extinct species of rail that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius. It was described by British ornithologist Julian P. Hume in 2019, and the name honors British ecologist Anthony S. Cheke.[1]
| Cheke's wood rail | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Dryolimnas |
| Species: | †D. chekei
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| Binomial name | |
| †Dryolimnas chekei Hume, 2019
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| Location of Mauritius (in blue) | |
Previously mentioned as an undescribed extinct taxon and provisionally named Sauzier's wood-rail, or Dryolimnas sp., it was described as a new species in 2019. It is known from Mauritius and was originally thought to be an isolated population of D. cuvieri cuvieri, which is a rare vagrant to Mauritius, until analysis of the fossils found it to be a distinct flightless taxon that is likely descended from D. cuvieri.[1] This species may be the "small rail" referred to in the accounts of Dutch explorers, in contrast to the "large rail", which may be the red rail.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b Hume, J. P. (2019). "Systematics, morphology and ecology of rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with one new species". Zootaxa. 4626 (1): zootaxa.4626.1.1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4626.1.1. PMID 31712544. S2CID 198258434.
- ^ Hume, Julian P. (2017). Extinct Birds. 115: Bloomsbury Natural History. ISBN 9781472937445.
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