Nuku Hiva Rail

Gallirallus epulare is a flightless, known only by bone finds Rail from the island of Nuku Hiva which belongs to the Marquesas Islands in the South Eastern Pacific. The most notable feature of the nature of the tiny in relation to the leg bone wing bone. While the leg bone, where a small female Guamralle ( Gallirallus owstoni ) are very similar, the wing bones are much smaller than those of the Guamralle and those of the Wake Rail ( Gallirallus wakensis ) and Mangaia - Rail ( Gallirallus ripleyi ) much more similar.

The Style epithet epulare comes from the Latin " epularis ", " belonging to a banquet " that means. It alludes to the fact that the bone was found in an archaeological site where discoveries were composed of kitchen waste of the Prehistoric Polynesians.

Source

• Jeremy J. Kirchman and David W. Steadman: New Species of Extinct Rails ( Aves: Rallidae ) from Archaeological Sites in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia. Pacific Science, Volume 61, Issue 1 ( January 2007) doi: 10.1353/psc.2007.0008

• Rallidae
• Rail birds
• Extinct bird