| Snipe-rail Temporal range: LateHolocene | |
|---|---|
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| Holotype fromAuckland Museum. | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | †Capellirallus Falla, 1954 |
| Species: | †C. karamu |
| Binomial name | |
| †Capellirallus karamu Falla, 1954[1] | |
Thesnipe-rail (Capellirallus karamu) is an extinct flightlessrail endemic to theNorth Island of New Zealand. The species' name is derived from theKaramu Cave[2] 21 kilometres (13 mi) fromHamilton[2] where theholotype was discovered in 1954.[2]
The snipe-rail was a relatively smallrail[3] which had a bill of about 7 cm, very long in proportion to its body size.[3] Its weight was about 240 g.[3] The type material consists of an incompleteskeleton, includingvertebrae, apelvis, and ahind limb.[2] Since the discovery of these remains, many complete skeletons[2] consisting of hundreds of bones[3] have been unearthed on different sites in the North Island.[3] Its evolutionary relationships to other rail species are unclear[3] but the structure of its bones suggests that it might have been a relative of the likewise extinctChatham rail.[2][3] Relative to its body size, the snipe-rail had the smallest wings of all known rail species.[2][3] It also had a disproportionately largetarsometatarsus.[3]
The bone findings were in the western areas of the North Island,[3] where wetter, closed-canopyrainforests prevailed.[3] The bird's long bill suggests that it was able to forage by probing in a similar manner tokiwi.[3]
The exact date of the snipe-rail's extinction is unknown, but it is supposed that the decline began in the 13th century,[3] when theKiori/Polynesian rat became widespread in New Zealand.[3][4]
