| Tristan moorhen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tristan moorhen | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Gallinula |
| Species: | †G. nesiotis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gallinula nesiotis Sclater, PL, 1861 | |
TheTristan moorhen orTristan gallinule (Gallinula nesiotis) is an extinct species of flightless rail endemic to the South Atlantic island ofTristan da Cunha.[2] It was very similar to theGough moorhen ofGough Island, located 636 kilometres (395 mi) to the southeast.
The once abundant Tristan moorhen had become rare by 1873, and by the end of 19th century it was extinct as a result of hunting, predation by introduced species (rats, cats and pigs) andhabitat destruction by fire. A handful of taxidermied specimens of the Tristan moorhen have been preserved.
In 1956 the closely related Gough moorhenG. comeri was introduced to Tristan da Cunha, under the then belief it was a reintroduction of the same species.[3] On the basis of DNA sequencing of both recently collected and historical material from both species, Groenenberget al (2008) concluded that the genetic distances betweenG. nesiotis andG. comeri are of at least the same size as those found between subspecies ofG. chloropus in the literature. They propose that the extinct moorhen of Tristan (Gallinula nesiotis) and the moorhens that live on Gough and Tristan today (G. comeri) be regarded as subspecies:Gallinula nesiotis nesiotis andGallinula nesiotis gomeri.[4]
