Aphanapteryx
Encyclopedia
Aphanapteryx is a small genus of extinct bird
s of the rail family
, endemic to the Mascarenes.
The two flightless island species were
Both species were readily attracted by red objects and made excellent eating, factors which ensured their downfall.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s of the rail family
Rallidae
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...
, endemic to the Mascarenes.
The two flightless island species were
- Red RailRed RailThe Red Rail or Red Hen of Mauritius, Aphanapteryx bonasia, is an extinct rail. It was only found on the island of Mauritius. The Red Rail, which today is only known from a large number of bones, some descriptions and a handful of drawings and paintings, was a flightless bird, somewhat larger than...
or Mauritian Red Rail, Aphanapteryx bonasia which became extinct on MauritiusMauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
ca 1700 - Rodrigues RailRodrigues RailThe Rodrigues Rail or Leguat's Gelinote is an extinct bird named after the learned traveller François Leguat, who came with a band of Huguenot religious refugees to Rodrigues in 1691 and stayed there for two years. It was also mentioned by Julien Tafforet in 1726...
or Leguat’s Rail Aphanapteryx leguati which became extinct some time after 1730 on RodriguesRodrigues (island)Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
in the Mascarene IslandsMascarene IslandsThe Mascarene Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar comprising Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues, Cargados Carajos shoals, plus the former islands of the Saya de Malha, Nazareth and Soudan banks...
.
Both species were readily attracted by red objects and made excellent eating, factors which ensured their downfall.