Gallinula nesiotis nesiotis Sclater, 1861:261
Tristan (Island) moorhen, Tristan Island gallinule, Tristan coot, Tristan cock, Island hen
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Gallinula nesiotis Sclater, 1861:261; Porphyriornis nesiotis Sclater, 1861:261
Groenenberg (2008) suggested the demotion of the Gough Island moorhen to subspecies status, and should hence be referred to as G. n. comeri from now on. The Gough Island moorhen has been introduced to Tristan Da Cunha to fill the niche left vacant by the extinction of the Tristan moorhen.
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: 25 May 1861 (collected); 1873 (sighting); 1880's?
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
Distribution
Tristan da Cunha (=Tristan Island), South Atlantic
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Sclater, P. L. (1861). [no title]. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London [1861]: 209, 260-263.
Other references:
Beintema, Albert J. (1972). The history of the Island Hen Gallinula nesiotis, the extinct flightless gallinule of Tristan da Cunha. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 92: 106-113.
Beintema, Albert J. (1997). Het Waterhoentje van Tristan da Cunha. Atlas, Amsterdam. 496 p, 16 p colour photographs, numerous b/w ill. [third edition, 2005]
BirdLife International. (2000). Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge.
BirdLife International. (2014). Gallinula nesiotis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 26 July 2014.
BirdLife International. 2016. Gallinula nesiotis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22728763A94995836. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728763A94995836.en. Accessed on 02 July 2022.
Bond, Alexander L. and Russell, Douglas G. D. (2023). The provenance of the only known egg of the extinct Tristan Moorhen Gallinula nesiotis. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 143(3): 325-329. https://doi.org/10.25226/bboc.v143i3.2023.a8
Bond, Alexander L., Carlson, Colin J. and Burgio, Kevin R. (2018). Local extinctions of insular avifauna on the most remote inhabited island in the world. Journal of Ornithology. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-018-1590-8
Brooks, T. 2000. Extinct species. In: BirdLife International (ed.), Threatened Birds of the World, pp. 701-708. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge, U.K.
Carmichael, Dugald. (1818). Some account of the island of Tristan da Cunha and of its natural productions. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 12(2): 483-513, 4 pls.
Collar, N. J.; Crosby, M. J.; Stattersfield, A. J. 1994. Birds to watch 2: the world list of threatened birds. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
Day, David. (1981). The Doomsday Book of Animals: A Natural History of Vanished Species. New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press.
Earle, Augustus. (1832). A narrative of a nine month's residence in New Zealand in 1827; together with a journal of a residence in Tristan d'Acunha. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman. x + 371 pp.
Eber, G. (1961). Vergleichende Untersuchungen am flugf„higen Teichhun Gallinula chl. chloropus und an der flugunf„higen Inselralle Gallinula nesiotis. Bonn. Zool. Beitr. 12(3/4):247-315.
Fisher, Diana O. and Humphreys, Aelys M. (2024). Evidence for modern extinction in plants and animals. Biological Conservation 298: 110772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110772
Greenway James C. (1967). Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, Special Publication no 13, 2nd edn. Dover Publications, New York.
Groenenberg, D. S. J., Beintema, A. J., Dekker, R. W. R. J. and Gittenberger, E. (2008). Ancient DNA Elucidates the Controversy about the Flightless Island Hens (Gallinula sp.) of Tristan da Cunha. PLoS ONE 3(3): e1835.
Gurney, J. H. (1853). Note on a wingless bird said to inhabit the island of Tristan da Cunha. Zoologist 11: 4017.
Holdgate, Martin W. (1958). Mountains in the Sea: The Story of the Gough Island Expedition, xvi + 222 pages, maps and illustrations. New York: St. Martin's Press.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.
Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292.
Livezey, B. C. 1998. A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 353: 2077-2151.
Low, Carmichael (1929): , List of the vertebrated animals exhibited in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 1828-1927; Volume II. Birds. Printed for the Society; England
Nicoll, M. J. (1906). Mr M J Nicoll on the birds collected and observed during the voyage of the Valhalla, RYS, from November 1905 to May 1906. Ibis: 666-712.
Olson, Storrs L. (1973). Evolution of the rails of the south Atlantic Islands (Aves: Rallidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 152: 1-53.
Pike, Nicolas. (1873). Sub-Tropical Rambles in the Land of the Aphanapteryx. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Low, & Searle/ New York: Harper and Bros. xviii + 511 pages, appendix, 2 maps, 48 illustrations.
Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M., Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]
Sclater, Philip Lutley (Hrsg.), London Zoo (1862): List of the vertebrated animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 1st Edition, Printed for the Society; England
Sclater, Philip Lutley (Hrsg.), London Zoo (1865): List of the vertebrated animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, , 3rd Edition, Printed for the Society; England
Sclater, Philip Lutley (Hrsg.), London Zoo (1866): List of the vertebrated animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London, 4th Edition, Printed for the Society; England
Sclater, Philip Lutley (Hrsg.), London Zoo (1872): Revised list of the vertebrated animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological society of London, 5th Edition, Printed for the Society, England
Sclater, P. L. (1881). Reports on the birds collected during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger in the Years 1873-1876, pp. 110-116. In: The voyage of the H.M.S. Challenger. Zoology. Volume 8. London: Her Majesty's Government.
Sclater, Philip Lutley (Hrsg.), London Zoo (1896): List of the vertebrated animals now or lately living in the gardens of the Zoological Society of London , 9th Edition, Printed for the Society; England
Steadman, D.W. & Takano, O.M. (2016) Zootaxa, 4109, 345.
Stoddart, D. R. (1971). White-throated Rail Dryolimnas cuvieri on Astove Atoll. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 91(6): 145-147.
Taylor, B. (1998). Rails: a guide to the rails, crakes, gallinules and coots of the world. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK.
Tyrberg, Tommy. (2009). Holocene avian extinctions, pp. 63-106. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.