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.
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.
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Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.
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Olson, Storrs L. (1973). Evolution of the rails of the south Atlantic Islands (Aves: Rallidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 152: 1-53.
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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)]
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