Inaccessible Island rail
| Inaccessible Island rail | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: |
Atlantisia Lowe, 1923 |
| Species: | A. rogersi |
| Binomial name | |
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Atlantisia rogersi Lowe, 1923 |
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| Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago | |
The Inaccessible Island rail (Atlantisia rogersi) is a small bird of the rail family, Rallidae. It is the only species in the genus Atlantisia. It is found only on Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago in the isolated south Atlantic, and is notable for being the smallest extant flightless bird in the world. Unlike many other islands, Inaccessible Island has remained free from introduced predators, allowing this species to flourish while many other flightless birds, including the even smaller Lyall's wren, have perished.
Although the Inaccessible Island rail was probably known to the Tristan Islanders who visited the island annually to hunt seals, the species first came to the attention of scientists during the Challenger expedition of 1872–76. When the expedition visited the island in October 1873, Sir Charles Wyville Thomson learned of the species and recorded observations made by two German brothers, the Stoltenhoffs, who had been living on the island for the last two years. Thomson was unable to collect a specimen, much to his regret.
Another attempt was made to collect a specimen by Lord Crawford on his yacht Valhalla in 1905. A final attempt was made during the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition, which passed by in April 1922 on its way back to Britain. This visit also failed, but members of the expedition left collecting material with a Rev. H. M. C. Rogers, then chaplain on Tristan da Cunha. The following year two study skins arrived in the Natural History Museum, London, followed soon after by another skin and a specimen in spirits. Percy Lowe was then able to use the skins to describe the species. He did so, briefly, at a meeting of the British Ornithologists Club, in 1923.
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