Fleming's rail
Pleistorallus flemingi Worthy, 1997
Flemings rail
Fleming's rail Holotype (right tibiotarsus). Specimen registration no. S.034498; image no. MA_I062102. 7 km north of Marton, September 1974. Image © Te Papa.
See Te Papa website: https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/389388
Flemings rail
Species information
Fleming’s rail was described from two bones recovered from 1 million-year-old (mid-Pleistocene) shoreline deposits near Marton. They were assigned to a new genus and species, with the genus name reflecting the Pleistocene age of this rail. The species name honours Sir Charles Fleming (1916-1987) for his contributions to New Zealand palaeontology and ornithology.
Fleming’s rail was a large, stout terrestrial rail, similar in size to a takahe. It was apparently unrelated to any of the extant or recently extinct New Zealand rails.
The holotype (NMNZ S.34498, a right tibiotarsus) and paratype (NMNZ S.34497, a distal left femur) are held at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
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References
Worthy, T.H. 1997. A mid-Pleistocene rail from New Zealand. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 21: 71-78.
Recommended citation
Miskelly, C.M. 2013. Fleming’s rail. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz
Breeding and ecology
Fleming's rail
No data available.
Identification
A large extinct stout terrestrial rail species, similar in size to a South Island takahe, known from two bones recovered from 1 million-year-old (mid-Pleistocene) shoreline deposits near Marton. It was apparently unrelated to any of the extant or recently extinct New Zealand rail species.
