The Tahiti crake (Zapornia nigra), also known as Miller's rail, is an extinct species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was endemic to Tahiti. It was discovered and painted by Georg Forster during the second Cook voyage.[2] John Frederick Miller copied Forster's painting and published it with some changes in his work Icones animalium et plantarum in 1784. Miller coined the binomial name Rallus nigra.[2][3] It probably went extinct in about 1800 from introduced predators.

Tahiti crake
Drawing by Georg Forster
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes
Family: Rallidae
Genus: Zapornia
Species:
Z. nigra
Binomial name
Zapornia nigra
(J. F. Miller, 1784)
Synonyms

Rallus nigra
Nesophylax niger
Porzana nigra

Illustration by John Frederick Miller

References edit

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Zapornia nigra". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22728757A94995544. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728757A94995544.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Walters, Michael (1988). "Probable validity of Rallus nigra Miller, an extinct species from Tahiti" (PDF). Notornis. 35 (4): 265–269.
  3. ^ Miller, John Frederick (1777). Icones animalium et plantarum. Various subjects of Natural History, wherein are delineated Birds, Animals and many curious Plants, &c (in Latin). Vol. 1. London. Part 9, Plate 50. The work was published in 10 parts with 6 plates in each part. See: Sherborn, C.D.; Iredale, T. (1921). "J. F. Miller's Icones". Ibis. 11th series. 3: 302–309.