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Mangaia rail
The
Mangaia
rail
is an
extinct species
of
flightless bird
in the
rail family
,
Rallidae
.
History
The rail was described in 1986 from
subfossil
bones
of late
Holocene
age
found in
caves
on
the island
of Mangaia, in the
southern
Cook Islands
of
West
Polynesia
. The
cause
of its
extinction
is ascribed to a
combination
of predation and
habitat alteration
following
human settlement
of the
island
and the
introduction
of
exotic
mammals
.
