Wake Island Rail Gallirallus wakensis Scientific name definitions

Although not uncommon before Second World War, this species was extinct by 1946, its entire population presumably having been taken for food by the starving Japanese garrison between 1942 and 1945 (1 Greenway, J. C. (1967). Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. Dover Publications, New York, NY, USA. Close ). It is likely that powerful storms caused periodic inundation of the islands, resulting in significant loss of wildlife. Predation by rats, with which the rail had co-existed probably since prehistoric times, considered unlikely to have played a part in its extinction (2 Olson, S.L. and Rauzon, M.J. (2011). The extinct Wake Island Rail Gallirallus wakensis: a comprehensive species account based on museum specimens and archival records. Wilson Journal of Ornithology. 123(4): 663–689. Close ).

Wake I and Wilkes I, in WC Pacific Ocean (N of Marshall Is).