Bird
Rodrigues Rail
Erythromachus leguatiAlso known as Leguat's Gelinote, Leguat's Rail
Rodrigues rails were flightless, terrestrial birds that probed soil and leaf litter for invertebrates, fallen fruit, and tortoise eggs across their native island. Early explorers described them as exceptionally curious and pugnacious, rushing toward red scraps of cloth, which made them remarkably easy targets for sailors to capture. Introduced predators like cats and feral pigs, combined with hunting and habitat changes, wiped out the entire population by the mid-eighteenth century.
FlightlessIsland Endemic
—observations
—countries
—peak records
ExtinctConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXExtinctRed List categories, explained →
Diet & preyLand snails, Terrestrial insects, Tortoise eggs
Predators
- Humans
- Feral cats
- Feral pigs
ThreatsInvasive feral cats and pigs, human hunting, habitat destruction
HabitatsDense coastal woodlands and subtropical dry forests
Life span5–10 years
Classification
- FamilyRallidae
- SpeciesErythromachus leguati
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskLow
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is low
- Extinct species; safe observation is limited to historical subfossils in museum collections.
Responsible observation
- Museum collections: View subfossil bone casts in natural history museums.
- Historical literature: Consult eighteenth-century expedition journals to read first-hand observations.
Neighbor Emőke Dénes / CC BY-SA 4.0 · cc-by-sa
Close Relative after George Hoefnagel / Public domain · cc0
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