The Réunion rail (''Dryolimnas augusti''), also known as Dubois' wood-rail, is an extinct

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...

species which was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Mascarene The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

island of

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

. The scientific name commemorates French poet Auguste de Villèle (1858-1943) whose interest in the history of Réunion and hospitality made it possible for numerous

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

s to discover and explore the caves of Réunion. The subfossil remains of the Réunion rail were unearthed in 1996 in the Caverne de la Tortue on

and scientifically described in 1999. The material includes two complete tarso-metatarsi, five vertebrae, one sacrum, one coracoid, two humeri, one ulna, three femora, ten pedal phalanxes and one fragment of the left mandibula. The appearance of the bones identifies the Réunion rail as a close relative of the

white-throated rail The white-throated rail (''Dryolimnas cuvieri'') or Cuvier's rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. Distribution It is found in the Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Seychelles. Taxonomy The nominate subspecies is found in Madaga ...

and the Aldabra rail. The large and stout tarsometatarsus shows that it might have been the largest known taxon within the genus ''

Dryolimnas The genus ''Dryolimnas'' comprises birds in the Rallidae, rail family. The Réunion rail, a member of this genus, became extinction, extinct in the 17th century. The white-throated rail of Aldabra is the last surviving flightless bird in the west ...

''. Historically there is one travel report which might refer to this species. In 1674

Sieur Dubois Sieur Dubois () or Sieur D. B. was a French traveller who reached the islands of Madagascar and Réunion at the time of early colonization by France. He wrote a book in French, published in 1674, about his journeys and the wildlife he saw includi ...

mentioned a rail in his report ““ which he named «Râle des Bois» (translated as wood-rail). This species should be not confused with the Réunion swamphen which was referred to as «Oiseau Bleu» in the same report. The Réunion swamphen was described as being as large as the

Réunion ibis The Réunion ibis or Réunion sacred ibis (''Threskiornis solitarius'') is an list of extinct birds, extinct species of ibis that was endemic to the volcanic island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The first subfossil remains were found in 1974 ...

(previously known as Réunion solitaire), while the Réunion rail might have reached approximately the size of the

common moorhen The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the Rail (bird), rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-ve ...

. The Réunion rail was probably flightless because the proportions of the wing bones in comparison to those of the leg bones are similar to those of the Aldabra rail, which is likewise flightless. As Dubois' account is the only historical reference about the Réunion rail, it might be possible that it became extinct in the late 17th century.

References

* Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, Roger Bour, Sonia Ribes & François Moutou: ''The avifauna of Réunion Island (Mascarene Islands) at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans''. In: ''Avian Paleontology at the Close of the 20th Century: Proceedings of the 4th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution'', Washington, D.C., 4–7 June 1996. Storrs L. Olson (Edit.) 89:p. 1-38. 1999 * Extinct birds of Indian Ocean islands Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds of Réunion

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

Birds described in 1999 {{Gruiformes-stub