Ibiza Rail (Rallus eivissensis)

The Ibiza Rail was described in 2005 based on subfossil bones that had been recovered from the deposits of a cave at Es Pouàs on the island of Ibiza in the Spanish Balearic Islands, Spain.

The species was closely realated to, and perhaps derived from the Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus L.) but was slightly smaller and stouter-built, yet, unusual for a insular endemic rail, it was not flightless.

The Ibiza Rail disappeared around 5300 to about 4300 years B.P., at around the time when the first humans arrived at the Balearic Islands.

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References:

[1] M. McMinn; M. Palmer; Josep Antoni Alcover: A new species of rail (Aves: Rallidae) from the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene of Ibiza (Pityusic Islands, western Mediterranean). Ibis 147(4): 706-716. 2005

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edited: 11.09.2019