Wake Island rail
| Wake Island rail | |
|---|---|
| Photo from a 1936 book | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Gallirallus |
| Species: | †G. wakensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Gallirallus wakensis (Rothschild, 1903)
| |
| The Wake Island rail lived on Wake Island, a 3 islet atoll | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Hypotaenidia wakensis | |
The extinct Wake Island rail or Wake rail (Gallirallus wakensis) is an extinct flightless rail and the only native land bird on the Pacific atoll of Wake. It was found on the islands of Wake and Wilkes, and Peale, which is separated from the others by a channel of about 100 metres (330 ft). It was hunted to extinction during World War II. The species was formerly placed in the genus Hypotaenidia.