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Subject: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Megaraptor posted Tue, Aug 17 2004, 8:08am  New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines By Ed Stoddard JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered a new species of flightless bird on a remote island in the Philippines, the conservation group BirdLife International said on Tuesday. The rare find is dramatic as flightless birds on small islands are especially vulnerable to extinction from human activities. Many of the island species that have been categorized by science were long gone when biologists unearthed their bones. BirdLife International said the proposed name for the bird is the Calayan rail with the scientific name Gallirallus calayanensis. The bird, about the size of a crow, was found on the island of Calayan in the northern Philippines about 40 miles off the coast. "The Calayan rail is a relative of the internationally familiar moorhen, with bright red beak and legs contrasting sharply with its dark plumage," BirdLife said in a statement. "But unlike its familiar relative, the Calayan rail is flightless, or nearly so, and found only on the small island after which it is named." One or two new bird species are uncovered each year but this rail's flightless nature and unexplored location make it especially intriguing. "This is exceptional because it is flightless and no ornithologist had explored the island since 1903," Dr. Richard Thomas of BirdLife told Reuters by telephone from the group's British headquarters. Genevieve Broad, a biologist and one of the co-leaders of the Filipino-British expedition, said isolation had protected the species from human encroachment. "The island is 186 sq km and has only 8,500 people who are concentrated in one town in the south. There are few people in the middle of the island (where the birds are found) because there aren't any roads," she told Reuters. Isolation has also proved disastrous for flightless birds in the past. Many that evolved on remote islands with no predators have become what biologists term "ecologically naive" -- meaning they do not recognize danger from other animals. So when humans first arrived on small islands in the past, they found the flightless birds to be easy sources of protein and often wiped them out -- with the dodo of the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius being the most famous. Most of the 22 species of rail which have become extinct since 1600 were flightless. Eighteen of the 20 living species of flightless rail are considered to be threatened. Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: busterggi posted Tue, Aug 17 2004, 8:55am  Let's hope the government of the Philipines does the right thing & preserves these birds & their habitat. Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: pathfinder posted Tue, Aug 17 2004, 11:43am  Here is another another article on this bird with big pictures of it. The article contains more information. What I find totally disagreeable is the logic that you must make one die to prove they are alive. Calayan rail Pathfinder Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Hynpride posted Wed, Aug 18 2004, 12:13am  Totally agree with Pathfinder. Unfortunately, I guess that's just the way those old farts think in regards to Biology. It's thrilling to find a new species of flightless bird, cause most of the only ones I've ever heard of tend to be extinct... Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Valerie ReVander posted Sat, Aug 21 2004, 12:27am  Maybe someone can help me out with a related item. I read in National Geographic (I think it was that magazine) years ago, about a small species of rail that had been transported to an island during the WW2 era. In the 30 years that followed, the rails had developed little claws on their wings that helped them scramble through the tall grass of the island. Can anyone help me find information on them? I've been searching for years now and haven't been able to find anything more about them. Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: pathfinder posted Sat, Aug 21 2004, 8:16am  I don't think that the evolution of claws on the wings of birds could occur in 30 years. It just isn't enough time. However there are 3 birds which do have claws on their wings. South American hoatzin African touraco Ostrich Pathfinder Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Valerie ReVander posted Sat, Aug 21 2004, 11:28pm  I have thought the appearance of the claws could have been a genetic regression rather than evolution. Rails are (I think) the closest relatives to the "Terror Birds" of ancient South America, whose wrist joints indicate a clawed hand of sorts rather than a proper wing. Not saying these little rails are direct descendents of the mighty terror birds, but that they could have shared a common clawed ancestor. Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Prof00 posted Sun, Aug 22 2004, 5:54pm  Their closest living relations are the Seriemas of South America, which according to newer information, places them closest the rails. Neat stuff about Seriemas here: Living Terror Birds Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Gerry Bacon posted Sat, Aug 21 2004, 3:45pm  I agree Pathfinder. It seems from the photographs that one was captured. Why DNA couldn't have been extracted and the bird released is beyond me. This population could have been followed, which it probably will anyway and a carcass obtained from a natural death. Sure, it might have taken some time but what's the rush? As you know, I'm not against killing animals but I think there should be a better reason. Gerry Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: Hynpride posted Sat, Aug 21 2004, 6:41pm  Hmmm...In response to Valerie's question, the only rail species I know to have been introduced to an island during the WW2 era is the Laysan Rail. Unfortunately by 1946 it was extinct both on that island and its native homeland due to rats....so I guess it couldn't be your rail....Anyone else know anything? Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: pathfinder posted Sat, Aug 21 2004, 6:51pm  All they needed was to pull a blood feather. Voila - DNA. And like you said Gerry, they will be studying it any way, they could have waited for a natural death. Pathfinder Subject: Re: New Flightless Bird Species Found Off Philippines From: blob posted Sat, Apr 2 2005, 6:42pm  cute

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