Vitirallus

Vitirallus watlingi, the Fiji rail or Viti Levu rail, was a prehistoric flightless bird from Fiji, and is the only species in the genus Vitirallus. Vitirallus watlingi is thought to have been about the same size as the bar-winged rail (Nesoclopeus poecilopterus) but with a very elongated and slender bill.^[1]

Vitirallus Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Rallidae
Genus:	†Vitirallus T. H. Worthy, 2004
Species:	†V. watlingi
Binomial name
†Vitirallus watlingi T. H. Worthy, 2004

The genus name refers to Viti Levu, the island of origin in Fiji; rallus is Latin for rail. The species name watlingi is after the ornithologist Dr Dick Watling.^[1]

Remains of this species were discovered in September 1998 at Viti Levu, the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It was first described by Trevor H. Worthy in 2004.^[1] The holotype is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.^[2]

See also

• Late Quaternary prehistoric birds