INACCESSIBLE RAIL(Atlantisia rogersi)Gratwicke, R. 2012. “Inaccessible Island Rail” Tris

INACCESSIBLE RAIL
(Atlantisia rogersi)

Gratwicke, R. 2012. “Inaccessible Island Rail”
Tristan da Cunha, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

The name Inaccessible rail (or if you want to be more accurate, the Inaccessible Island rail) is actually a lot less ridiculous than it sounds and it’s all down to where the bird was discovered — the Inaccessible Island, South Atlantic Ocean. I’ll probably tackle the origin of ‘rail’ another time but just so you’re aware, it has absolutely nothing to do with trains. The species itself is the smallest extant species of flightless bird and cannot be found anywhere but on this single island. That’s a pretty inaccessible rail.