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Vitirallus Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
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

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.

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.

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. The holotype is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

See also

• Late Quaternary prehistoric birds

References

1. ^ Worthy, Trevor H. (2004). "The fossil rails (Aves: Rallidae) of Fiji with descriptions of a new genus species". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 34 (3): 295–314. Bibcode:2004JRSNZ..34..295W. doi:10.1080/03014223.2004.9517768. S2CID 129705107.
2. "Vitirallus watlingi; holotype". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 July 2010.

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• Extinct flightless birds
• Fossil taxa described in 2004
• Extinct birds of Oceania
• Extinct monotypic bird genera
• Rallidae
• Holocene extinctions
• Fiji stubs
• Prehistoric bird stubs