AN extinct species of bird came back to life when it reappeared on an island thousands of years later. The flightless white-throated rail was wiped out when the Aldabra atoll in the Indian Ocean flooded 136,000 years ago. Scientists have now found its fossil among a study from 36,000 years afterwards. Aldabra is located between […]
AN extinct species of bird came back to life when it reappeared on an island thousands of years later.
The flightless white-throated rail was wiped out when the Aldabra atoll in the Indian Ocean flooded 136,000 years ago.
Scientists have now found its fossil among a study from 36,000 years afterwards.
Aldabra is located between Madagascar and the Seychelles.
It shows that when sea levels fell thousands of years later after the flood, rails repopulated the island.
But, like their ancestors, they lost the power of flight as there were no natural predators.
The evidence comes from a fossil study at the University of Portsmouth.
Researcher Prof David Martill said: “We know of no other example of this evolution phenomenon.”
He added that it is one ‘one of the most significant’ discoveries in bird records.
