What passes through the extinction filter? Historical and contemporary patterns of vulnerability of the most extinction-prone bird family (Aves: Rallidae).

ABSTRACT: Patterns of extinction risk can vary across taxa, with species of some groups being particularly vulnerable to extinction. Rails (Aves: Rallidae) represent one of the most extreme yet well-documented cases of mass extinction within a modern vertebrate group. Between 54 and 92% of rail species became extinct following waves of human contact during both the Holocene and the Anthropocene eras, and a third of the extant species are currently threatened or near-threatened. Here, we (1) examine extinction filters through consecutive human contacts with rails, investigating the role of intrinsic life-history traits and (2) investigate the drivers of contemporary vulnerability. During the most recent wave of extinction, we found that body size was an important correlate of rail extinctions, with b

SUBMITTER: Leveque L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11895715 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature