Tahiti rail plantations. Its diet appears to have consisted mainly of insects and occasionally copra (coconut meat). The extinction of the Tahiti rail was probably due to predation by humans and introduced cats and rats. It appears to have become extinct some time after 1844 on Tahiti, and perhaps as late as the 1930s on Mehetia. The Tahiti rail was found on the South Pacific island of Tahiti (part of the Society Islands archipelago) by naturalists who were part of the British explorer James Cook's second voyage around the world (1772–1775). The bird was illustrated by Georg Forster, who accompanied his father,
Paul Gauguin Museum (Tahiti) Paul Gauguin Museum (Tahiti) The Paul Gauguin Museum () is a Japanese-styled art museum dedicated to the life and works of Paul Gauguin in Tahiti, French Polynesia. The museum has been "closed for renovations" since 2013. The museum is located at PK 51, 2 Papeari, Tahiti, directly across from the Botanical Gardens. French Polynesian and Marquesan cultural aspects are represented in its exhibits, which include original Paul Gauguin documents, photographs, reproductions, sculptures, engravings and gouaches. Also included and unseen in years are some of his sketches and block prints. Original paintings of Tahiti and Moorea by Englishwoman Constance Gordon-Cumming are