Huahine Cuckoo Dove
| Huahine Cuckoo Dove | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Macropygia arevarevauupa | ||||||||||
| Steadman , 1992 |
The Huahine cuckoo pigeon ( Macropygia arevarevauupa ) is an extinct pigeon from the genus of the cuckoo pigeons ( Macropygia ). It is only known from a tibiotarsus with missing articulated rollers ( condylus medialis ), which was brought to light in 1985 by the anthropologist Yosihiko H. Sinoto in the archaeological deposit Fa'ahia on Huahine in the Society Islands . The age of the subfossil bone is dated between 750 and 1250 years.
Judging by the length of the tibiotarsus, the Huahine cuckoo pigeon represented the largest species of cuckoo pigeon. She had long, slender legs, which suggests that she lived mostly on the ground. Whether she was able to fly or unable to fly can only be determined when new bone material becomes known. Like her relative in the Marquesas - Macropygia heana - she was believed to have been a prey to the early Polynesian settlers and their introduced mammals.
literature
- David W. Steadman: New species of Gallicolumba and Macropygia (Aves: Columbidae) from archeological sites in Polynesia In: Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Pierce Brodkorb, Jonathan J. Becker (Ed.) Science series Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 36 (1992): pp. 329-348.
- Michael Walters & Julian Pender Hume: Extinct Birds . Poiser Monographes (A&C Black), 2012. ISBN 978-140-815-725-1 . P. 144.