Malacorhynchus scarletti
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| Malacorhynchus scarletti | ||||||||||||
| Olson , 1977 |
Malacorhynchus scarletti is an extinct New Zealand species of duck closely related to the Australian rose-eared duck ( Malacorhynchus membranaceus ). It was named in 1977 by Storrs Lovejoy Olson in honor of the New Zealand ornithologist Ron Scarlett , whodiscoveredthe holotype in1941. In 1998, however, previously undescribed bones of the species that had been found in 1903 were rediscovered in the Otago Museum. At least 32 bones are known in the museum collections today, which were found in the Pyramid Valley and at Ngāpara on the South Island and at Lake Poukawa on the North Island .
At 800 grams, Malacorhynchus scarletti was about twice as heavy as the rose-eared duck. Like its Australian relative, Malacorhynchus scarletti had a broad beak that specialized in filtering food in shallow water. This indicates a diet in which the surface of the water was sifted through for food particles - presumably primarily small aquatic insects. Due to the small amount of fossil material, it is believed that Malacorhynchus scarletti was not abundant in New Zealand even in prehistoric times. She apparently preferred shallow, open waters, of which there weren't many in heavily forested New Zealand at the time. The rose-eared duck, on the other hand, is very sociable and forms flocks that number in the thousands.
Bones from the middens of Maori in Wairau Bar and at Lake Grassmere in the region Marlborough suggest that the species has been heavily hunted. It probably died out in the 16th century.
literature
- A. Tennyson and P. Martinson: Extinct birds of New Zealand. Te Papa Press, 2006, ISBN 0-909010-21-8
- Trevor H. Worthy , Richard N. Holdaway: The Lost World of the Moa. Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2002, ISBN 0-253-34034-9 .