New Zealand grouse

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New Zealand grouse
Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Crane birds (Gruiformes)
Family : Rallen (Rallidae)
Genre : Tribonyx
Type : New Zealand grouse
Scientific name
Tribonyx hodgenorum
( Scarlett , 1955)

The New Zealand grouse ( Tribonyx hodgenorum ) is an extinct species of railing from New Zealand. The type epithet refers to the Hodgen brothers who were the owners of the Pyramid Valley swamp where the holotype was found.

features

The New Zealand grouse reached a weight of 280 grams and its wings were so reduced that it was unable to fly. It was roughly the same size as the red-footed grouse ( Tribonyx ventralis ), but had shorter, stronger legs. The skull showed similarities with that of the Tasmanian grouse ( Tribonyx mortierii ). Therefore, it is possible that the red-footed grouse, Tasmanian grouse, and New Zealand grouse shared a common ancestor.

habitat

The New Zealand grouse habitats varied. They ranged from open forests or grasslands to river banks.

die out

The New Zealand grouse is known only from subfossil material discovered in Maori clam piles dating back to the 18th century. Hundreds of bones found in the Pyramid Valley on the South Island, Lake Poukawa on the North Island, and several other fossil sites suggest that the New Zealand grouse was widespread across New Zealand except for the Chatham Islands . The main cause of its extinction was believed to be Maori overhunting and pacific rat hunting .

Systematics

In 1955 the species was described by Ron Scarlett as Rallus hodgeni . Storrs Lovejoy Olson transferred it to the genus Gallinula in 1975 and changed the specific epithet to hodgenorum in 1986 . In 2008 the former subgenus Tribonyx (contains the Australian and New Zealand grouse) was raised to the genus and the New Zealand grouse was assigned to the genus Tribonyx in 2014 .

literature

  • A. Tennyson, 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 .
  • Sidney Dillon Ripley: Rails of the World - A Monograph of the Family Rallidae . Codline, Boston 1977, ISBN 0-87474-804-6 .
  • RN Holdaway, TH Worthy: A reappraisal of the late Quaternary fossil vertebrates of Pyramid Valley Swamp, North Canterbury, New Zealand. In: New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 1997, Vol. 24, pp. 69-121. (PDF full text)
  • Richard N. Holdaway, Trevor H. Worthy, Alan JT Tennyson: A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. In: New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 2001, Vol. 28, pp. 119-187. (PDF full text)
  • Walter E. Boles : A New Flightless Gallinule (Aves: Rallidae: Gallinula) from the Oligo-Miocene of Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia. In: Records of the Australian Museum. (2005) Vol. 57, ISSN  0067-1975 , pp. 179-190. (PDF full text)
  • RN Holdaway: New Zealand's pre-human avifauna and its vulnerability. 1989. (PDF full text)
  • SL Olson: More on the Name Rallus hodgenorum. (PDF full text)
  • RJS Cassels, KL Jones, A. Walton, TH Worthy: Late prehistoric subsistence practices at Parewanui, lower Rangitikei River, New Zealand. In: New Zealand Journal of Archeology. 10: 109-128 (1988).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Leslie Christides, Walter E. Boles: Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds. CSIRO Publishing, Canberra 2008, ISBN 978-0-643-06511-6 .

Web links