North Island Takahe
| North Island Takahe | ||||||||||
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Skull bones of the North Island kah (the lower large bones) compared to that of a smaller living species of the purple hens. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Porphyrio Mantelli | ||||||||||
| ( Owen , 1848) |
The North Island Takahe ( Porphyrio mantelli ) is an extinct flightless bird from the North Island of New Zealand . He lived exclusively on the North Island and was significantly larger and more delicate than the closely related South Island kahe . It is believed that the two Takahes had a nearly identical way of life.
The North Island kahe was first known for subfossil bone finds. It was originally widespread on the island, but has gradually been pushed back. The increasing forest cover after the last ice age and the hunting by the Māori are suspected to be the cause of extinction . However, forest cover is unlikely to be the cause of extinction, as Takahes bones were usually found in places that were not directly adjacent to open grasslands.
It has long been assumed that the North Island Takahe became extinct shortly after the Māori colonized New Zealand. However, Phillips cited evidence in 1959 that the North Island akahe survived in remote areas like Ruahine until the late 19th century, much as the South Island akahe did.
The Māori called the North Island Takahe "Mohoau" and described it as a bird with blue feathers that resembles a purple hen.
In 1898 a specimen of the North Island Takahe was caught in the Tararua area at the southern end of the North Island by a surveyor named Morgan Carkeek and taken to the house of a Roderick McDonald of Horowhenua, who kept the hide there for a long time. The bird was identified by the locals as Mohoau at the time and caused great excitement among the Māori, as it was already so rare at that time that only the older residents knew the bird.
By 1910 it was common to use the Māori name Mohoau for people who had been in the wild for a long time and who appeared neglected as a result.
The scientific name is reminiscent of Walter Mantell , who discovered the first bones of the North Island Takahe.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ GR Williams: The Takahe (Notornis mantelli Owen, 1848): A General Survey. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961, Volume 88, 1960-61
- ↑ a b c d e W. J. Phillipps: The last (?) Occurrence of Notornis in the North Island. Notornis Vol. 8 pp. 93-94. April 1959.
- ^ RN Holdaway, TH Worthy: A reappraisal of the late Quaternary fossil vertebrates of Pyramid Valley Swamp, North Canterbury, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 1997, Vol. 24: 69-121 0301-4223 / 2401-069
- ↑ porphyrio mantelli in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed November 17, 2011th
- ^ A b Brian Reid: Sightings and Recordings of the Takane (Notornis mantelli) prior to its "Official Rediscovery" by Dr GB Orbell in 1948. Notornis: Vol. 21 Part 4, December 1974
- ^ JA Mills, RB Lavers, and WG Lee: The Takahe - A Relict of the Pleistocene Grassland Avifauna of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 7: 57-70 1984
- ^ Brian Reid: Some features of recent research on the takahe (Notornis mantelli). New Sealand Journal of Ecology, Volume 14, 1967, pp. 79-87
- ↑ Dave Crouchley: Takahe Recovery Plan (Porphyrio [Notornis] mantelli). Threatened Species Unit, Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand. Jan. 1994. ISSN 1170-3806 . ISBN 0-478-01465-1
- ↑ Walter L. Buller, Illustrations of Darwinism; or, The Avifauna of New Zealand considered in relation to the Fundamental Law of Descent with Modification. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868-1961. Volume 27, 1894, ART. III.