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Kiwi are flightless birds endemic to New Zealand of the order Apterygiformes. The five extant species fall into the family Apterygidae and genus Apteryx. Approximately the size of a domestic chicken, kiwi are the smallest ratites.
A wallaby is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and sometimes the same genus, but kangaroos are specifically categorised into the four largest species of the family. The term "wallaby" is an informal designation generally used for any macropod that is smaller than a kangaroo or a wallaroo that has not been designated otherwise.
Rails are a large, cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes such ubiquitous species as the crakes, coots, and gallinule; other rail species are extremely rare or endangered. Many are associated with wetland habitats, some being semi-aquatic like waterfowl, but many more are wading birds or shorebirds. The ideal rail habitats are marsh areas, including rice paddies, and flooded fields or open forest. They are especially fond of dense vegetation for nesting. The rail family is found in every terrestrial habitat with the exception of dry desert, polar or freezing regions, and alpine areas. Members of Rallidae occur on every continent except Antarctica. Numerous unique island species are known.
The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae of the suborder Ensifera has a worldwide distribution. Common names for these insects include cave crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets, and sand treaders. Those occurring in New Zealand are typically referred to as jumping or cave wētā. Most are found in forest environments or within caves, animal burrows, cellars, under stones, or in wood or similar environments. All species are flightless and nocturnal, usually with long antennae and legs. More than 500 species of Rhaphidophoridae are described.
Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. The species are ecological dominants in many temperate forests in these regions. Some species are reportedly naturalised in Germany and Great Britain. The genus has a rich fossil record of leaves, cupules, and pollen, with fossils extending into the late Cretaceous period and occurring in Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and South America.
Xeronema is a genus of flowering plants containing two species, Xeronema moorei from New Caledonia, and Xeronema callistemon from the Poor Knights Islands and Taranga Island in New Zealand. The plants are herbaceous monocots, spreading by rhizomes, and have large flowers set on terminal spikes, with stamens towering above the flowers.
Asteliaceae is a family of flowering plants, placed in the order Asparagales of the monocots.
Chalinolobus tuberculatus, known more commonly as the New Zealand long-tailed bat, the long-tailed wattle bat or pekapeka tou-roa, is a small insectivorous mammal within the genus Chalinolobus. The long-tailed bat is one of 7 species belonging to the genus Chalinolobus, which are commonly referred to as “wattled bats,” “pied bats” and “long-tailed bats." The genus Chalinolobus is characterised by fleshy lobes located on their lower lips and at the bottom of their ears. Some zoologists claim there is overlap between the Chalinolobus genus and the Glauconycteris genus.
Prosqualodon is an extinct genus of Early to Middle Miocene cetacean from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and Venezuela.
Mauisaurus is a dubious genus of plesiosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period in what is now New Zealand. Numerous specimens have been attributed to this genus in the past, but a 2017 paper restricts Mauisaurus to the lectotype and declares it a nomen dubium.
Paphies is a genus of large, edible, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mesodesmatidae. The genus is endemic to New Zealand. The species in this genus include the pipi, tuatua and toheroa.
Mnesarchaea is a genus of "New Zealand primitive moths" in the family Mnesarchaeidae. This genus is endemic to New Zealand.
Peripatoides is a genus of velvet worms in the family Peripatopsidae. Velvet worms in this genus are found throughout New Zealand. Like all velvet worms, these animals are nocturnal predators that spit a sticky slime to trap their prey. Unlike the species in the only other genus of velvet worms found in New Zealand, Ooperipatellus, which lay eggs, the species in the genus Peripatoides are live-bearing (ovoviviparous).
Pennantia is the sole genus in the plant family Pennantiaceae. In older classifications, it was placed in the family Icacinaceae. Most authorities have recognised three or four species, depending on whether they recognised Pennantia baylisiana as a separate species from Pennantia endlicheri. British-born botanist David Mabberley has recognised two species.
Friginatica conjuncta is a species of small deepwater sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Naticidae.
Corynocarpus is the only genus of plants in the family Corynocarpaceae and includes five species. It is native to New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu.
The Chalcodryidae are a family of beetles in the superfamily Tenebrionoidea. It contains at least five species in two genera Chalcodrya and Philpottia, which are endemic to New Zealand. They are generally found associated with moss or lichen covered branches, with the larvae having been found to be associated with dead twigs. They are likely noctural, feeding on lichen and other plant material at night. The genera Sirrhas and Onysius, formerly placed in this family, have subsequently been transferred to Promecheilidae.
Clambidae is a family of beetles. They are known commonly as the minute beetles or the fringe-winged beetles. They are found worldwide on every continent except Antarctica.
Ooperipatellus is a genus of Australian and New Zealand velvet worms in the Peripatopsidae family. Species in this genus are oviparous. This genus was proposed by Hilke Ruhberg in 1985, with Ooperipatellus insignis designed at the type species. This genus is notable as the only one in which velvet worms have no more than 14 pairs of legs:
Cyclaxyridae are a family of beetles in the superfamily Cucujoidea. The only living genus is Cyclaxyra, with two species endemic to New Zealand. Other species have been named from fossils. They are also known as sooty mould beetles due to the association of Cyclaxyra with sooty mould. The extant species are mycophagous, feeding on spores, conidia, and hyphae.
References
- Powell A. W. B. (1979), New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand ISBN 0-00-216906-1