Viti Levu giant pigeon Temporal range: Holocene | |
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N. gigoura and Lapitiguana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Columbiformes |
Family: | Columbidae |
Genus: | † Natunaornis T. H. Worthy, 2001 |
Species: | †N. gigoura |
Binomial name | |
†Natunaornis gigoura T. H. Worthy, 2001 | |
Former range (in red) |
The Viti Levu giant pigeon or Fiji giant ground pigeon (Natunaornis gigoura) is an extinct flightless pigeon of Viti Levu, the largest island in Fiji. It was only slightly smaller than the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and Rodrigues solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) and is the first giant flightless pigeon to be discovered on a Pacific island.
Remains of this species were discovered in Quaternary (probably Holocene) Cave deposits in October 1998 and November 1999. Its first description was published in 2001. [1] The holotype is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. [2] It is known from the holotype tarsometatarsus and paratypes including various parts of the wings and legs. No parts of the skull are known apart from a possible referred premaxilla (MNZ S37306).
The generic name "Natunaornis" is named after Natuna, the oldest chief of the Volivoli people in the Sigatoka Valley, wherein the fossil bones of the type species were first found. [1] The specific name reflects both the large size of this fossil species and its proposed affinities to the crowned pigeons of genus Goura .
Lyall's wren or the Stephens Island wren was a small, flightless passerine belonging to the family Acanthisittidae, the New Zealand wrens. Now extinct, it was once found throughout New Zealand, but when it came to the attention of scientists in 1894, its last refuge was Stephens Island in Cook Strait. Often claimed to be a species driven extinct by a single creature, the wren in fact fell victim to the island's numerous feral cats. The wren was described almost simultaneously by both Walter Rothschild and Walter Buller. It became extinct shortly thereafter.
Viti or Víti may refer to:
The upland moa is an extinct species of moa that was endemic to New Zealand. It is a ratite, a grouping of flightless birds with no keel on the sternum. It was the last moa species to become extinct, vanishing around 1500 CE, and was predominantly found in alpine and sub-alpine environments.
The New Zealand raven was native to New Zealand, but has been extinct since the 16th century. There were three subspecies: the North Island raven, South Island raven, and Chatham raven from the Chatham Islands.
The long-legged thicketbird is a small bird endemic to Fiji. The species is sometimes known as the long-legged warbler. It was formerly classified as the sole representative of the genus Trichocichla.
The austral snipes, also known as the New Zealand snipes or tutukiwi, are a genus, Coenocorypha, of tiny birds in the sandpiper family, which are now only found on New Zealand's outlying islands. There are currently three living species and six known extinct species, with the Subantarctic snipe having three subspecies, including the Campbell Island snipe discovered as recently as 1997. The genus was once distributed from Fiji, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island, across New Zealand and southwards into New Zealand's subantarctic islands, but predation by introduced species, especially rats, has drastically reduced their range.
The long-billed wren is an extinct species of New Zealand wren formerly endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It was the only species in the genus Dendroscansor. It shares the name "long-billed wren" with the Brazilian bird Cantorchilus longirostris.
Trevor Henry Worthy is an Australia-based paleozoologist from New Zealand, known for his research on moa and other extinct vertebrates.
The New Zealand stiff-tailed duck is an extinct duck species from New Zealand which is known only from subfossil remains. It was first described as a distinct species by Trevor H. Worthy in 2005.
Hodgens' waterhen is an extinct rail species from New Zealand. Its name commemorates the Hodgen brothers who were owners of the Pyramid Valley swamp where the holotype was discovered. It reached a weight of 280 g and its wings were so reduced that it was unable to fly. It occupied a wide range of habitats, including open forest and grassland along riverbanks.
Volia is an extinct monospecific genus of mekosuchine crocodylian closely related to Mekosuchus and Trilophosuchus. Volia is known from a collection of largely fragmentary remains including skull bones and limbs recovered from the Voli Voli and Wainibuku Caves on Viti Levu (Fiji), with similar remains having been found on Naigani. It was around 2–3 metres (7–10 ft) long, making it the largest predatory animal on the island and subsequently most likely the apex predator of the Pleistocene ecosystems of Fiji. It may have fed on giant iguanas, flightless birds or even fish. Like its closest relatives, it may have been more terrestrial than today's crocodiles.
Scarlett's shearwater is an extinct species of seabird in the petrel family Procellariidae. Its common name commemorates New Zealand palaeontologist Ron Scarlett, who recognised the bird's subfossil remains represented a distinct species.
Vitirallus watlingi, the Fiji rail or Viti Levu rail, was a prehistoric flightless bird from Fiji, and is the only species in the genus Vitirallus. Vitirallus watlingi is thought to have been about the same size as the bar-winged rail but with a very elongated and slender bill.
Platymantis megabotoniviti is an extinct species of frogs in the family Ceratobatrachidae. The species was described from bones of late Quaternary age from caves on Viti Levu, Fiji. P. megabotoniviti is much larger than the other two species of Platymantis known from Fiji, P. vitianus and P. vitiensis.
The Viti Levu scrubfowl, also known as the Fiji scrubfowl or lost megapode, is an extinct megapode that was endemic to Fiji. The epithet amissus, from Latin "lost", refers to its extinction. Subfossil remains were collected from the Udit cave at Wainibuku on the island of Viti Levu in October 1998 by Trevor Worthy, G. Udy and S. Mataraba, and described by Worthy in 2000. The holotype is held by the Museum of New Zealand.
Megavitiornis altirostris is an extinct, flightless, giant stem-galliform bird that was endemic to Fiji, it is the only known species in the genus Megavitiornis. Originally thought to be a megapode, more recent morphological studies indicate a close relationship with Sylviornis of New Caledonia, with both genera belonging to the family Sylviornithidae outside of the Galliformes crown group. It is likely that it became extinct through overhunting shortly after the colonisation of the Fiji Islands by humans.
Ba humbugi is the only species and therefore the type species in the genus Ba, a genus of land snail, belonging to the family Charopidae. Both the genus and the species were named by the American malacologist Alan Solem. The genus is endemic to the Fijian island of Viti Levu, and B. humbugi is an endangered species.
Stout-legged wren is a common name referring to two species of extinct New Zealand wrens: the North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren, and the South Island stout-legged wren or Yaldwyn's wren. These small birds were endemic to New Zealand and were previously included in the genus Pachyplichas.