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Post by another specialist on Jun 6, 2005 6:26:12 GMT
Nycticorax kalavikai
Steadman, Worthy, Anderson & Walter 2000
Holocene of Niue, Savage Islands, sw Pacific Ocean
Primary materials: Holotype: tarsometatarsus
Secondary materials: Paratypes: occipital fragment cranium, pterygoïd, incomplete mandibulae, scapulae, anterior part sternum, cervical and thoracal vertebrae, distal part humerus, ulnae, radii, carpometacarpi, pelvis, femora, tibiotarsi, tarsometatarsi, pedal phalanges
David W. Steadman, Trevor H. Worthy, Atholl J. Anderson & Richard Walter,
New species and records of birds from prehistoric sites on Niue, Southwest Pacific
The Wilson Bulletin 112 (2000): 165-186
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Post by dysmorodrepanis on Nov 22, 2005 0:42:37 GMT
Original description:
"The holotypical tarsometatarsus of the new species is referred to Nycticorax (including Nyctanassa but excluding Calherodius and Gorsachius; for various opinions on generic classification of night-herons see Payne and Risley 1976, Sheldon et al. 1995) rather than other genera of Ardeidae because of the following combination of characters: trochlea metatarsi IV slightly grooved distally; more proximal placement of distal foramen relative to proximal end of trochlea metatarsi III; parallel orientation of trochlea metatarsi III with shaft; gradual protruding of trochlea metatarsi II from corpus tarsometatarsi; distal foramen small; medial side compressed, especially proximally, to a narrow flange; anteriorly, distal to the tuberositas musculo tibialis cranialis, the bone is flat and slopes medially (not markedly concave as in Ardea); posteriorly, the shaft is convex with a weak intermuscular line laterally placed (in Ardea the shaft is concave and the intermuscular line is prominant and laterally placed and in Botaurus the shaft is concave with a prominant intermuscular line centrally placed).
All other elements of the new species also have characters of Nycticorax rather than of other ardeid genera. Notable among these characters are: mandible with medial groove bridged by an oblique ridge; coracoid with relatively slender shaft, dorsal surface of sternal end deeply concave, and the ridge between the facies articularis humeralis and processus acrocoracoideus very steep in dorsal view; scapula with the facies articularis clavicularis rising dorsally from the plane of the shaft (dorsal margin straight in Ardea and Egretta) and rounded proximo-dorsally (pointed in Ardea and Egretta); carpometacarpus with processus extensorius directed more medially (more proximally in Ardea and Egretta), and the os metacarpi alulare with a marked fossa; tibiotarsus with smooth posterior edge to area interarticularis (notched in Ardea, Egretta, and Botaurus).
Nycticorax kalavikai, new species
Holotype.—MNZ S37651, tarsometatarsus (Fig. 2, Table 3), collected by T. H. Worthy on 7–12 January 1995 at Anakuli, Niue.
Topotypical paratypes.—MNZ S37652–S37700, occipital fragment of cranium, pterygoid,
4 incomplete mandibles (Fig. 3), coracoid (Fig. 4), 2 scapulae (Fig. 5), anterior portion of sternum, 4 cervical vertebrae (numbers 6, 10, 11, 12), thoracic vertebra (number 17), distal humerus, 2 distal and 1 complete ulnae (Fig. 6), 1 distal and 2 proximal radii, 4 proximal and 3 shafts of carpometacarpi (Fig. 7), pelvis, 3 femoral shafts, 3 distal and 1 proximal tibiotarsi (Fig. 8), 8 tarsometatarsi, pedal digit I (phalanx 1), pedal digit III (phalanx 2), pedal digit IV (phalanx 1). Minimum of four individuals. Selected measurements of paratypes are as follows: coracoid: length 52.7 mm; radius: distal width 7.8 mm; ulna: total length: 123 mm, proximal width 10.6 mm, width of shaft 5.3 mm, depth of shaft 4.9 mm, distal width 7.6, 7.8, 8.4 mm; carpometacarpus: proximal width 12.4 mm; femur: width of shaft 6.3, 6.3, 6.4 mm, depth of shaft 6.4, 6.6, 6.6 mm; tibiotarsus: proximal width 11.8 mm, proximal depth 13.8 mm, minimum width of shaft 6.1, 5.8, 6.1, 5.3 mm, distal width 12.4, 11.4 mm.
Diagnosis.—A large species of Nycticorax that differs from living congeneric species in these major features (see Table 2 for comparative details and additional characters in all extant species of Nycticorax): rostrum narrower and straighter; dentary thicker and deeper overall with deep median groove; sternum with double foramen pneumaticum; coracoid with more rounded ventro-humeral and laterohumeral portions of shaft, more deeply excavated in the triosseal canal dorso-mediad of the facies articularis humeralis than in N. caledonicus, and facies articularis clavicularis larger, overlapping the shaft more; scapula with more rounded facies articularis humeralis; ulna shorter (relative to leg elements) than in N. caledonicus, with less prominent papillae remigiales caudales, more dorso-ventrally expanded shaft, larger tuberculum carpale that encloses a marked fossa between it and the condylus ventralis ulnaris, and a longer condylus dorsalis ulnaris; carpometacarpus with deeper fossa supratrochlearis, shorter overall; femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus stouter; tarsometatarsus with fossa infracotylaris dorsalis relatively shallower.
Etymology.—From the Niuean words kalavi (land crab) and kai (food; see McEwen 1970). The name kalavikai alludes to our speculation that land crabs, typically abundant on raised limestone islands in Oceania, may have been an important food for this extinct night-heron. Crustaceans are a regular part of the diet in living species of Nycticorax (Martínez-Vilalta and Motis 1992).
Remarks.—Although males average slightly larger than females in most linear skeletal measurements in Nycticorax nycticorax and N. violacea, the overlap is considerable (Adams 1955) and we do not consider sexual dimorphism to be an important factor in evaluating the measurements of fossil night-herons. We agree with Payne and Risley (1976) that N. nycticorax and N. caledonicus are similar osteologically, and are more similar to N. kalavikai in having a narrower bill than in N. violacea. Because it shares more characters with N. kalavikai than with other species, N. caledonicus is probably the closest living relative of N. kalavikai, as might be suspected on geographical grounds.
Nycticorax kalavikai is known thus far only from Niue. It is the first extinct species of Nycticorax to be described from Polynesia. From a cave on the Tongan island of ‘Eua, however, D.W.S. has recovered three bones (rostrum, tarsometatarsus, pedal phalanx) of another extinct, late Quaternary species of Nycticorax. The undescribed species from ‘Eua is included in faunal lists by Steadman (1993a, 1995) and measurements given in Table 3; it will be described by D.W.S. in a separate paper. In the Mascarene Islands (Indian Ocean), three endemic, allopatric species of Nycticorax became extinct since human arrival about 500 years ago (Mourer-Chauviré et al. 1999). Unlike the Polynesian forms, two of the three Mascarene species had relatively small wings and may have been flightless. An undescribed, extinct form of Nycticorax is known as well from Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean (S. L. Olson 1977, pers. comm.)."
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Post by another specialist on Nov 22, 2005 20:16:00 GMT
One for the birds David W. Steadman, Trevor H. Worthy, ATHOLL J. ANDERSON, and Richard Walter 2000 New Species and Recorrds of Birds from Prehistoric Sites on Niue, Southwest Pacific. Wilson Bulletin 112(2): 165-186. Abstract: We report the first prehistoric bird bones from the isolated limestone island of Niue, South Pacific. Discovered in a cave known as Anakuli, the bones are Holocene in age but lack cultural association. They represent three extinct species: a night heron (Nycticorax kalavikai), a new species known thus far only from Niue but closely related to an extinct undescribed species from Tonga, the “Niuafo’ou” Megapode (Megapodius pritchardii), known historically only from Niuafo’ou (Tonga) but recorded from prehistoric sites elsewhere in Tonga; and Gallirallus huiatua, a new species of flightless rail presumably endemic to Niue and distinct from extinct, flightless congeneric species from island groups immediately east (Cook Islands) and west (Tonga) of Niue. The first two species are in accord with the overall biogeographic affinity of the extant avifauna of Niue, which is West Polynesian rather than East Polynesian. 64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:5u_6d3NseUIJ:car.anu.edu.au/abstract-publications.html+Gallirallus+huiatua&hl=en tinyurl.com/93a87 |
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Post by another specialist on Nov 22, 2005 20:17:07 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Nov 22, 2005 20:19:05 GMT
thanks for the info dysmorodrepanis
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Post by another specialist on Aug 26, 2007 17:57:03 GMT
Niue Night-Heron (Nycticorax kalavikai) distribution: Niue size: ca. 60 cm (length) extinction date: ? This species of Night-Heron could be described from bones found on Niue. The Niue Night-Heron was slightly larger than the Rufous Night-Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus) but had smaller wings. So it may have been a poor flyer or - what is more likely - flightless. www.extinct.minks-lang.de/7voegel/a.birdsarten.n-z/nycticorax.kalavikai1.htm |
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Post by another specialist on Aug 26, 2007 18:41:03 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Sept 9, 2008 19:28:36 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Sept 9, 2008 19:33:34 GMT
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