Post by adzebill on Oct 28, 2006 12:45:44 GMT
Undescribed, very large species, assigned to genus Dendrocygna, known from a single, distinctive pedal phalanx found at the Ureia archaeological site, Aitutaki, Cook islands.
This species probably was skilled at walking and perching, as in the Neotropical D. autumnalis, but unlike most other livings species of whistling-ducks.
Probably this species was not endemic to Aitutaki, and its bones are likely to turn up elsewhere in East Polynesia.
Source: D.W. Steadman. Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Islands Birds (2006).
See also: D.W. Steadman. Extinct and extirpated birds from Aitutaki and Atiu, Southern Cook Islands. Pacific Science, 45 (1991).
This species probably was skilled at walking and perching, as in the Neotropical D. autumnalis, but unlike most other livings species of whistling-ducks.
Probably this species was not endemic to Aitutaki, and its bones are likely to turn up elsewhere in East Polynesia.
Source: D.W. Steadman. Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Islands Birds (2006).
See also: D.W. Steadman. Extinct and extirpated birds from Aitutaki and Atiu, Southern Cook Islands. Pacific Science, 45 (1991).
