Porphyrio mantelli (North Island Takahe)

[sebbe67]

North Island Takahe Porphyrio mantelli was flightless and endemic to North Island, New Zealand, from where it is known from subfossils from a number of archeological sites and from one possible late 19th century record. The decline of the species has generally been attributed to the increasing incursion of forest into the alpine grasslands through the Holocene, although hunting by the Maori probably also played a role.

[another specialist]

Family/Sub-family RALLIDAE

Species name author (Owen, 1848)

Taxonomic source(s) Trewick (1996)

Synonyms Porphyrio hochstetteri BirdLife International (2000)

Taxonomic note Porphyrio mantelli (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into P. mantelli (extinct) and P. hochstetteri (extant) following Trewick (1996). Note that in BirdLife International (2000) the name P. mantelli was incorrectly assigned to the extant form, while the name P. hochstetteri was incorrectly assigned to the extinct form.

www.birdlife.net/datazone/search/species_search.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=30109&m=0

[another specialist]

From Rumors of Existence: Newly Discovered, Supposedly Extinct and Unconfirmed Inhabitants of the Animal Kingdom

by Matthew A Bille

www.hancockhouse.com/products/rumexi_pics.htm

[Deleted]

Hi !

North Island Takahe (very bad picture):



Bye
Alex

[another specialist]

Red List Category & Criteria EX ver 3.1 (2001)
Year Assessed 2004
Assessor/s BirdLife International
Evaluator/s Stattersfield, A. (BirdLife International Red List Authority) & Brooks, T. (Conservation International)

Justification

North Island Takahe Porphyrio mantelli was flightless and endemic to North Island, New Zealand, from where it is known from subfossils from a number of archeological sites and from one possible late 19th century record. The decline of the species has generally been attributed to the increasing incursion of forest into the alpine grasslands through the Holocene, although hunting by the Maori probably also played a role.
Taxonomy Although traditionally considered conspecific with the threatened Takahe P. hochstetteri from the South Island, Trewick presented evidence that the two taxa were derived from independent ancestors. Note that in the 2000 IUCN Red List and Threatened Birds of the World, the names for P. hochstetteri and P. mantelli were accidentally switched around.

History 2000 - Extinct (BirdLife International 2000)

www.redlist.org/search/details.php?species=18069

[sebbe67]

collections.tepapa.govt.nz/welcome.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fobjectsearch.aspx (found by adzebill)

[another specialist]

the North Island Takahē (P. mantelli) or mōho is extinct and only known from skeletal remains. Both forms were long assumed to be subspecies of mantelli and were usually placed in the genus Notornis. However, it has been determined that the differences between Porphyrio and Notornis were insufficient for separating the latter, whereas the differences between the North and South Island forms justifed the splitting into two species as each evolved independently towards flightlessness.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takahe

[another specialist]

P. mantelli North Island Takahe
The case for specific status of this taxon and the next (and survival of the former into historic times) is outlined by Worthy and Holdaway (2002); the taxa are very different and appear to be derived from separate invasions of New Zealand by a proto-Porphyrio (Trewick 1996).
Extinct. Formerly res NZ (NI).

www.rosssilcock.com/

[another specialist]

noisi said:

Hi !

North Island Takahe (very bad picture):



Bye
Alex

www.extinct.minks-lang.de/7voegel/a.birdsarten.n-z/porphyrio.mantelli1.htm

[another specialist]

rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/gallery/rsnz_14.html

[another specialist]

Extinct birds : an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times : that is, within the last six or seven hundred years : to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction (1907)

[another specialist]

[another specialist]

[another specialist]

www.newzealandecology.org/nzje/free_issues/NZJEcol7_57.pdf

[Melanie]

also known as Mohoau

www.jboyd.net/Taxo/changes.html

[Sebbe]

- Phillips, W.J. (1959). The last (?) occurrence of Notornis in the North Island. Notornis 8(4): 93-94.

[Melanie]

Trewick, S.A. (1996): Morphology and evolution of two Takahe: flightless rails of New Zealand. J. Zool., London 238(2): 221–237

Abstract

[surroundx]

Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (2000). Terrestrial fossil vertebrate faunas from inland Hawke's Bay, North Island, New Zealand. Part 1. Records of the Canterbury Museum 14: 89-154.

[Melanie]

Verry, A.J.F., E. Mas-Carrió, G.C. Gibb, L. Dutoit, B.C. Robertson, J.M. Waters, and N.J. Rawlence (2023)
Ancient mitochondrial genomes unveil the origins and evolutionary history of New Zealand's enigmatic takahē and moho
Molecular Ecology (advance online publication)
doi: 10.1111/mec.17227

Many avian species endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand were driven to extinction or reduced to relict populations following successive waves of human arrival, due to hunting, habitat destruction and the introduction of mammalian predators. Among the affected species were the large flightless South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) and the moho (North Island takahē; P. mantelli), with the latter rendered extinct and the former reduced to a single relictual population. Little is known about the evolutionary history of these species prior to their decline and/or extinction. Here we sequenced mitochondrial genomes from takahē and moho subfossils (12 takahē and 4 moho) and retrieved comparable sequence data from takahē museum skins (n = 5) and contemporary individuals (n = 17) to examine the phylogeny and recent evolutionary history of these species. Our analyses suggest that prehistoric takahē populations lacked deep phylogeographic structure, in contrast to moho, which exhibited significant spatial genetic structure, albeit based on limited sample sizes (n = 4). Temporal genetic comparisons show that takahē have lost much of their mitochondrial genetic diversity, likely due to a sudden demographic decline soon after human arrival (~750 years ago). Time-calibrated phylogenetic analyses strongly support a sister species relationship between takahē and moho, suggesting these flightless taxa diverged around 1.5 million years ago, following a single colonisation of New Zealand by a flighted Porphyrio ancestor approximately 4 million years ago. This study highlights the utility of palaeogenetic approaches for informing the conservation and systematic understanding of endangered species whose ranges have been severely restricted by anthropogenic impacts.

[Sebbe]

Augustus Hamilton’s fossil collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Augustus Hamilton (1853–1913) was a New Zealand ethnologist and naturalist who amassed a significant collection of fossils, mostly of birds, during his career. Today, those fossils are housed in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (NMNZ). While some fossils have been catalogued and integrated into the collection of the NMNZ, a large part remained unsorted and uncatalogued. The present study brings an integrated view of Hamilton’s collection at the NMNZ, highlighting the most significant fossils. In total, there are 3692 specimen lots collected by Hamilton in the NMNZ representing a large sample of taxa and a wide range of locations around Aotearoa New Zealand. Most fossils are of Holocene age and belong to birds. The collection includes type specimens, circa 250 specimen lots belonging to extinct species, and specimens belonging to otherwise poorly represented species in natural history collections. We hope that our study makes Hamilton’s fossils visible and more readily available for future research.

tuhinga.arphahub.com/article/97731/