North_Island_stout-legged_wren

North Island stout-legged wren

North Island stout-legged wren

Extinct species of bird

Quick Facts North Island stout-legged wren Temporal range: Early Holocene, Scientific classification ...

The North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren (Pachyplichas jagmi) is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand.

History and etymology

The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus (AU 7102.20 in the collections of the Auckland University Geology Department) collected on 25 August 1978 from the Ruakuri Cave in the Waitomo District of North Island of New Zealand. The specific epithet honours Dr John Grant-Mackie, Associate Professor of Geology at Auckland University, in recognition of his support for graduate students and for contributions to avian palaeontology.[1]

Description

This wren is similar to, though smaller than, its congener from South Island, the South Island stout-legged wren (Pachyplichas yaldwyni), with which it forms a species pair. Its reduced wings and robust legs indicate that it was strongly adapted to a terrestrial existence and was either flightless or nearly so.[1]

References

Notes

  1. [1]
    Millener (1988).

Sources

  • Millener, P.R. (1988). "Contributions to New Zealand's Late Quaternary avifauna. 1: Pachyplichas, a new genus of wren (Aves: Acanthisittidae), with two new species". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 18: 383–406. doi:10.1080/03036758.1988.10426464.


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