Giant Hoopoe
| Giant Hoopoe | ||||||||||||||
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| Upupa antaios (Olson, 1975) |
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Upupa antaois (lapsus) |
The Giant Hoopoe (Upupa antaios), also known as St. Helena Giant Hoopoe or St. Helena Hoopoe, is an extinct bird from the family of Hoopoes (Upupidae), known exclusively from an incomplete subfossil skeleton.
It was endemic to the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic. It is considered that it was much larger than its European and African relatives. In addition it was completely flightless. The incomplete skeleton which was found in 1975 by palaeontologist Storrs Olson consists of both coracoids and the left femur. The reasons for its extinction remained unknown, though, it is assumed that it became extinct soon after, if not immediately after, St. Helena was discovered and colonized in 1502, due to the introduction of predators such as black rats, and domestic cats, as well as habitat destruction.
As all known hoopoes are insectivores that feed primarily on large insects, the Giant Hoopoe may have been a predator of the St. Helena earwig, an insect which has not been seen alive since 1967.
References
- Storrs L. Olson, Paleornithology of St. Helena Island, south Atlantic Ocean, Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 23 (1975)
External links
- BirdLife International (2004). Upupa antaios. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 4 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct
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