Tag Archives: Anas sp.

Anas sp. ‘Macquarie Islands’

Macquarie Island Duck (Anas sp.)

 

The Macquarie Island Duck is known only from subfossil bones that were recovered from deposits on the island of Macquarie in the subantarctic Pacific Ocean. [1]

This was a flightless duck, very much alike the likewise flightless Auckland Teal (Anas aucklandica Gray) which inhabits the Auckland Islands in the subantarctic part of New Zealand or the Campbell Island teal (Anas nesiotis J. H. Fleming), which again is restricted to the subantarctic Campbell Islands, and which once was also almost extinct.

The Macquarie Island Duck certainly fell victim to the cats that had been imported to its island home by sailors and whalers that used Macquarie Island as a base camp.

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References:

[1] Trevor H. Worthy, Richard N. Holdaway: The Lost World of the Moa, Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2002
[2] Alan J. D. Tennyson; R. Paul Scofiled: Holocene fossil bird remains from subantarctic Macquarie Island. Paleornithological Research. Proceed. 8th Internat. Meeting Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution 2013

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Auckland Teal (Anas aucklandica Gray) (the two birds on the right) together with New Zealand Brown Duck (Anas chlorotis)

Depiction from: ‘John C. Phillips: A Natural History of the Ducks. Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company; 1922-1926’

(public domain)

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edited: 10.11.2021

Anas sp. ‚Viti Levu‘

Fiji Teal (Anas sp.)  

This, up to now undescribed species is known only from a single subfossil bone, a scapula that was found in the Vatumu cave near the city of Nadi in the west part of the island of Viti Levu.  

The species was most probably closely related to the Australian Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea (Eyton)) resp. to the Australian Grey Teal (Anas gracilis Buller). [1]  

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References:  

[1] Geoffrey Richard Clark; Atholl Anderson: The early prehistory of Fiji. Terra Australis 31, Canberra: ANU ePress, December 2009

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edited: 18.10.2020