Tag Archives: New Ireland

Corvus sp. ‘New Ireland’

New Ireland Crow (Corvus sp.)  

This probable species is known exclusively from well-preserved subfossil bones excavated from deposits on the island of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago off the northeastern coast of New Guinea.  

The remains point towards a bird that was larger than the Torresian Crow (Corvus orru Bonaparte), the only crow now living on the island. They may represent the Grey Crow (Corvus tristis Lesson & Garnot), which is confined to mainland New Guinea, or a closely related form. [1]  

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[1] David W. Steadman; J. Peter White; Jim Allen: Prehistoric birds from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea: Extinctions on a large Melanesian island. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 96: 2563-2568. 1999  

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edited: 01.10.2017

Gallirallus ernstmayri Kirchman & Steadman

New Ireland Rail (Gallirallus ernstmayri)

The New Ireland Rail was described in 2006, it was restricted to the island of New Ireland.

The species was among the larger members of its genus, probably reaching a size of about 30 cm, it was completely flightless. [1]

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The New Ireland Rail very likely was closely related to the Pink-legged Rail (Gallirallus insignis (P. L. Sclater)) (see depiction below), a large, flightless rail from the neighboring island of New Britain.

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References:

[1] Jeremy J. Kirchman; David W. Steadman: Rails (Rallidae: Gallirallus) from prehistoric archaeological sites in Western Oceania. Zootaxa 1316: 1-31. 2006

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Pink-legged Rail (Gallirallus insignis)

Depiction from: ‘P. L. Sclater: On a fifth collection of birds made by the Rev. G. brown, C. M. Z. S., on Duke-of-York Island and in its vicinity. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1880: 65-67’

(public domain)

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edited: 22.05.2019

Cacatua sp. ‘New Ireland’

New Ireland Cockatoo (Cacatua sp.)

This form is known only from subfossil remains that had been found on the island of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea.

The New Ireland Cockatoo was more or less similar to to the Blue-eyed Cockatoo (Cacatua ophthalmica Sclater) (see photo) from the neighboring island of New Britain, but was somewhat stouter built. [1]

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References:

[1] David W. Steadman: Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press 2006

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Blue-eyed Cockatoo (Cacatua ophthalmica)

Depiction from: ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1862’

(public domain)

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edited: 18.06.2019