Tag Archives: Prosobonia sp. Henderson Island

Prosobonia sauli De Pietri et al.

Henderon Island Sandpiper (Prosobonia sauli)

The Henderson Island Sandpiper is known from subfossil remains, which were compared to the bones of the extant Tuamotu Sandpiper (Prosobonia parvirostris (Peale)); it differed from that species by its longer leg bones and its reduced outer wing bones.

Given the fact that this species apparently had some reduced flight abilities, it might have indeed been restricted to Henderson Island. [1]

The species was finally described in 2020 as a new species, after having been known for almost 26 years. [2]

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References: 

[1] Graham M. Wragg; Marshall I. Weisler: Extinctions and new records of birds from Henderson Island. Notornis 41: 61-70. 1994 
[2] Vanesa L. De Pietri; Trevor H. Worthy; R. Paul Scofield; Theresa L. Cole; Jamie R. Wood; Kieren J. Mitchell; Alice Cibois; Justin J. F. J. Jansen; Alan J. Cooper; Shaohong Feng; Wanjun Chen; Alan J. D. Tennyson; Graham M. Wragg: A new extinct species of Polynesian sandpiper (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae: Prosobonia) from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Island Group, and the phylogenetic relationships of Prosobonia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 20: 1-26. 2020

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edited: 07.05.2021