Tag Archives: Talpanas

Talpanas lippa Olson & James

Mole Duck (Talpanas lippa)

The Mole Duck, or Kauai Mole Duck was described in 2009 based on subfossil remains found on the island of Kaua’i, Hawaiian Islands.

The species was flightless and apparently had extremely small eyes and thus might have been almost blind in life, it had a distinct wide beak which it very likely used for probing the soil for invertebrates. [1]

The Mole Dock most likely disappeared, together with countless additional species, when humans first reached the Hawaiian Islands.

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References:    

[1] A. L. Iwaniuk; S. L. Olson; H. F. James: Extraordinary cranial specialization in a new genus of extinct duck (Aves: Anseriformes) from Kauai, Hawaiian Islands. Zootaxa 2296: 47–67. 2009

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edited: 13.09.2020