TheBermuda night heron(Nyctanassa carcinocatactes) is an extinct heron species fromBermuda.
| Bermuda night heron | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Ardeidae |
| Genus: | Nyctanassa |
| Species: | †N. carcinocatactes
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| Binomial name | |
| †Nyctanassa carcinocatactes | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Nycticorax carcinocatactes | |
Taxonomy
editIt is sometimes assigned to the genusNycticorax.It was first described byStorrs L. Olson&David B. Wingate(2006)[2]fromsubfossilmaterial found in thePleistoceneandHolocenedeposits in caves and ponds of Bermuda.
Description
editItsanatomywas rather similar to its living relative, theyellow-crowned night heron(Nyctanassa violacea), but it had a heavier bill, a more massive skull and more robust hind limbs. The specialization of thebilland the hind limbs showed that it was apparently adapted to the feeding onland crabs.[2]
Extinction
editThere are also early historian reports referring to the species. It possibly became extinct due to the settlement of the Bermuda islands in the 17th century. On Bermuda, the aforementioned yellow-crowned night heron was introduced in the 1970s to act as its proxy in the ecosystem, mostly to act asbiological controlfor land crabs, which have dug holes that interfere with the island's golf courses. Due to being generalist feeders instead of specialised feeders likeN. carcinocatactes,N. violaceahas been recorded to have caused record declines in land crab populations, as well as feeding on the critically endangeredBermuda rock lizard.[2]
References
edit- ^BirdLife International (2017)."Nyctanassa carcinocatactes".The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2017.IUCN:e.T62286255A119207935.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T62286255A119207935.en.Retrieved13 January2018.
- ^abcOlson, Storrs L.;Wingate, David B.(2006)."A new species of Night-heron (Ardeidae:Nyctanassa) from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda "(PDF).Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington.119(2): 326–337.doi:10.2988/0006-324X(2006)119[326:ANSONA]2.0.CO;2.S2CID85123890.
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