Kingdom Animalia Class Aves Family Ardeidae Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Order Pelecaniformes Genus Nyctanassa | |
Scientific name Nyctanassa carcinocatactes Similar Rodrigues night heron, Antillean cave rail, Ascension crake, Réunion night heron, Saint Helena swamphen | ||
The Bermuda night heron (Nyctanassa carcinocatactes) is an extinct heron species from Bermuda. It is sometimes assigned to the genus Nycticorax. It was first described in 2006 by Storrs L. Olson and David B. Wingate from subfossil material found in the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in caves and ponds of Bermuda. Its anatomy was rather similar to its living relative, the yellow-crowned night heron (N. violacea), but it had a heavier bill, a more massive skull and more robust hind limbs. The specialization of the bill and the hind limbs showed that it was apparently adapted to the feeding on land crabs. There are also early historian reports referring to that species. It possibly became extinct due to the settlement of the Bermuda islands in the 17th century.