Kingdom Animalia Class Aves Family Columbidae Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Order Columbiformes Species R. taketake | |
Similar Hemiphaga, Cloven‑feathered dove, Topknot pigeon, Pheasant pigeon, Tooth‑billed pigeon | ||
Rupephaps taketake, also referred to as the Saint Bathans pigeon, is an extinct species of pigeon from the Miocene of New Zealand. It is the first species of columbid to be described from pre-Pliocene fossil deposits in the Australasian region.
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Description
The pigeon was described from fossil material (a left coracoid) collected in 2008 from the Saint Bathans Fauna, above the base of the Bannockburn Formation, by the Manuherikia River in the Central Otago region of the South Island. It was a large pigeon, most similar to, and apparently most closely related to, the clade containing Hemiphaga, Lopholaimus and Gymnophaps, especially the former.
Etymology
The genus name Rupephaps comes from Rupe (a widespread Polynesian word for “pigeon” which is also an honorific for the New Zealand pigeon in Māori mythology), with the Greek phaps (“pigeon”). The specific epithet ”taketake” is Māori for “long established”, “ancient” or “original”, referring to the age of the fossil specimen.