Kingdom Animalia Family Podargidae Phylum Chordata Order Caprimulgiformes | Class Aves Scientific name Rigidipenna inexpectata Rank Species | |
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Genus Rigidipenna
Cleere et al., 2007 Similar Marbled frogmouth, Short‑tailed frogmouth, Sunda frogmouth, Bornean frogmouth, Caprimulgiformes | ||
The Solomons frogmouth (Rigidipenna inexpectata), also known as the cinnamon frogmouth or Solomon Islands frogmouth, is a bird in the frogmouth family. It was first described in 1901, but not recognized as highly distinct until 2007. It is the only known member of the genus Rigidipenna. It is endemic to the islands of Isabel, Bougainville and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.
Description
At first the bird was thought to be a subspecies of the Australian marbled frogmouth (Podargus ocellatus). In 1998, an expedition by the Florida Museum of Natural History to Santa Isabel Island managed to collect a new specimen. Upon examining it, Nigel Cleere, Andrew Kratter, David Steadman and co-workers realized that it was highly distinct, and it was moved to a newly coined genus, Rigidipenna.
The Solomons frogmouth differs in several ways from other frogmouths, for instance in having only eight tail feathers instead of the more usual ten or twelve, and also in having coarser feathers. It also has barred primary feathers and tail feathers, larger speckles and more pronounced white spots. Storrs Olson, a senior zoologist at the Smithsonian Institution, has stated "that this should prove to be such a distinctive new genus... has profound biogeographical implications and represents a real breakthrough in elucidating the evolutionary history of the family."