Finsch's duck (''Chenonetta finschi'') () is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of large terrestrial

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

that was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The species was possibly once the most common duck in New Zealand, a supposition based on the frequency of its

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s in bone deposits.

Taxonomy

Finsch's duck was scientifically described as ''Anas finschi'' in 1876 by

Pierre-Joseph van Beneden Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden FRS FRSE FGS FZS (19 December 1809 – 8 January 1894) was a Belgian zoologist and paleontologist. He has been credited with introducing the terms " mutualism" and "commensalism" into biology in 1875 and 1876 respectively ...

. The specific epithet ''finschi'' and the common name honours ornithologist

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earne ...

, who first recognised it as a distinct species. The species was originally considered to be in its own

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, ''Euryanas'', but is now known to be closely related to the

maned duck The Australian wood duck, maned duck or maned goose (''Chenonetta jubata'') is a Anatinae, dabbling duck found throughout much of Australia. It is the only living species in the genus ''Chenonetta''. Traditionally placed in the subfamily Anatinae ...

and recently derived from that species.

Description

The Finsch's duck was much larger than the maned duck, probably weighing twice as much (around ) and having larger legs. The wings were much reduced however, and it seems that flight was lost relatively quickly after the species arrived in New Zealand.

Behaviour and ecology

Little is known about the biology of the species, but its remains have been found widely in New Zealand and it does not seem to have been tied to water like many other duck species. This species was present in

forests A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological functio ...

shrublands Spring Park is a small area in London, England. It is within the London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Croydon, straddling the traditional Kent-Surrey border along The Beck. Spring Park is located north of Addington, London, Adding ...

and temperate

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

. It is likely that Finsch’s duck bred in hollows, tree trunk or fallen logs because these are the preferred breeding locations of the Australian wood duck, its nearest relative. Finsch’s duck was most likely a grazer and browser of vegetation, probably mixed with fallen fruit and some invertebrates.

Extinction

The species is thought to have become extinct due to human

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

and predation by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

, particularly rats. Like many large flightless New Zealand birds its remains have been found in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

middens A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupati ...

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

puts the youngest bones of the species as recently as the 15th −17th centuries, and one account of a large flightless goose killed in

Ōpōtiki Ōpōtiki (; from ''Ōpōtiki-Mai-Tawhiti'') is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Ōpōtiki District Council, the mayor of Ōpōtiki and comes under the Bay of Plenty Region ...

suggests the species might have survived until 1870.

References

External links