''Hakawai'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric birds that lived during the early Miocene to middle Miocene in

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 ...

. According to a 2015 paper, ''Hakawai melvillei'' was a representative of a large group of birds that comprises the

seedsnipe The seedsnipes are a small family, Thinocoridae, of small gregarious waders which have adapted to a herbivorous diet. The family is divided into two genera, '' Attagis'' and '' Thinocorus'', each containing two species. The family has a South Am ...

s of family Thinocoridae) and the

plains-wanderer The plains-wanderer (''Pedionomus torquatus'') is an atypical species of wading bird, the only representative of family Pedionomidae and genus ''Pedionomus''. It is endemic to Australia. Its historic range included much of eastern Australia, i ...

(family Pedionomidae). This discovery sheds light on evolutionary processes at work when South America, Antarctica, Australia, and New Zealand were all parts of

Gondwanaland Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5640359 Fossil taxa described in 2015 Miocene birds Thinocori Prehistoric bird genera Extinct birds of New Zealand