The pile-builder megapode (''Megapodius molistructor'') is an extinct species of

megapode The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. Their name literally means "large foot" and is a reference to the heavy leg ...

. The

subfossil 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 preserved ...

remains were found by Jean-Christophe Balouet and Storrs L. Olson in the Pindai Caves of

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

. Its remains have also been found on

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

Description

With a weight of 3.5 kg, ''M. molistructor'' was heavier than all existing ''Megapodius'' species. On Tonga, it was the largest ground-dwelling bird species. The fossil material consists of a left tarsometatarsus, a complete left scapula, a half right scapula, a proximal-end left ulna, a fragment of the right femur, several ungual phalanges, an anterior-end right scapula, a proximal-end right ulna, a distal left ulna, a distal-end left ulna proximal, and a half right femur.

Extinction

When the early settlers of the

Lapita The Lapita culture is the name given to a Neolithic Austronesian people and their distinct material culture, who settled Island Melanesia via a seaborne migration at around 1600 to 500 BCE. The Lapita people are believed to have originated fro ...

culture arrived in Tonga around 1500 BC, they found only marine species such as sea turtles and giant forms of terrestrial birds such as megapodes, doves, and rails. The hunting of these bird species for food led to their rapid extinction. In

, the giant megapode might have survived into historic times. William Anderson, a naturalist and surgeon's mate aboard during

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

's second South Sea voyage, described a bird from New Caledonia with bare legs, which he named ''Tetrao australis''. Considering that all '' Tetrao'' species have feathered legs, Anderson's bird might well have been a megapode.Balouet, J.-C. & Alibert, E. (1990):''Extinct Species of the World'', Barrons, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney.

References

External links

Steadman, David William: The biogeography and extinction of megapodes in Oceania
(PDF, fulltext)
Association Endemia - Megapodius molistructor
{{Taxonbar, from=Q310224 pile-builder megapode Extinct birds of New Caledonia † Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Holocene extinctions pile-builder megapoded Taxa named by Jean-Christophe Balouet