Scarlett's duck (''Malacorhynchus scarletti'') is an extinct duck species from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

which was closely related to the Australian pink-eared duck (''Malacorhynchus membranaceus''). The scientific name commemorates the late New Zealand

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

and

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Ron Scarlett Ronald Jack Scarlett (22 March 1911 – 9 July 2002) was a New Zealand paleozoologist. Early life and family Scarlett was born at Stoke, near Nelson, on 22 March 1911 to Walter Andrew Scarlett and Lilian Elsie (née Cresswell). He was the old ...

who discovered the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

in 1941. However, previously undescribed bones of the species found in 1903 were rediscovered in the

Otago Museum Tūhura Otago Museum is located in the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is adjacent to the University of Otago campus in Dunedin North, 1,500 metres northeast of the city centre. It is one of the city's leading attractions and has one of t ...

in 1998. At least 32

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 preserved ...

remains from deposits in

Pyramid Valley Pyramid Valley is a locality in the Hurunui District of New Zealand. It is well known for its prominent limestone rock formations. It is located near Waikari in the North Canterbury region, 80 km north-west of Christchurch. On the foot of the ...

, at Ngapara in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...

, and at Lake Poukawa in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

are in museum collections. At 800 g Scarlett's duck was twice as heavy as the pink-eared duck. Given the relatively few fossil remains found, it is assumed that Scarlett's duck was a largely nomadic and territorial bird. The pink-eared duck by comparison is gregarious and can form flocks of thousands. Like its Australian relative, Scarlett's duck had a wide, flattened bill, which has led to an assumption that it was a

filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...

in shallow waters. Fossil remains found in Māori middens at the Wairau Bar and at

Lake Grassmere Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau is a New Zealand waituna-type lagoon in the northeastern South Island, close to Cook Strait. The lake is used for the production of salt. Geography Lake Grassmere, south of Blenheim and south of the mouth of ...

in the Marlborough region indicate that it was extensively hunted by the early

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n settlers. It is presumed to have become extinct in the 16th century.

References

* Olson, Storrs L. (1977). "Notes on subfossil Anatidae from New Zealand, including a new species of pink-eared duck Malacorhynchus." ''Emu'' 77: 132–135. * Tennyson, A.; & Martinson, P. (2006). ''Extinct birds of New Zealand.'' Te Papa Press. * Worthy, Trevor H. (1995)
"Description of some post-cranial bones of ''Malacorhynchus scarletti'', a large extinct Pink-eared Duck From New Zealand."
''Emu'' 95(1): 13–22. * * Worthy, Trevor H.; & Holdaway, Richard N. (2002). ''The Lost World of the Moa. Prehistoric Life of New Zealand.'' Indiana University Press: Bloomington.

External links

Scarlett's Duck. Malacorhynchos scarletti.
by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book ''Extinct Birds of New Zealand'', by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1886632 Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Anatidae Extinct birds of New Zealand Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1977