Alagoas Curassow

Skeleton

The Mitu ( Mitu withu ), also known as Northwest Mitu, Alagoas - Mitu or Mituhokko, is an extremely rare species from the family of Hokkohühner. He was originally native to the Atlantic coastal rain forest in the Brazilian states of Alagoas and Pernambuco.

Taxonomy

The Mitu was first mentioned by the German naturalist Georg Marggraf in his work Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, which was published in 1648. In 1766 he was first described scientifically. By 1952, the Mitu was considered conspecific with the Amazonashokko ( Mitu tuberosum, Synonyms: Mitu tuberosa, Mitu withu, crax withu, crax withu tuberosa, Mitu tuberosa withu ). Then they saw him as a subspecies of northeastern Amazonashokko, whereupon it the scientific name crax withu withu (synonym: Mitu withu withu ) in the literature received. Since 1992 Mitu Mitu tuberosum withu and are considered by many scientists as two separate species.

Features

The Mitu sees the Amazonashokko quite similar, but has a not so strong convexity on the beak. It reaches a size of 83-89 cm. The red beak has a helmet-like structure with a slight curvature. He has a white tip. The plumage is generally black with a purple-blue shimmer. On the thighs, on the under tail-coverts and rump is chestnut brown. The narrowed backwards tail has a brown top. The legs and toes are red and the eyes reddish brown. Another feature is a small crescent-shaped drawing of naked gray-white skin on the rear ear-coverts. In captivity they can reach an age of 24 years.

Endangering

Between 1648 and 1951, the Mitu was only known from a single specimen from the Museum of Pernambuco. He remained the ornithological experts hidden until it was rediscovered in 1951 in Miguel dos Campos, Alagoas. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were less than 20 copies and in 1984 only two killed specimens were detected in the wild. Merciless hunting because of its tasty meat and habitat destruction through the cultivation of sugar cane have let him die in the wild. Built in 1977, the Brazilian conservationists Pedro Mario Nardelli in Nilópolis in Rio de Janeiro a breeding station, in 1979 four, in 1993 34 and in 2000 there were 44 copies.

The Mitu is listed in Appendix I of CITES and the IUCN Red List as Extinct in the Wild ( extinct in the wild ).