Finsch's Duck
Finsch duck ( Chenonetta finschi ) was a large, probably flightless dabbling duck which was found only in New Zealand. The species was originally considered monotypic and bore the generic name Euryanas. Today it is regarded as closely related to the mane goose and is assigned according to the genus Chenonetta. The spin-off as an independent species here is probably due not so long. The common ancestor colonized New Zealand about 230,000 years ago, when New Zealand was still largely deforested. It was named in honor of the German ornithologist Otto Finsch.
Features
Finsch duck was very much larger than the mane goose and probably weighed twice as much as that way you also had significantly longer legs. The wings, however, were much reduced form. On the basis of the fossil findings it can be concluded that the ancestors of this type lost 10 percent of their wing length within 10,000 years. This is very probably that predatory mammals in New Zealand were missing. At the time of their extinction the species was probably completely flightless. The cleavage of the mane goose is probably due to its stronger land-based life.
Since the mane goose is predominantly herbivorous and invertebrates usually just randomly picks up with the plant food, it is believed that even Finsch duck fed mainly vegetable. The species probably nested in burrows.
Causes of extinction
It is assumed that Finsch duck extinct due to hunting by the Maori as well as a reenactment by rats. The Maori inhabited New Zealand around 1000 AD and brought to safety with rats, which resulted as nest predators in other flightless birds to a sharp population decline. As with many other flightless birds and large one has found numerous fossil evidence in Maori middens. With the help of radiocarbon dating it was shown that the species still survived at least until the late 15th century and most likely until the mid-17th century. Perhaps this type existed even after Europeans colonized New Zealand. There is a report that in 1870 dogs near Opotiki began a large, flightless goose with red-brown plumage.