Huahine Swamphen

Porphyrio mcnabi is an extinct purple chicken that was endemic to the belonging to the Society Islands Huahine. The specific epithet honors the zoologist Brian K. McNab, of about the evolution and physiological ecology flightless birds, especially rails, conducted research in the Pacific Islands. The subfossil remains were conveyed to the reference to Faahia days.

Features

The holotype is a nearly complete right femur. The parameter types include a distal left femur, and a left femur, wherein the distal end is missing. Porphyrio mcnabi was a small purple chicken. It had a similar body size as the Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio martinica ) and the likewise extinct Koau ( Porphyrio paepae ). It was larger than the bronze Gallinule ( Porphyrio alleni ) and the Azure Gallinule ( Porphyrio flavirostris ), but smaller than the extinct Nordinseltakahe ( Porphyrio mantelli ), the Südinseltakahe ( Porphyrio hochstetteri ), the ordinary Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio porphyro ) and the extinct New Caledonian Purple Gallinule ( Porphyrio kukwiedei ). It is likely that the three femur belonging to a adult females, one juvenile male and another juvenile bird. Due to lack of skeletal elements of the flight apparatus and the shoulder girdle can not determine conclusively whether Porphyrio mcnabi was airworthy or not.

Extinction

Porphyrio mcnabi is probably extinct during the early settlement of the Society Islands by humans 700-1200 AD.