The Huahine starling (''Aplonis diluvialis'') is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

bird from the genus ''

Aplonis ''Aplonis'' is a genus of starlings. These are essentially island species of Indonesia and Oceania, although some species' ranges extend to the Malay Peninsula, southern Vietnam and northeastern Queensland. The typical adult ''Aplonis'' starling ...

'' within the

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

, Sturnidae. It was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the island of

Huahine Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Leeward Islands group ''(Îles sous le Vent).'' At the 2017 census it had a population of 6,075. ...

, in the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the F ...

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

, and therefore had the easternmost distribution of all ''Aplonis'' species in the Pacific region.

History

The Huahine starling is known only by a

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 in ...

tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and meta ...

unearthed in 1984 by American

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Yosihiko H. Sinoto Yosihiko H. Sinoto (September 3, 1924 – October 4, 2017) was a Japanese-born American anthropologist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is known for his anthropological expeditions throughout the Pacific, particularly Hawaii and ...

of the

Bernice P. Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the larg ...

. It was found at the

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

Fa'ahia Fa'ahia is an early Polynesian occupation site in the north-east of the island of Huahine, in the Society Islands, French Polynesia. With the neighbouring Vaito'otia site, it dates to between 700 CE and 1200 CE. Because much of the site is ...

in the north of Huahine and scientifically described by

David Steadman David William Steadman is a paleontologist and ornithologist, and serves as the curator of ornithology at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. His research has concentrated on the evolution, biogeography, conservation ...

in 1989. The bone is 38 mm long. Comparison with the tarsometatarsi of other ''Aplonis'' species shows that the Huahine starling was the second largest ''Aplonis'' species (the largest being the

Samoan starling The Samoan starling (''Aplonis atrifusca'') is a large starling of the family Sturnidae. It is found in the Samoan Islands. The species has a dark brown, glossy appearance, with a long bill. Its natural habitat is tropical moist forest on volcan ...

''Aplonis atrifusca''). The bones from the

site are from between 750 and 1250 CE. The extinction of this species is possibly a result of the early settlement of Huahine; forests were cleared, non-native plants were introduced and non-native birds as well as the

Pacific rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), known to the Māori as ''kiore'', is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. The Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asia, an ...

became established there. The find of the Huahine starling bone is considered important in paleornithological circles because it has expanded our knowledge of the genus ''Aplonis'' and its biogeographical history. According to David Steadman it is possible that the 1774 painting by

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold F ...

which depicts a mysterious bird from the island of

Raiatea Raiatea or Ra'iatea ( Tahitian: ''Ra‘iātea'') is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the ...

(formerly known as Ulieta) is not of a thrush or a honeyeater, as previously hypothesised, but of a relative of the Huahine starling. This suggests that ''Aplonis'' starlings may once have had a more extensive range in the Society Islands.

References

*David W. Steadman: ''A new species of starling (Sturnidae, Aplonis) from an archaeological site on Huahine, Society Islands''. Notornis 36 (1989): 161-169
PDF, fulltext
*David W. Steadman: ''Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds''. University of Chicago Press, 2006. Birds described in 1989 Aplonis Birds of the Society Islands Extinct birds of Oceania Holocene extinctions Huahine Late Quaternary prehistoric birds {{Sturnidae-stub