''Manuherikia'' is a genus of

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 ...

species of ducks from the Miocene of New Zealand. It was described from fossil material of the Saint Bathans Fauna, in the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group, found by the Manuherikia River in the

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region of 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 Tasman ...

. The genus name comes from the name of the geological formation in which the fossils were found and, ultimately, from the Manuherikia River and its valley.

Species

Described species are: * ''Manuherikia lacustrina''

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''et al''., 2007 – Described from a complete left

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...

collected from a Saint Bathans Fauna site on Home Hills Station, it was about the same size as an

Australasian shoveler The Australasian shoveler (''Spatula rhynchotis'') is a species of dabbling duck in the genus ''Spatula''. It ranges from 46 to 53 cm. It lives in heavily vegetated swamps. In Australia it is protected under the National Parks and Wildl ...

. It is the most abundant of the birds found in the Manuherikia Group deposits. Examination of its relatively plentiful remains indicate that, structurally, it was a specialist diver. Its specific

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refers to the lacustrine source of the sediments in which its remains were found. * ''Manuherikia minuta''

''et al''., 2007 – Described from a complete left

collected from a Saint Bathans Fauna site on Home Hills Station, it was a very small duck, being slightly smaller than a pink-eared duck. Its specific

refers to its extremely small size. * ''Manuherikia douglasi''

''et al''., 2008 – Described from a complete right

and four ulnae collected from a Saint Bathans Fauna site near the Manuherikia River, it was the largest of the three species in its genus. Its specific

honours geologist Barry Douglas, the original discoverer of bird fossils in the Manuherikia Group sediments. * ''Manuherikia primadividua''

''et al.'', 2021 – Described from many limb bones and parts of the skull collected from the Saint Bathans Fauna site near the Manuherikia River.

References

Fossil taxa described in 2007 Birds described in 2007 Anatidae Miocene birds Extinct birds of New Zealand Bird genera {{Paleo-bird-stub