The Mauritius night heron (''Nycticorax mauritianus'') is an extinct night heron species from

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. It is only known by seven subfossil bone remains consisted of cranium, pelvis,

coracoid A coracoid (from Greek κόραξ, ''koraks'', raven) is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans), a coracoid process is prese ...

ulna The ulna (''pl''. ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone found in the forearm that stretches from the elbow to the smallest finger, and when in anatomical position, is found on the medial side of the forearm. That is, the ulna is on the same side of t ...

radius In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...

, and tarsometatarsus found in

Mare aux Songes The Mare aux Songes () swamp is a lagerstätte located close to the sea in south eastern Mauritius. Many subfossils of recently extinct animals have accumulated in the swamp, which was once a lake, and some of the first subfossil remains of dodos w ...

. Only the coracoid and the tarsometatarsus are left today. It was scientifically described in 1893 by

Edward Newton Sir Edward Newton (10 November 1832 – 25 April 1897) was a British colonial administrator and ornithologist. He was born at Elveden Hall, Suffolk the sixth and youngest son of William Newton, MP. He was the brother of ornithologist Alfre ...

and Hans Gadow from the

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. Newton and Gadow measured the tarsometatarsus with 81 to 87 mm.Greenway, James C. (1967): Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World It became presumedly extinct in the late 17th century and was probably first mentioned by

François Leguat François Leguat (1637/1639 – September 1735) was a French explorer and naturalist. He was one of a small group of male French Protestant refugees who in 1691 settled on the then uninhabited island of Rodrigues in the western Indian Ocean. T ...

in 1693 who described them as a "great flight of bitterns".

References

Extinct birds of Indian Ocean islands Nycticorax Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds of Mauritius Extinct animals of Africa Extinct animals of Mauritius Birds described in 1893 Taxa named by Hans Friedrich Gadow {{Pelecaniformes-stub