The North Island snipe (''Coenocorypha barrierensis''), also known as the little barrier snipe or tutukiwi, 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 ...
species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the
sandpiper
Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...
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 ...
, Scolopacidae, that 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
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Taxonomy and etymology
Examination of the taxonomy of ''Coenocorypha'' snipe has been hindered by lack of material, erroneous locality data, misidentified specimens and confused nomenclature.Higgins & Davies (1996). The North Island snipe was described in 1955 by
Walter Oliver
Walter Reginald Brook Oliver (7 September 1883 – 16 May 1957) was a New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist, malacologist, and museum curator.
Biography
Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Oliver emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1896, set ...
as a subspecies of the
Subantarctic snipe
The Subantarctic snipe (''Coenocorypha aucklandica'') is a species of snipe endemic to New Zealand's subantarctic islands. The Maori call it "Tutukiwi". The nominate race ''C. a. aucklandica'' (Auckland snipe) is found on the Auckland Islands (e ...
(''Coenocorypha aucklandica''), but has since been elevated to a full species, with fossil material from the North Island referred to it.Baker ''et al''. (2009). The
specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
The North Island snipe is extinct. Its prehistoric distribution comprised the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
where subfossil remains have been found in several places. It became extinct on the mainland of North Island following the occupation of New Zealand by
Polynesians
Polynesians form an ethnolinguistic group of closely related people who are native to Polynesia (islands in the Polynesian Triangle), an expansive region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sou ...
(the ancestors of the
Māori people
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...
) and the associated introduction of
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, a ...
s (''Rattus exulans''). It survived on at least one small island,
Little Barrier Island
Little Barrier Island, or Hauturu in Māori language (the official Māori title is ''Te Hauturu-o-Toi''), lies off the northeastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. Located to the north of Auckland, the island is separated from the mainla ...
in the
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Type (biology)#Type specimen, type (and only existing) specimen was taken.Miskelly (1987). According to Oliver, “About 1870 two snipe were seen on Little Barrier Island by Captain Bennett of the schooner ''Mary Ann''. One was captured alive but died in captivity, the other escaped. The captured specimen was presented to the Auckland Museum by Mr T.B. Hill and is the basis of the following account.”Oliver (1955).
Description
Oliver described the North Island snipe as being generally similar to other ''Coenocorypha'' snipes. He added that it differed from the
South Island snipe
The South Island snipe (''Coenocorypha iredalei''), also known as the Stewart Island snipe or tutukiwi in Māori, is an extinct species of bird in the sandpiper family Scolopacidae that was endemic to New Zealand.
Taxonomy and etymology
Determ ...
in the “greater area of buffy white on chin and throat, the absence of bars on the lower abdomen, the crescent-shaped markings on the upper abdomen and the less rufous general coloration”.