New Zealand giant crake
| New Zealand giant crake | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Gruiformes |
| Family: | Rallidae |
| Genus: | Porzana |
| Species: | †P. hodgenorum
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Porzana hodgenorum (Scarlett, 1955)
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The New Zealand giant crake or Hodgens’ Waterhen (Porzana hodgenorum) is an extinct rail species from New Zealand.[2] Its name commemorates J. and R. Hodgen who were owners of the Pyramid Valley swamp where the holotype was discovered. It reached a weight of 280 g and its wings were so reduced that it was unable to fly. It occupied a wide range of habitats, including open forest and grassland along riverbanks.
History
The species was first described by Ron Scarlett as Rallus hodgeni in 1955. Storrs L. Olson transferred it into the genus Gallinula, subgenus Tribonyx, in 1975 and changed its specific epithet to hodgenorum in 1986. It has since been thought to have been closely related to the black-tailed native-hen (Tribonyx ventralis) and the Tasmanian native-hen (Tribonyx mortierii), being placed in the same genus. In a 2025 analysis using a molecular phylogeny, it was found that the species is a member of the crake genus Porzana, with the analysis recovering it as sister to the Australian crake (Porzana fluminea).[3]
It is only known from subfossil material of which the youngest Māori midden record is from the 18th century. Hundreds of bones have been unearthed at Pyramid Valley in the South Island, at Lake Poukawa in the North Island, and several other sites, indicating that it was once widespread in New Zealand except on the Chatham Islands. The main reasons for its extinction are likely to have been predation by the Pacific rat and hunting by human settlers.
References
- ^ IUCN (24 March 2023). Tribonyx hodgenorum: BirdLife International: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2023: e.T62274163A230910452 (Report). International Union for Conservation of Nature. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2023-1.rlts.t62274163a230910452.en. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
- ^ "Hodgens' waterhen | New Zealand Birds Online". nzbirdsonline.org.nz. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ Sangster, George; Blokland, Jacob C.; Lubbe, Pascale; Scofield, R. Paul; Worthy, Trevor H. (31 July 2025). "Another case of island gigantism: the extinct Hodgens' Waterhen (Tribonyx hodgenorum) is a member of Porzana (Aves: Rallidae)". Journal of Ornithology. doi:10.1007/s10336-025-02316-x. ISSN 2193-7206.
- Tennyson, A. & P. Martinson, P. Extinct birds of New Zealand. Te Papa Press, 2006, ISBN 0-909010-21-8
- Worthy, Trevor H. & Holdaway, Richard N. The Lost World of the Moa. Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2002. ISBN 0-253-34034-9
- Holdaway, R. N.; Worthy, T. H. (1997). "A reappraisal of the late Quaternary fossil vertebrates of Pyramid Valley Swamp, North Canterbury, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 24 (1): 69–121. doi:10.1080/03014223.1997.9518107.
- Holdaway, R. N.; Worthy, T. H.; Tennyson, A. J. T. (2001). "A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 28 (2): 119–187. doi:10.1080/03014223.2001.9518262.
- Holdaway, R. N. (1989). "New Zealand's pre-human avifauna and its vulnerability". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 12 (s): 11–25.
- Olson, S. L. (1987). "More on the Name Rallus hodgenorum" (PDF). Notornis. 34 (2): 167–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2015.