Ciridops

Ciridops
Ciridops
ʻUla-ʻai-Hawane
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Suborder: Passeri
Parvorder: Passerida
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Drepanidinae
Tribe: Drepanidini
Genus: Ciridops
Newton, 1892
Species

Ciridops anna
Ciridops tenax

Ciridops is an extinct genus of Hawaiian honeycreeper species that occurred in prehistoric and historic times on the Hawaiian islands of Hawai'i, Molokai, Kauai and Oahu. This genus was created in 1892 by Alfred Newton in an article published by the journal Nature[1] on the basis of the ʻUla-ʻai-Hawane, which was named Fringilla anna by Sanford B. Dole in 1879.

The bill of these birds was strong. The culmen was arched, and the maxilla overlapped the mandible at the base. The nostrils were covered by a membrane. The wings were large and the tail was moderate with pointed rectrices. The nearest relatives might have been from the genus Loxops. [2]

The ʻUla-ʻai-Hawane which was last seen in 1892 is the only species that survived into historic times, three others Molokai, Oahu, and the Stout-legged Finch (Ciridops tenax) from Kauai are only known from subfossil remains found in late quaternary deposits. [3]

Species

References

  1. ^ Alfred Newton: Ornithology of the Sandwich Isles "in:" Nature 45, p. 465-469 (17 March 1892) doi:10.1038/045465b0 (First description)
  2. ^ Walter Rothschild: The Avifauna of Laysan and the neighbouring islands with a complete history to date of the birds of the Hawaiian possession. London: R.H. Porter, 1893-1900.
  3. ^ James, Helen F. & Olson,Storrs L. (1991): Descriptions of Thirty-Two New Species of Birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part II. Passeriformes. Ornithological Monographs 46: 1-92. PDF fulltext

Further reading

  • H. Douglas Pratt, Jack Jeffrey: The Hawaiian Honeycreepers Oxford University Press, 2005 ISBN 019854653X
  • Scott B Wilson & Arthur Humble Evans: Aves Hawaiienses: The Birds of the Sandwich Islands. 1890-99. R. H. Porter, London (Reprint: Ayer Publishing, 1974 ISBN 0405057717)
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