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3 unusual facts about Takahē


Réunion Swamphen

Six reports attest to its existence, and the genus Porphyrio is known as a colonizer of oceanic islands, having evolved into many local endemic species, of which only the Takahē is still found to be extant nowadays.

Takahē

A related species, the North Island Takahē (P. mantelli) or mōho is extinct and only known from skeletal remains.

Although this behaviour was previously unknown, the related Pukeko occasionally feeds on eggs and nestlings of other birds as well.


Ferdinand von Hochstetter

Several other species bear his name in their scientific names, including the Takahe, Porphyrio hochstetteri, and Powelliphanta hochstetteri, a species (with five subspecies) of New Zealand's giant carnivorous land snails.


see also