A new pigeon species related to the extinct dodo bird has been
found at a Central Otago fossil site near St Bathans.
The Zealandian dove, which lived in the South Island some 19
million to 16 million years ago, was identified from a few fossil bones found
at St Bathans over the past 16 years.
One of the bones found on the wing was similar to the
tooth-billed pigeon (found only in Samoa), the crowned pigeons of New Guinea,
and the Nicobar pigeon (South East Asia), Doctor Vanesa De Pietri from
Canterbury Museum said.
The latter was the closest living relative of the extinct dodo
and the solitaire (another extinct, flightless bird) from the Mascarene Islands
in the Indian Ocean, Dr De Pietri said.
"Based on the St Bathans fossils, we think that the
Zealandian dove is part of this Indo-Pacific group. It is probably most similar
to the Nicobar pigeon and is therefore a close relative (or at least a cousin)
of the famous dodo", she said.
"The Zealandian dove is the first
record of this group found in the southern part of the nearly
submerged land mass known as Zealandia."
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