Branta rhuax Wetmore, 1943
Giant Hawaiian goose, Giant Hawaiʻi goose
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Geochen rhuax Wetmore, 1943; "undescribed large Hawai'i goose"
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: 500–900yBp (Harmon et al., 2026)
Distribution & Habitat
Hawaii, Hawaiian Islands, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Holotype: USNM 16740
Type locality: "water supply tunnel 1000 feet east of the shoulder of Kaumaikeohu, above Pahala, Island of Hawaii".
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Wetmore, Alexander. (1943). An extinct goose from the island of Hawaii. Condor 45(4): 146-148.
Other references:
Faurby, Søren, Matthews, Tom J., Triantis, Kostas A. and Sayol, Ferran. (2026). Quantifying the unrecorded loss of avian phylogenetic diversity. Ecography 2026: e08267. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08267
Giffin, Jon G. (1993). New species of fossil birds found at Pu'u Wa'awa'a. Elepaio 53(1): 1-3.
Giffin, Jon G. (2003). Pu’u Wa’awa’a Biological Assessment. Pu’u Wa’awa’a, North Kona, Hawaii. Report, State of Hawaii, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife.
Harmon, Kristen C., Price, Melissa R. and Winter, Kawika B. (2026). The “regime shift extinctions” hypothesis and mass
extinction of waterbirds in Hawaiʻi. Ecosphere 17: e70445. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70445
Matthews, Thomas J., Triantis, Kostas A., Wayman, Joseph P., Martin, Thomas E., Hume, Julian P., Cardoso, Pedro, Faurby, Søren, Mendenhall, Chase D., Dufour, Paul, Rigal, François, Cooke, Rob, Whittaker, Robert J., Pigot, Alex L., Thébaud, Christophe, Jørgensen, Maria Wagner, Benavides, Eva, Soares, Filipa C., Ulrich, Werner, Kubota, Yasuhiro, Sadler, Jon P., Tobias, Joseph A. and Sayol, Ferran. (2024). The global loss of avian functional and phylogenetic diversity from anthropogenic extinctions. Science 386(6717): 55-60. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk7898 [Supplementary Materials; Dryad dataset; Zenodo codeset]
Matthews, Thomas J., Wayman, Joseph P., Cardoso, Pedro, Sayol, Ferran, Hume, Julian P., Ulrich, Werner, Tobias, Joseph A., Soares, Filipa C., Thébaud, Christophe, Martin, Thomas E. and Triantis, Kostas A. (2022). Threatened and extinct island endemic birds of the world: Distribution, threats and functional diversity. Journal of Biogeography 49(11): 1920-1940. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14474 [Appendix S1 (.docx); Appendix S2 (.pdf)]
Olson, Storrs L. (2013). Hawaii's first fossil bird: history, geological age, and taxonomic status of the extinct goose Geochen rhuax Wetmore (Aves: Anatidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 126(2): 161–168. [Abstract]
Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. (1982). Prodromus of the Fossil Avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 365: 1-59.
Olson, Storrs L. and James, H. F. (1984). The role of Polynesians in the extinction of the avifauna of the Hawaiian islands, pp. 768-780. In: Martin, P. S. and Klein, R. G. (eds.). Quaternary Extinctions: a Prehistoric Revolution. Tuscon, Arizona: University of Arizona Press.
Olson, Storrs L. and James, H. F. (1991). Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part I. Non-Passeriformes. Ornithological Monographs 45: 1-88.
Paxinos, E. E. et al. (2002). MtDNA from fossils reveals a radiation of Hawaiian geese recently derived from the Canada Goose. PNAS 99: 1399-1404.
Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M., Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]
Watanabe, Junya. (2017). Quantitative discrimination of flightlessness in fossil Anatidae from skeletal proportions. The Auk 134(3): 672-695.
Young, H. Glyn, Tonge, Simon J. and Hume, Julian Pender. (1996). Review of Holocene wildfowl extinctions. Wildfowl 47: 167-181.