Gallicolumba nui Steadman, 1992:330
Great ground dove, Giant ground dove, Immense grounddove
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
"I thank Trevor Worthy for his insight that ‘Gallicolumba’ nui probably does not belong in that genus"
(Parish, 2025)
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: Holocene
Distribution & Habitat
Mangaia, Cook Islands (southern); Society Islands; Tuamotus; & Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Steadman, David W. (1992). New species of Gallicolumba and Macropygia (Aves: Columbidae) from archeological sites in Polynesia. In: Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Pierce Brodkorb, ed Jonathan J. Becker Science series Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 36: 329-348.
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
Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.
Kirchman, Jeremy J. and Steadman, David William. (2006). New Species of Rails (Aves: Rallidae) From an Archaeological Site on Huahine, Society Islands. Pacific Science 60: 281-297.
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)]
Parish, Jolyon C. (2025). The phylogenetic relationships of the Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) and the Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) within Columbidae (Aves: Columbiformes), including other large extinct taxa, based on morphological data. Historical Biology. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2473546
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)]
Steadman, David W. (1995). Prehistoric Extinctions of Pacific Island Birds: Biodiversity Meets Zooarchaeology. Science 267(5201): 1123-1131.
Steadman, David W. (2006). Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press. xiv + 594 pp.
Steadman DW and Justice LJ (1998) Prehistoric exploitation of birds on Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. Man and Culture in Oceania 14, 81–98.
Steadman DW and Kirch PV (1990) Prehistoric extinction of birds on Mangaia, Cook Islands, Polynesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 87: 9605-9609.
Steadman, David W. and Pahlavan, Dominique S. (1992). Extinction and biogeography of birds on huahine, society islands, French polynesia. Geoarchaeology 7(5): 449-483. [Abstract]
Steadman DW and Rolett B (1996) A chronostratigraphic analysis of the extinction of landbirds on Tahuata, Marquesas Islands. Journal of Archaeological Science 23, 81–94.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/8158/gallicolumba-nui-great-ground-dove