Natunaornis gigoura Worthy, 2001:767
Viti Levu giant pigeon
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Extinct
Distribution & Habitat
Viti Levu, Fiji
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Holotype: MNZ S37484 (left tarsometatarsus)
Type locality: "Udit Cave, Waimbuku, Viti Levu, Fiji, 18°04'02 6"S 178°29'21 0"E"
Paratypes:
NMNZ S.37300–5
NMNZ S.37307
NMNZ S.37313
NMNZ S.37481–3
NMNZ S.37485–94
NMNZS.38259-60
NMNZ S.38271
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Worthy, Trevor H. (2001). A giant flightless pigeon gen. et sp. nov. and a new species of Ducula (Aves: Columbidae), from Quaternary deposits in Fiji. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 31(4): 763-794.
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.
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)]
Tennyson, Alan J. D. and Bartle, J. A. (2008). Catalogue of type specimens of birds in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Tuhinga 19: 185-207.
Tyrberg, Tommy. (2009). Holocene avian extinctions, pp. 63-106. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.
Worthy, Trevor H., Anderson, Atholl J. and Molnar, Ralph E. (1999). Megafaunal expression in a land without mammals – the first fossil faunas from terrestrial deposits in Fiji (Vertebrata: Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves). Senckenbergiana Biologica 79(2): 237-242.