Fulica prisca Hamilton, 1893:98
New Zealand coot
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Fulica chathamensis prisca (Hamilton, 1893:98); Nesophalaris prisca (Hamilton, 1893:98); Palaeolimnas chathamensis Hamilton, 1893:98
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: Holocene
Distribution
South Island, New Zealand
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Lectotype: NMNZ S.990 (right humerus; designated by Olson, 1975; Ioane-Warren et al., 2023)
Paralectotype: NMNZ OR.379 ("many bones") (Ioane-Warren et al., 2023)
Media
Above: New Zealand Coot. Fulica prisca. From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand., 2005, Masterton, by Paul Martinson. Purchased 2006. © Te Papa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (2006-0010-1/50)
References
Original scientific description:
Hamilton, A. (1893). On the fissures and caves at the Castle Rocks, Southland; with a description of the remains of the existing and extinct birds found in them. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 25: 88-106, 2 pls.
Other references:
Brodkorb, Pierce and Dawson, Elliot W. (1962). Nomenclature of Quaternary Coots from Oceanic Islands. The Auk 79(2): 267-269.
Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Te Papa Press, Wellington. [p. 190]
Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2022). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand (5th edition). Ornithological Society of New Zealand Occasional Publication No. 1. Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand. [p. 62]
Dawson, Elliot W. (1949). Sub-fossil remains from Lake Grassmere. Notornis 3(5): 132-133.
Dawson, Elliot W. (1962). A first record of the extinct New Zealand coot from the North Island. Notornis 10(2): 85.
Holdaway, Richard N., Worthy, Trevor H. and Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2001). A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 28: 119-187.
Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser.
Ioane-Warren, Melanie et al. (2023). Augustus Hamilton’s fossil collection at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Tuhinga 34: 47-56. https://doi.org/10.3897/tuhinga.34.97731
Livezey, Bradley C. (1998). A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Phil.Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 353: 2077-2151.
Millener, P. R. (1980). The taxonomic status of extinct New Zealand Coots Fulica chathamensis subspp. (Aves: Rallidae). Notornis 27(4): 363-376.
Millener, P. R. (1981). The subfossil distribution of the extinct New Zealand Coots Fulica chathamensis subspp. (Aves: Rallidae). Notornis 28(1): 1-9.
Olson, Storrs L. (1975). A review of the extinct rails of the New Zealand region (Aves: Rallidae). National Museum of New Zealand Records 1(3): 63-79.
Olson, Storrs L. (1977). A synopsis on the fossil Rallidae. In: Ripley, S. D. Rails of the World: A Monograph of the Family Rallidae. Boston: Codine.
Robertson, H. A., Baird, K. A., Elliott, G. P., Hitchmough, R. A., McArthur, N. J., Makan, T. D., Miskelly, Colin M., O’Donnell, C. F. J., Sagar, P. M., Scofield, R. P., Taylor, G. A. and Michel, P. (2021). Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 43 pp.
Hugh Robertson, John Dowding, Graeme Elliott, Rod Hitchmough, Colin Miskelly, Colin O’Donnell, Ralph Powlesland, Paul Sagar, Paul Scofield, Graeme Taylor. (2013). Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 4. 22 pp.
Rothschild, Lionel Walter. (1907). Extinct birds: an attempt to write in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times, that is within the last six or seven hundred years: to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction. London: Hutchinson & Co. XXIX + 243 pp. [p. 150]
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)]
Scarlett, Ron J. (1955). Further report on bird remains from Pyramid Valley. Records of the Canterbury Museum 6: 261-264.
Smith, Ian. (1999). Settlement Permanence and Function at Pleasant River Mouth, East Otago, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 19: 27-79.
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.
Tennyson, Alan J. D. and Martinson, Paul. (2006). Extinct Birds of New Zealand. Wellington: Te Papa Press.
Trotter, M. M. (1965). Avian remains from North Otago archaeological sites. Notornis 12(3): 176-178. ["Palaeolimnas chathamensis", but being from the South Island is more likely referable to Fulica prisca]
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. (1993). Fossils of Honeycomb Hill. Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. 56 pp.
Worthy, Trevor H. (1998a). The Quaternary fossil avifauna of Southland, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 28: 537-589.
Worthy, Trevor H. (1998b). Quaternary fossil faunas of Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 28(3): 421-521. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.1998.9517573 [p. 462]
Worthy, Trevor H. (2000). Two late-Glacial avifaunas from eastern North Island - Te Aute and Wheturau Quarry. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 30(1): 1-26.
T. H. Worthy and J. A. Grant-Mackie. 2003. Late-Pleistocene avifaunas from Cape Wanbrow, Otago, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 33(1): 427-485
Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (1993). Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in the Punakaiki area, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 23(3): 147-254.
Worthy, T. H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (1994). Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in Takaka Valley and on Takaka Hill, northwest Nelson, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand 24(3): 297-391.
Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (1996). Quaternary fossil faunas, overlapping taphonomies, and palaeofaunal reconstruction in North Canterbury, South Island New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 26(3): 275-361.
Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (2002). The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. xxxiii + 718 pp.
Worthy, Trevor H. and Zhao, J. X. (2006). A late Pleistocene predator-accumulated avifauna from Kids Cave, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Alcheringa Special Issue 1: 389-408.