Hypositta perdita Peters, 1996
Bluntschli's vanga, Short-toed nuthatch vanga
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Bluntschli's Vanga is an enigmatic species known only from two juvenile specimens collected from south-eastern Madagascar in 1931. It has been hypothesized that the two individuals are simply Nuthatch Vanga (H. corallirostris), however several morphologically distinct features point to it's distinctiveness, even if only a subspecies, in which case it would be known as H. c. perdita. However, all known taxonomic treatments of this taxa class it either as a valid species, or as a [i]nomen dubium[/i]; its possible subspecific status has never been considered as far as I am aware.
Conservation Status
Missing or invalid
Last record: 1931
IUCN RedList status: Data Deficient
Distribution
Madagascar (south-eastern)
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Only two specimens were collected in 1931.
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Peters, D. S. (1996). Hypositta perdita n. sp., eine neue Vogelart aus Madagaskar (Aves: Passeriformes: Vangidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 76(1-2): 7-14.
Other references:
BirdLife International. (2012). Hypositta perdita. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 24 August 2013.
Goodman, S.M., M. Pigeon, A.F.A. Hawkins and T. S. Schulenberg. (1997). The birds of southeastern Madagascar. Fieldiana: Zoology, new series, 87: 1-132.