Nycticorax olsoni Bourne, Ashmole & Simmons, 2003:46

Ascension Island night heron

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: subfossil; 1500's (Kittelberger et al., 2024)

Distribution

Ascension Island, South Atlantic

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Holotype: NHMRN S/1999.1.1 (complete right femur)

Type locality: "on the lava floor just beyond the main chamber of Chapel Grotto, Ascension, South Atlantic."

Paratypes:

NHMRN S/1999.1.10

NHMRN S/1999.1.13

NHMRN S/1999.1.16

USNM 209519

Media

References

Original scientific description:

Bourne W. P., Ashmole N. P. and Simmons K. L. (2003). A new subfossil Night Heron and a new genus for the extinct Rail from Ascension Island, central tropical Atlantic Ocean. ARDEA 91(1): 45-51.

Other references:

Ashmole NP and Ashmole MJ (1997) The land fauna of Ascension Island: new data from caves and lava flows, and a reconstruction of the prehistoric ecosystem. Journal of Biogeography 24, 549–589.

Fuller, Errol. (1999). The Great Auk. Southborough, Kent: Errol Fuller Publications.

Gaskell, Jeremy. (2001). Who Killed the Great Auk? Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hume, Julian Pender. (In Press, 2023). Osteological and historical data on extinct island night herons (Aves: Ardeidae), with special reference to Ascension Island, the Mascarenes and Bonin Islands. Geobios. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2023.01.009

Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.

Kittelberger, Kyle D., Tanner, Colby J., Buxton, Amy N., Prewett, Amira and Şekercioğlu, Çağan Hakkı. (2024). Correlates of avian extinction timing around the world since 1500 CE. Avian Research 15: 100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100213 [Supplementary data (List of 216 taxa)]

Olson, Storrs L. (1977). Additional notes on subfossil bird remains from Ascension Island. Ibis 119: 37-43.

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)]

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.

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