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Mangaia swiftlet

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Mangaia swiftlet
Temporal range: Late Holocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Strisores
Order: Apodiformes
Family: Apodidae
Genus: Aerodramus
Species:
A. manuoi
Binomial name
Aerodramus manuoi
Synonyms
  • Collocalia manuoi

The Mangaia swiftlet (Aerodramus manuoi) is an extinct species of bird in the swift family. It became extinct during prehistoric times. It was endemic to Mangaia in the Cook Islands. It was closely allied with the extant Atiu swiftlet (Aerodramus sawtelli) of Atiu, Mangaia's neighbouring island, though it was probably slightly larger.[1]

It was described from six fossil bones recovered from a Holocene rock shelter deposit on Mangaia. The coracoid and carpometacarpus of the new species are larger and very different qualitatively from those of the Atiu species. This is the first species of Aerodramus to be described from fossils.[1]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Steadman (2002).

Sources

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  • Steadman, David W. (2002). "A new species of swiftlet (Aves: Apodidae) from the late Quaternary of Mangaia, Cook Islands, Oceania". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (2): 326–331. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0326:ANSOSA]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 84817651.