North Island Snipe (Coenocorypha barrierensis)
Posted on 31 December, 1870 in Extinct
Year Last Seen:
1870
Comments:
This species was extirpated from its historic range by introduced mammalian predators; it was last recorded in 1870 and is classified as Extinct.
Habitat:
The species is assumed to have had similar habits to the extant Coenocorypha, and thought to have possessed a similar nocturnal aerial display (Tennyson and Martinson 2006). It was likely to have been active both day and night, and to have fed on invertebrates.
Causes:
The introduction of Pacific rats and feral cats presumably brought about the extinction of this species.
Distribution:
Coenocorypha barrierensis was known only from Little Barrier Island, New Zealand where a single specimen was collected in 1870, and it apparently was extirpated during the 1870s after cats were introduced to the island (Tennyson and Martinson 2006). Another was reputedly shot on Browns Island/Motukorea in the Hauraki Gulf in the 1820s, and it was presumably extirpated from mainland North Island (where it is known from fossil records across the island) by Pacific rats in the prehistoric era (Tennyson and Martinson 2006).