| Apteribis Temporal range: LateQuaternary | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Pelecaniformes |
| Family: | Threskiornithidae |
| Subfamily: | Threskiornithinae |
| Genus: | †Apteribis Olson &Wetmore, 1976 |
| Species | |
See text | |
Apteribis is anextinctgenus offlightless birds in theibis subfamily that wasendemic to theHawaiian Islands in thePacific Ocean.
The remains of the small ibises in the genus have only been found on the islands ofMaui,Lanai, andMolokai, which formed part of the prehistoric island ofMaui Nui until about 200,000 years ago whenrising sea levels fragmented it. Olson andJames speculate that the genus was endemic to Maui Nui, that the ibises were birds of theforest floor, that because of their flightlessness they were susceptible to becoming trapped inlava tubes, and that they may have exerted heavypredation pressure on Maui Nui'sland snails.[1]
Analysis of the feathers from the Lanai specimen show an affinity to New World ibises of the genusEudocimus. The analyses also concluded thatApteribis may have had a brown-and-beige coloration similar to that of a juvenileEudocimus ibis. This indicates thatApteribis may have evolved both their flightlessness and their coloration through a form ofpaedomorphosis.[2]
Two species have been described:
Theholotype ofA. glenos is from theMoʻomomi dunes, and other specimens are fromIlio Point andKalaupapa peninsula.[1]
Fossil material collected on Maui indicates that a third species apparently occurred there; it was generally larger in size and occurred at lower elevations thanA. brevis, and has been referred to as the “Maui lowland apteribis”.[1] Another, extremely well-preserved specimen has also been recovered from Lanai, though it has not yet been described to the species level.[2]
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