New Zealand Swan

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The New Zealand Swan (Cygnus atratus sumnerensis) is an extinct swan from the Chatham Islands and the South Island of New Zealand. It was originally described as a separate species from the Black Swan based on the slightly larger size of the fossil bones found and the apparent absence of the Black Swan from New Zealand prior to 1864. More recent analysis of these fossils, and others, suggests that the New Zealand Swan was a subspecies of the Black Swan, and it is refered to this way in ornithology today. The swan remains found in the Chatham Islands may constitute a separate species, C. chathamensis (Oliver, 1955), but more work is needed to establish this.

Related Topics:
Extinct - Swan - Chatham Islands - New Zealand - Black Swan - Fossil - 1864 - Subspecies - Ornithology - 1955

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