Takahe

Description

The takahē or takahē of the South Island,Porphyrio hochstetteri,is a bird unable to fly native to New Zealand and belonging to the ralli family.After the last four specimens were captured,in 1898,it was assumed that it had become extinct.However,after careful research,this bird was rediscovered by Geoffrey Orbell near Lake Te Anau,in the Murchison Mountains,on the South Island,on November 20,1948.The specific scientific name commemorates the Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter.A related species,the takahē of the North Island ( P.mantelli ) or mōho,is extinct and is known only for some skeletal remains.Both forms have long been considered subspecies of cloaks and were usually classified under the Notornis genus.However,it was recognized that the differences between Porphyrio and Notornis they are insufficient to justify the separation of the latter,while the differences between the shape of the Island of the North and that of the South Island are marked enough to justify a classification as two separate species that have lost independently of each other the ability to fly.