Upupa antaios (lat.) Is an extinct bird species from the family of udodidae (Upupidae). It is believed that the species died out soon after the discovery and colonization [1] of St. Helena in 1502, being unable to withstand the introduced cats, rats and other animals and the active transformative activity of humans [2] .
| † Upupa antaios |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Family: | Udodovye ( Upupidae Leach , 1820 ) |
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| International scientific name |
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Upupa antaios Olson , 1975 |
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| Security status |
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Extinct speciesIUCN 3.1 Extinct : 22728670 |
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Studies of this species were carried out exclusively on incomplete subfossil remains .
The first analysis of this species was given in 1963 by the British zoologist Philip Ashmole, who discovered in the sediments in the east of the island of St. Helena the left humerus, which was significantly different from other bones of the birds of the Upupidae family.
An incomplete skeleton, discovered in 1975 by paleontologist Storrs Olson , consisted of coracoids and the left femur . On this skeleton, Olson first described the species Upupa antaios [2] .
The species was endemic to St. Helena in the South Atlantic [1] .
Large, possibly flightless hoopoe [1] [3] . He fed mainly on giant earwigs , which reached 8.5 cm in length. At the end of the 20th century, these insects also became extinct [4] .
