Species

Justification
This species was known from Mauritius, but went Extinct around 1693 due to cat predation and hunting.

Taxonomic source(s)
Brooks, T. 2000. Extinct species. In: BirdLife International (ed.), Threatened birds of the world, pp. 701-708. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge, U.K.

Taxonomic note
Kuina mundyi and Pezocrex herberti³ are synonyms¹.

Distribution and population
Aphanapteryx bonasia was endemic to Mauritius from where it is known from a number of travellers' accounts and illustrations (Cheke 1987), and from numerous bones (Cowles 1987). It was mentioned to have become rare by Leguat in 1693, and there were no further reports, so the species is likely to have become extinct around 1700 (Cheke 1987).

Ecology
It may have inhabited the islands' forests.

Threats
It was flightless and palatable and therefore was presumably hunted to extinction (Cheke 1987), although introduced cats are also likely to have taken some birds.

Related state of the world's birds case studies

• Nest protection and brood manipulation has helped the Mauritius Parakeet to recover

References
Hachisuka, M. 1953. The Dodo and kindred birds. Witherby, London.

Cowles, G. S. 1987. The fossil record. In: Diamond, A.W. (ed.), Studies of Mascarene Island birds, pp. 90-100. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Cheke, A. S. 1987. An ecological history of the Mascarene Islands, with particular reference to extinctions and introductions of land vertebrates. In: Diamond, A.W. (ed.), Studies of Mascarene island birds, pp. 5-89. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.

Cheke, A.S. 2006. Establishing extinction dates - the curious case of the Dodo Raphus cucullatus and the Red Hen Aphanapteryx bonasis. Ibis 148: 155-158.

Text account compilers
Brooks, T., Khwaja, N., Mahood, S.

IUCN Red List evaluators
Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2013) Species factsheet: Aphanapteryx bonasia. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2013) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 22/05/2013.

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.