Hawaiian honeyeaters facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hawaiian honeyeatersTemporal range: Holocene
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Moho apicalis and Chaetoptila angustipluma | |
Scientific classification  |
|
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | †Mohoidae Fleischer, James and Olson, 2008 |
| Genera | |
Mohoidae is a family of Hawaiian species of recently extinct, nectarivorous songbirds in the genera Moho (ʻōʻō) and Chaetoptila (kioea). These now extinct birds form their own family, representing the only complete extinction of an entire avian family in modern times, when the disputed family Turnagridae is regarded as invalid.
Until recently, these birds were thought to belong to the family Meliphagidae (honeyeaters) due to their very similar appearance and behavior, including many morphological details. However, a 2008 study argued, on the basis of a phylogenetic analysis of DNA from museum specimens, that the genera Moho and Chaetoptila are not even closely related to the Meliphagidae but instead belong to a group within the Passerida that includes the waxwings and the palmchat; they appear especially close to the silky-flycatchers. Hawaiian honeyeaters did not evolve from the similar looking Australasian honeyeaters, but instead represent a striking case of convergent evolution. The authors proposed a family, Mohoidae, for these two extinct genera.
Species
Family: Mohoidae
- Chaetoptila P.L. Sclater, 1871
- Chaetoptila angustipluma Peale, 1848 (Kioea)
- Chaetoptila cf.angustipluma (Oahu kioea - extinct before European contact)
- ?Chaetoptila sp. (Narrow-billed kioea - extinct before European contact)
- Moho Lesson, 1830 - ʻōʻō
- Moho apicalis Gould, 1860 – Oʻahu ʻōʻō
- Moho bishopi Rothschild, 1893 – Bishop's ʻōʻō
- Moho braccatus Cassin, 1855 – Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
- Moho nobilis Merrem, 1786 – Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō
Gallery
-
Oʻahu ʻōʻō
-
Bishop's ʻōʻō
-
Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō
-
Kauaʻi ʻōʻō
-
Kioea
See also
In Spanish: Mohoidae para niños
