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The huia (; ''Heteralocha acutirostris'') was the largest species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. Its extinction in the early 20th century had two primary causes. The first was rampant overhunting to procure huia skins for mounted specimens, which were in worldwide demand by museums and wealthy private collectors. Huia were also hunted to obtain their long, striking tail feathers for locally fashionable hat decorations. The second major cause of extinction was the widespread deforestation of the lowlands of the North Island by European settlers to create pasture for agriculture. Most of these forests were ancient, ecologically complex primary forests, and huia were unable to survive in regenerating secondary forests. The last confirmed sighting of a huia was on 28 December 1907 in the Tararua Ranges. Further credible sightings near Wellington were reported until 1922, and in Te Urewera National Park in the early 1960s. The huia belonged to a family found only in New Zealand, a family so ancient that no relation is found elsewhere. Before the arrival of Europeans it was already a rare bird, confined to the Ruahine, Tararua, Rimutaka and Kaimanawa mountain ranges in the south east of the North Island. It was remarkable for having the most pronounced sexual dimorphism in bill shape of any bird species in the world. The female's beak was long, thin and arched downward, while the male's was short and stout, like that of a crow. The sexes were otherwise similar, with orange wattles and predominantly black plumage with a green sheen. The birds lived in forests at both montane and lowland elevations – they are thought to have moved seasonally, living at higher elevation in summer and descending to lower elevation in winter. Huia were omnivorous and ate insects, grubs and spiders, as well as the fruits of a small number of native plants. Males and females used their beaks to feed in different ways: the male used his bill to chisel away at rotting wood, while the female's longer, more flexible bill was able to probe deeper areas. Even though the huia is frequently mentioned in biology and ornithology textbooks because of this striking dimorphism, not much is known about its biology; it was little studied before it was driven to extinction. The huia is one of New Zealand's best-known extinct birds because of its bill shape, its sheer beauty and special place in Māori culture and oral tradition. The bird was regarded by Māori as ''tapu'' (sacred), and the wearing of its skin or feathers was reserved for people of high status. The huia was a bird of deep metallic, bluish-black plumage with a greenish iridescence on the upper surface, especially about the head. The tail feathers were unique among endemic birds in having a broad white band across the tips. ==Taxonomy and etymology== The genus name, ''Heteralocha'', derives from Ancient Greek ''ἕτερος'' "different" and ''ἄλοχος'' "wife".〔 It refers to the striking difference in bill shape between male and female. The specific name, ''acutirostris'', derives from Latin ''acutus'', meaning "sharp pointed", and ''rostrum'', meaning "beak", and refers to the beak of the female.〔 John Gould described the huia in 1836 as two species: ''Neomorpha acutirostris'' based on a female specimen, and ''N. crassirostris'' based on a male specimen—the epithet ''crassirostris'' derives from the Latin ''crassus'', meaning "thick" or "heavy", and refers to the male's short bill.〔 In 1840, George Robert Gray proposed the name ''N. gouldii'', arguing that neither of Gould's names was applicable to the species.〔Gray 1840:15〕 In 1850, Jean Cabanis replaced the name ''Neomorpha'', which had been previously used for a cuckoo genus, with ''Heteralocha''.〔Cabanis 1850–1851:218, footnote〕 In 1888 Sir Walter Buller wrote: "I have deemed it more in accordance with the accepted rules of zoological nomenclature to adopt the first of the two names applied to the species by Mr Gould; and the name ''Neomorpha'' having been previously used in ornithology, it becomes necessary to adopt that of ''Heteralocha'', proposed by Dr Cabanis for this form."〔Buller 1888:8〕 The huia appears to be a remnant of an early expansion of passerines in the country of New Zealand, and is the largest of the three members of the family Callaeidae, the New Zealand wattlebirds; the others are the saddleback and the kōkako. The only close relative to the family is the stitchbird; their taxonomic relationships to other birds remain to be determined. A molecular study of the nuclear RAG-1 and c-mos genes of the three species within the family proved inconclusive, the data providing most support for either a basally diverging kōkako or huia. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Huia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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