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The kakapo (Māori: ''kākāpō'' or ''night parrot''), ''Strigops habroptilus'' (Gray, 1845), also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the super-family Strigopoidea endemic to New Zealand. It has finely blotched yellow-green plumage, a distinct facial disc of sensory, vibrissa-like feathers, a large grey beak, short legs, large feet, and wings and a tail of relatively short length. A combination of traits make it unique among its kind; it is the world's only flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot, nocturnal, herbivorous, visibly sexually dimorphic in body size, has a low basal metabolic rate and no male parental care, and is the only parrot to have a polygynous lek breeding system. It is also possibly one of the world's longest-living birds. Its anatomy typifies the tendency of bird evolution on oceanic islands, with few predators and abundant food: a generally robust physique, with accretion of thermodynamic efficiency at the expense of flight abilities, reduced wing muscles, and a diminished keel on the sternum.〔 Like many other New Zealand bird species, the kakapo was historically important to the Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, appearing in many of their traditional legends and folklore. It was hunted and used as a resource by Māori, both for its meat as a food source and for its feathers, which were used to make highly valued pieces of clothing. It was also sometimes kept as a pet. The kakapo is critically endangered; as of March 2014, with an additional six〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Several kakapo chicks have been born in New Zealand )〕 from the first hatchings since 2011, the total known population is only living individuals, as reported by the Kakapo Recovery programme, most of which have been given names. Because of Polynesian and European colonisation and the introduction of predators such as cats, rats, ferrets, and stoats, the kakapo was almost wiped out. Conservation efforts began in the 1890s, but they were not very successful until the implementation of the Kakapo Recovery plan in the 1980s. As of April 2012, surviving kakapo are kept on three predator-free islands, Codfish (Whenua Hou), Anchor and Little Barrier islands, where they are closely monitored.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Kakapo Habitat )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/6746273/Kakapo-relocated-to-raise-chicks )〕 Two large Fiordland islands, Resolution and Secretary, have been the subject of large-scale ecological restoration activities to prepare self-sustaining ecosystems with suitable habitat for the kakapo. The New Zealand government is willingly providing the use of these islands to kakapo conservation. ==Taxonomy, systematics and naming== The kakapo was originally described by English ornithologist George Robert Gray in 1845. The name "kakapo" is the English transliteration of "kākāpō" which is derived from the Māori terms ''kākā'' ("parrot") + ''pō'' ("night"). Its generic name is derived from the Ancient Greek ''strix'', genitive ''strigos'' "owl", and ''ops'' "face", while its specific epithet comes from ''habros'' "soft", and ''ptilon'' "feather". It has so many unusual features that it was initially placed in its own tribe, Strigopini. Recent phylogenetic studies have confirmed the unique position of this genus as well as the closeness to the kākā and the kea, both belonging to the New Zealand parrot genus ''Nestor''.〔〔〔 Together, they are now considered a separate family within the parrots, Strigopidae. Within the Strigopidae, the kakapo is placed in its own tribe, Strigopini. The common ancestor of the kakapo and the genus ''Nestor'' became isolated from the remaining parrot species when New Zealand broke off from Gondwana, around 82 million years ago. Around 70 million years ago, the kakapo diverged from the genus ''Nestor''. Earlier ornithologists felt that the kakapo might be related to the ground parrots and night parrot of Australia due to their similar colouration, but this is contradicted by recent studies;〔Schodde, R. & Mason, I.J. (1981). Nocturnal Birds of Australia. Illustrated by Jeremy Boot. Melbourne: Lansdowne Edns 136 pp. 22 pls ()〕 rather, the cryptic colour seems to be adaptation to terrestrial habits that evolved twice convergently.〔Leeton, P.R.J., Christidis, L., Westerman, M. & Boles, W.E. (1994). (Molecular phylogenetic relationships of the Night Parrot (''Geopsittacus occidentalis'') and the Ground Parrot (''Pezoporus wallicus'') ). ''Auk'' 111: 833–843〕 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「Kakapo」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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