Bermuda night heron

The Bermuda night heron (Nyctanassa carcinocatactes) is an extinct heron species from Bermuda. It is sometimes assigned to the genus Nycticorax. It was first described by Storrs L. Olson & David B. Wingate (2006)[2] from subfossil material found in the Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in caves and ponds of Bermuda. Its anatomy was rather similar to its living relative, the yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea), but it had a heavier bill, a more massive skull and more robust hind limbs. The specialization of the bill and the hind limbs showed that it was apparently adapted to the feeding on land crabs.[2]

Bermuda night heron
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Ardeidae
Genus: Nyctanassa
Species:
N. carcinocatactes
Binomial name
Nyctanassa carcinocatactes
Olson & Wingate, 2006
Synonyms

Nycticorax carcinocatactes

There are also early historian reports referring to the species. It possibly became extinct due to the settlement of the Bermuda islands in the 17th century. On Bermuda the aforementioned yellow-crowned night heron has been introduced to act as its equivalent in the ecosystem.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2017). "Nyctanassa carcinocatactes". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2017: e.T62286255A119207935. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T62286255A119207935.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. Olson, Storrs L.; Wingate, David B. (12 July 2006). "A new species of Night-heron (Ardeidae: Nyctanassa) from Quaternary deposits on Bermuda". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 119 (2): 326–337. doi:10.2988/0006-324X(2006)119[326:ANSONA]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
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