Tongan tooth-billed pigeon

The Tongan tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus placopedetes), is an extinct species of pigeon that was endemic to Tonga that lived in the Quaternary period. A related species, the tooth-billed pigeon (Didunculus strigirostris), is the only known living species in its genus.^[2]

Tongan tooth-billed pigeon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Didunculus
Species:	†D. placopedetes
Binomial name
†Didunculus placopedetes Steadman, 2006[1]
Approximate distribution map prior to extinction   Year-round

Description

The Tongan tooth-billed pigeon is described as looking similar to its relative, the tooth-billed pigeon, although it was larger. The Tongan tooth-billed pigeon is only defined by subfossils found at archaeological sites. A common predator of the Tongan tooth-billed pigeon was the barn owl (formerly T. a. lulu; now T. j. delicatula). It was about 31 to 38 centimetres long and weighed about 400 grams. with a short tail and a curved beak.^[1]

Distribution and habitat

It was located on the Tongan islands of Tongatapu, Lifuka, Ha'ano, 'Uiha, and Ha'afeva^[3] and lived in terrestrial environments. Its diet consisted of raw fruit of the Rhus taitensis. It also ate seeds from Heliconia laufao, nutmegs from the genus Myristica, tuber from species in the genus of Dioscorea, and berries.^[1]

Extinction

The Tongan tooth-billed pigeon disappeared sometime after the archipelago was colonised by humans around 1200 BC, probably due to hunting, loss of habitat, and the influence of introduced invasive species.^[4]