| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANIMALIA | CHORDATA | AVES | ANSERIFORMES | ANATIDAE |
| Scientific Name: | Mergus australis | |||
| Species Authority: | Hombron & Jacquinot, 1841 | |||
Common Name/s:
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| Red List Category & Criteria: | Extinct ver 3.1 | ||||||||||||
| Year Published: | 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Assessor/s: | BirdLife International | ||||||||||||
| Reviewer/s: | Bird, J., Butchart, S. | ||||||||||||
| History: |
|
| Range Description: | Mergus australis was restricted to the Auckland Islands, New Zealand, by the time of its discovery in 18403, but subfossil remains of a Mergus species have also been found on South and Stewart Islands1. At least 26 specimens were collected in total, the last in 19021; there have been no records since, despite intensive searches4. |
| Range Map: | Click here to open the map viewer and explore range. |
| Habitat and Ecology: | It was largely a freshwater species, foraging in inland streams, estuaries and, occasionally, sheltered bays1. |
| Systems: | Freshwater; Marine |
| Major Threat(s): | Its decline was presumably caused by a combination of hunting and predation by introduced pigs, rats, cats and dogs1-the species's incipient flightlessness made it especially vulnerable2. |
| Citation: | BirdLife International 2008. Mergus australis. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 May 2012. |
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