Talpanas


Talpanas lippa, the Kauaʻi mole duck, is an extinct species of duck. It was first described by Andrew N. Iwaniuk, Storrs L. Olson, and Helen F. James in the journal Zootaxa in November 2009. It is the only known member of the genus Talpanas. It was endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauai where the fossil remains were unearthed in the Makauwahi Cave, Maha‘ulepu. The archaeological association of the bones is about 6000 years BP.

Etymology

The genus name Talpanas is taken from the Latin word talpa, meaning mole and referring to the small size of the eyes, and the Greek word anas, or duck. The species name lippa is from the Latin lippus, meaning "nearly blind".

Description

The tarsometatarsi of Talpanas lippa were short and stout, and the braincase shallow and wide relative to its length. It had very small orbits and also very small optic foramina. Together, these physical characteristics show that the eyes and optic nerve of this duck were quite reduced in size, and it can be assumed that this species was probably both blind and flightless. However, the maxillo-mandibular foramina are extremely large, indicating larger nerves were travelling through it. The authors hypothesize that this blind, or nearly blind, duck would have used tactile and olfactory stimuli from its beak to explore its surroundings in the absence of good vision.
The holotype, a partial skull, is stored at the Smithsonian Institution with specimen number USNM 535683.

Biology

Talpanas lippa was probably nocturnal and terrestrial, similar to kiwis in New Zealand which prey on small invertebrates in forest soil litter.