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The kagu or cagou (Rhynochetos jubatus) is a crested, long-legged, and bluish-grey bird endemic to the dense mountain forests of New Caledonia. It is the only surviving member of the genus Rhynochetos and the family Rhynochetidae , [ 3 ] although a second species has been described from the fossil record.
While the kagu is the only living species in the family Rhynochetidae, a larger species, the lowland kagu (Rhynochetos orarius), has been described from late Holocene subfossil remains. The body measurements of this species were 15% greater than Rhynochetos jubatus, with no overlap in measurements except those of the wings.
Eurypygimorphae or Phaethontimorphae is a clade of birds that contains the orders Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds) and Eurypygiformes (kagu and sunbittern) recovered by genome analysis. [2] The relationship was first identified in 2013 based on their nuclear genes. [3]
Sunbittern, kagu, and mesites all group within Metaves but all the other lineages of "Gruiformes" group either with a collection of waterbirds or landbirds within Coronaves. This division has been upheld by the combined analysis of as many as 30 independent loci (Ericson et al. 2006, Hackett et al. 2008), but is dependent on the inclusion of ...
Rhynochetos jubatus is the only extant species of this genus and of the family Rhynochetidae. It is closely related to birds of the tropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans with its closest living relative being the sunbittern (Eurypyga helias). [3]
Notably, the kagu and mesites also have powder down. An indeterminate fossil eurypygid has been documented from the Green River Formation of Wyoming, USA. This specimen, known from a full skeleton, is the oldest and only known fossil of the group, and suggests that eurypygids had a much more northernly range in the past.
The ecosystems of isolated islands are typically vulnerable to takeover by introduced species, because they faced reduced competitive pressure as they originally evolved. Insects such as Wasmannia auropunctata and mammals such as rat, cat, dog and pig have taken a toll on native species, such as the ground-living kagu.
The lowland kagu (Rhynochetos orarius) is a large, extinct species of kagu. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the south-west Pacific region. It was described from subfossil bones found at the Pindai Caves paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre .