Lana`i Hookbill

Scientific name: Dysmorodrepanis munroi.

Common Name: Lana`i Hookbill.

Hawaiian Name(s): --.

USFWS Status: Extinct.

Distribution: Lanai

Last seen: 1913

Map: --

Illustration by N. Pazant from Wilson Bull. 101: frontispiece (1989).



G.C. Munro collected a single specimen of this species on Lanai in 1913. No specimens have been seen since. It was thought by some to be the same as the o`u (Psittirostra psittacea), but recent study by James et al., 1989, Wilson Bull. 101: 159-179 has shown that it is a distinct species.

Its preferred food is unknown though dissection of the stomach showed it o have fed on native berries. However, it is possible, based on its unique hooked bill and relatively weak jaw musculature, that it may have fed on endemic landsnails. The extinction of snails through human intervention no doubt then led to the reduction in numbers and ultimate extinction of this species.

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This page last revised 11 August 2001 by nle