Marquesas Swamphen

Marquesas Swamphen

Paul Gauguin's 1902 probable depiction of the Marquesan swamphen (Porphyrio paepae) being killed by a dog.
Conservation status
Extinct
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Rallidae
Genus:	Porphyrio
Species:	P. paepae
Binomial name
*Porphyrio paepae* Steadman 1988

Marquesas Swamphen (Porphyrio paepae) is a presumably extinct species of swamphen from the Marquesas Islands. It was originally described from 600 year old subfossil remains from Tahuata and Hiva Oa. It may have survived to around 1900; in the lower right corner of Paul Gauguin's 1902 painting Le Sorcier d'Hiva Oa ou le Marquisien à la cape rouge^[1] there is a bird which resembles native descriptions of Porphyrio paepae.

Notice

^ «[…] d’Hiva Oa […]» as such, is pronounced /diˈva oˈa/, while the Polynesian h is always a /ɦ/: this shows Gauguin had a very poor knowledge of the Polynesian languages. He should have written de Hiva Oa. Despite Polynesian inscriptions, often approximative, Gauguin seems to be inable to speak any Polynesian languages, as it is said locally.

References

Steadman, David W. (2006). Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 101, 105–6, 127, 243–4, 312–5, 523. ISBN 0-226-77142-3.