Marquesas swamphen explained

The Marquesas swamphen (Porphyrio paepae) is an extinct species of swamphen from the Marquesas Islands Hiva Oa and Tahuata. It was originally described from 600-year-old subfossil remains from Tahuata and Hiva Oa.^[1] 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^[2] there is a bird which resembles native descriptions of Porphyrio paepae. Thor Heyerdahl claimed to have seen a similar flightless bird on Hiva Oa in 1937.^[3]

References

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

Notes and References

1. Steadman . D W . A New Species Of Porphyrio (Aves, Rallidae) From Archaeological Sites In The Marquesas islands . 1988 .
2. «[…] 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 have been unable to speak any Polynesian languages, as it is said locally.
3. Book: Hume. J. P.. M.. Walters. 2012. Extinct Birds. A & C Black. London. 116–117. 978-1-4081-5725-1.