Talpanas

{{Short description|Extinct genus of birds}} {{pp-pc}} {{Speciesbox |name = Kaua'i mole duck |fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Holocene}} [[holocene|4050 BCE]] ([[Holocene]]) |image = |genus = Talpanas |parent_authority = [[Storrs L. Olson|Olson]] & [[Helen F. James|James]], 2009 |species = lippa |authority = [[Storrs L. Olson|Olson]] & [[Helen Frances James|James]], 2009 |synonyms = }}

'''''Talpanas lippa''''', the '''Kauaʻi mole duck''',<ref>Julian Pender Hume, Michael Walters: ''Extinct Birds''. A & C Black, London 2012. {{ISBN|140815725X}}., p 57</ref> is an [[extinction|extinct]] [[species]] of [[duck]].<ref name="Iwaniuk">{{cite journal|last=Iwaniuk, A. L.|author2=Olson, S. L. |author3=James, H. F. |date=November 24, 2009|title=Extraordinary cranial specialization in a new genus of extinct duck (Aves: Anseriformes) from Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands|journal=Zootaxa|publisher=Magnolia Press|location=Auckland, New Zealand|volume=2296|pages=47–67|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.2296.1.3 |s2cid=4176091 |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/zt02296p067.pdf}}</ref> It was first described by [[Andrew N. Iwaniuk]], [[Storrs L. Olson]], and [[Helen Frances James|Helen F. James]] in the journal ''[[Zootaxa]]'' in November 2009. [[Monotypic taxon|It is the only known member]] of the [[genus]] '''''Talpanas'''''. It was [[endemism|endemic]] to the [[Hawaii]]an island of [[Kauaʻi]] where the [[fossil]] remains were unearthed in the [[Makauwahi Cave]], [[Mahaulepu Beach|Maha‘ulepu]].<ref name="Burney"/> The [[archaeological association]] of the bones is about 6000 years [[Before Present|BP]] (around 4050 BCE).<ref name="Burney">{{cite journal|last=Burney|year=2001|title=Fossil evidence for a diverse biota from Kaua'i and its transformation since human arrival|journal= Ecological Monographs |publisher=Ecological Society of America|location=Washington, DC|volume=71|issue=4|pages=615–641|issn=0012-9615|doi=10.1890/0012-9615(2001)071[0615:fefadb]2.0.co;2|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

==Etymology== The genus name ''Talpanas'' is taken from the [[Latin]] word ''talpa'', meaning [[mole (animal)|mole]] and referring to the small size of the eyes, and the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''anas'', or duck. The species name ''lippa'' is from the Latin {{Lang|la|lippus}}, meaning "nearly blind".<ref name="Iwaniuk"/>

==Description== The [[tarsometatarsus|tarsometatarsi]] (lower leg bones) of ''Talpanas lippa'' were short and stout, and the [[braincase]] shallow and wide relative to its length. It had very small orbits (eye sockets) and also very small optic [[foramen|foramina]] (holes in the skull through which the optic nerves pass as they travel from the eyes to the brain). 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 [[blindness|blind]] and [[flightless bird|flightless]].<ref name="Iwaniuk"/> However, the maxillo-mandibular foramina (holes through which the [[trigeminal nerve]] passes) 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 (the senses of [[Somatosensory system|touch]] and [[olfaction|smell]]) from its beak to explore its surroundings in the absence of good vision.<ref name="Iwaniuk"/>

The [[holotype]], a partial skull, is stored at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] with specimen number USNM 535683.

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Anatidae]] [[Category:Biota of Kauai]] [[Category:Endemic fauna of Hawaii]] [[Category:Extinct birds of Hawaii]] [[Category:Extinct flightless birds]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 2009]] [[Category:Holocene extinctions]] [[Category:Late Quaternary prehistoric birds]] [[Category:Extinct monotypic bird genera]] [[Category:Taxa named by Helen F. James]]