Endemic Animals of Tonga

The pile-builder megapode (Megapodius molistructor ) is an extinct species of megapode. The subfossil remains were found by Jean-Christophe Balouet and Storrs L. Olson in the Pindai Caves of New Caledonia. Its remains have also been found on Tonga. Less

The Tongatapu rail (Gallirallus hypoleucus ) was a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It was apparently native to the island of Tongatapu in the Kingdom of Tonga, in Polynesia in the south-west Pacific Ocean. It is known only from brief descriptions of a specimen, now lost, collected from Tongatapu in 1777 in the course of James Cook's third voyage to the Pacific, and from a contemporary illustration by Georg Forster. Less

The Tongan megapode (Megapodius pritchardii ) is a species of bird in the megapode family, Megapodiidae, currently endemic to Tonga. The species is also known as the Polynesian megapode, and as the Niuafo'ou megapode after the island of Niuafo'ou to which it was restricted for many years. The specific epithet honours British consul William Thomas Pritchard. Less

The Kanaka pigeon (Caloenas canacorum ), also known as the great green pigeon or greater maned pigeon, is an extinct species of pigeon. It was probably hunted to extinction by the early settlers of New Caledonia and Tonga around 2,500 years ago. It was described from subfossil remains found at the Pindai Caves of New Caledonia. The specific epithet is a Latinisation of kanaka, the name of the native Melanesian people of New Caledonia. It was ...
about 25% larger than its closest living relative, the Nicobar pigeon. Less

The Tongan whistler (Pachycephala jacquinoti ) is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to the islands of Vava'u and Late in Tonga. It is mainly found in tropical primary forest, but can sometimes be seen in second growth or wooded plantations. It is similar to the Australian golden whistler in appearance, but the head and throat of the male is entirely black, and the underparts of the female are yellow. The Tongan ...
whistler is threatened by habitat loss. The Tongan whistler was also described by Jacques Pucheran in the genus Eopsaltria and has been variably considered as a subspecies of the golden whistler. Less

The ʻEua rail (Gallirallus vekamatolu ) is an extinct species of flightless bird in the Rallidae, or rail family. It was described in 2005 from subfossil bones found on the island of ʻEua, in the Kingdom of Tonga of West Polynesia. Less

Cystiscus vavauensis is a species of very small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Cystiscidae. Less

Calliotropis crystalophora is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Eucyclidae. Less