Overview
- A single lower leg bone excavated from Liang Bua cave in 2009 was reexamined about 17 years later and identified as a previously unknown species.
- Paleontologists formally named the bird Megapodius rokusi in a peer‑reviewed paper, honoring Indonesian zooarchaeologist Rokus Due Awe for his role in earlier identifications.
- Measurements of the tarsometatarsus give a body‑mass estimate of roughly 3.9 kilograms making it the largest known member of the Megapodius genus.
- Only the distal section of a right tarsometatarsus is known so researchers cannot determine whether the species could fly or establish a precise extinction date.
- The find is the first megapode fossil recorded from Wallacea and highlights how bird remains have been undercollected, prompting calls for targeted searches for more avian material.