Bennu heron

Bennu heron Temporal range: Holocene, 0.00255 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Representation of the Bennu deity in Egyptian mythology, possibly based on the Bennu heron
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Genus:	Ardea
Species:	†A. bennuides
Binomial name
†Ardea bennuides Hoch, 1979

The Bennu heron (Ardea bennuides) may have been an extinct large heron from what is now the United Arab Emirates at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula, though its identification as a separate species is based on a single partial bone.[1]

Background

Standing as tall as the human depicted on an Ancient Egyptian papyrus, the Bennu deity may have been based on the Bennu heron

Reported in 1979 by Ella Hoch, remains of the heron have been dated to 2700–1800 BCE, coinciding with the Umm al-Nar period.[1][2] Known only from a partial tibiotarsus, the Bennu heron is tentatively suggested to be larger than the goliath heron, though Hoch also suggested that it could be just an enlarged grey heron.[1] Hoch also claimed that it may have been the inspiration for the Bennu deity in Egyptian mythology, hence the specific name, in spite of the fact that the specimen was discovered from Arabia.[1]

Extinction

It has been speculated that the Bennu heron went extinct because of wetland degradation. Another likely cause of their extinction would be humans overhunting their population.[3]

References

1. Hoch, Ella (1979). "Reflections on prehistoric life at Umm An-Nar (Trucial Oman) based on faunal remains from the third millennium B.C." (PDF). In M. Taddei (ed.). South Asian Archaeology 1977. Fourth International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe. pp. 589–638.
2. Potts, D.T. (2001). "Before the Emirates: an Archaeological and Historical Account of Developments in the Region c. 5000 BC to 676 AD". In Al Abed, Ibrahim & Hellyer, Peter (eds.). The United Arab Emirates: A New Perspective (PDF). London, UK: Trident Press. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.630.7157. ISBN 978-1-900724-47-0.
3. Turvey, Samuel T. (2009-05-28). Holocene Extinctions. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-157998-1.