The Viti Levu Giant Pigeon (Natunaornis gigoura) was a flightless pigeon, only slightly smaller than the dodo

Dodo

The dodo was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Related to pigeons and doves, it stood about a meter tall, weighing about , living on fruit, and nesting on the ground....

 (Raphus cucullatus) and Rodrigues solitaire

Rodrigues Solitaire

The Rodrigues Solitaire was a flightless member of the pigeon order endemic to Rodrigues, Mauritius. It was a close relative of the Dodo.-Discovery:...

 (Pezophaps solitaria).

The monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Natunaornis is named after Natuna, the oldest chief

Tribal chief

A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...

 of the Volivoli people in the Sigatoka

Sigatoka

For the banana disease, see Black sigatoka.Sigatoka is a town in Fiji. It is found on the island of Viti Levu and is situated at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, after which it is named, some 69 kilometers from Nadi. In Fiji's last census the population of Sigatoka was at 9622...

 Valley, wherein the fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 bones of the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 were first found. The scientific specific name reflects the large size of this fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 species and its proposed affinities to the crowned pigeons Goura

Goura (genus)

The genus Goura consists of three species of crowned pigeons. They are the largest non-extinct members of the pigeon family. The three crowned pigeons are alike and replace each other geographically. The genus was described by James Francis Stephens in 1819.The phylogeny of the crowned pigeons is...

. Remains of this species were discovered in October 1998 at Viti Levu

Viti Levu

Viti Levu is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji, the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population.- Geography and economy :...

, the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. Its first description was published in 2001 by T.H. Worthy. The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is the national museum and art gallery of New Zealand, located in Wellington. It is branded and commonly known as Te Papa and Our Place; "Te Papa Tongarewa" is broadly translatable as "the place of treasures of this land".The museum's principles...

.