DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST COMPLETE SKELETON OF THE EXTINCT NEW-ZEALANDGOOSE CNEMIORNIS-CALCITRANS (AVES, ANATIDAE), AND A REASSESSMENT OF THE RELATIONSHIPS OF CNEMIORNIS

The discovery of the first essentially complete Cnemiornis calcitrans skeleton is reported. This has facilitated a description of features o f the skeleton not previously described and a reassessment of the phyl ogenetic relationships of Cnemiornis. A morphological comparison is su pported by a cladistic analysis to show that Cnemiornis is the sister taxon of Cereopsis novaehollandiae. The data set based on morphologica l characters was insufficient to resolve the issue of whether the Cnem iornis/Cereopsis clade was the sister taxon of the rest of the Anserin es or more primitive than them. The anserines (geese and swans) are th e sister group to Dendrocygna, Thalassornis, and all other anatids. A 96 base pair sequence of mitochondrial DNA is reported for Cnemiornis calcitrans which shows much similarity with the equivalent section in Cereopsis, and is considerably different from other anserines. The DNA sequence supports the inclusion of the Cnemiornis/Cereopsis clade wit hin the Anserinae.