What flightless bird from Rodrigues Island went extinct by 1778?

The Rodrigues solitaire was the flightless bird from Rodrigues Island that was extinct by 1778. Its scientific name was Pezophaps solitaria, and it was endemic to Rodrigues, a small island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar.

Despite its name, the Rodrigues solitaire was not closely related to true solitary birds or to the dodo in the way older classifications sometimes suggested. Both birds were large, flightless members of the pigeon family and are placed in the raphine group. The solitaire could grow to roughly swan size; males were larger than females and had bony knobs on their wings that were probably used in fights.

The species was vulnerable because island animals had evolved without many mammalian predators. Humans hunted the birds, while introduced cats and pigs preyed on eggs and chicks. Habitat was also damaged when vegetation was burned during the tortoise trade. The exact disappearance probably occurred between the 1730s and 1760s, but the IUCN conventionally lists it as extinct by 1778. Thousands of fossil bones later helped confirm descriptions written by explorer François Leguat.