Vangulifer is an extinct genus containing two species of Hawaiian honeycreeper known as 'shovel-billed finches'. It is known from sub-fossil remains found on Maui. They may have been insectivores, using their flat, rounded bills to catch flying insects in the air.
Species Vangulifer mirandus - prehistoric Vangulifer neophasis - prehistoric
Taxonomy Vangulifer was first described in 1991 by Olson & James from sub-fossil remains discovered in 1988 in lava tubes on the southern slopes of Haleakala volcano. Because of a lack of DNA evidence, the placement of Vangulifer is uncertain, though some phylogenetic analyses have shown that it may be most closely related to Paroreomyza and Oreomystis.
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