BioSample

The kagu or cagou (Rhynochetos jubatus) is a crested, long-legged, and bluish-grey bird endemic to the dense mountain forests of New Caledonia. It is the only surviving member of the genus Rhynochetos and the family Rhynochetidae (from Wikipedia entry). It closest relative is considered the sunbittern, although its phylogeny is not fully resolved. This sample is from a female in the Parc Zoologique Et Forestier Michel Corbasson in New Caledonia, collected by Almudena Lorenzo, and procured by Christian Rutz, to generate a high-quality reference for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genomes Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, lead by Olivier Fedrigo and Erich D. Jarvis, with support from Rutz, Jarvis, and Tom Gilbert.