NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Louisiade Pitta
Erythropitta meeki (Rothschild, 1898)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Louisiade pitta (Erythropitta meeki) is a species of the pitta. It was considered a subspecies of the red-bellied pitta. It is endemic to Rossel Island in the Louisiade Archipelago in Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It may be threatened by habitat loss, but is currently listed by the IUCN as Data Deficient as there have been no definite records since the type specimen was collected in 1898. However an expedition to the island in 2014 revealed that local people said they still encountered it. In 2022, British tourist Michael Smith found two alive individuals with clear photograph evidence.
Wikipedia contributors, Louisiade pitta; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:45:40.554271+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Erythropitta meeki (Rothschild, 1898)
- Name authority
- (Rothschild, 1898)
- Common name
- Louisiade Pitta
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Pittidae
- Genus
- Erythropitta
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPittidae
- genusErythropitta Bonaparte, 1854
- speciesErythropitta meeki (Rothschild, 1898)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Erythropitta. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sulawesi PittaErythropitta celebensis (S. Müller & Schlegel, 1845) | PittidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| South Moluccan PittaErythropitta rubrinucha (Wallace, 1862) | PittidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-crowned PittaErythropitta ussheri (Gould, 1877) | PittidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Blue-banded PittaErythropitta arquata (Gould, 1871) | PittidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Pitta meeki Rothschild, 1898 Rothschild, 1898 | synonym |
| Pitta erythrogaster meeki Rothschild, 1898 Rothschild, 1898 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1260426 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:DD922. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.