Sao Tome Ibis

Open encyclopedia reference

The São Tomé ibis (Bostrychia bocagei), also known as the dwarf olive ibis or the dwarf ibis, is a critically endangered bird that is endemic to São Tomé off the western coast of Central Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. Discovered in the 1800s by Francisco Newton, it was once thought to be a subspecies of the larger olive ibis, but is now classified as a distinct species.

Living with 19 other species of endemic birds on the island, the dwarf ibis is one of 10 that are threatened for extinction. B. bocagei prefers the southern forests almost exclusively living there in nests that are high up in the trees to avoid predators. Aside from predation, other common threats to the species include overhunting and habitat loss as a result of overexploitation of resources by the people of São Tomé. Although no specific conservation reforms have been enacted to help B. bocagei, indirect efforts to help biodiversity on São Tomé in general have been instituted, such as the ECOFAC program and the establishment of a national park.

Wikipedia contributors, São Tomé ibis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:05:11.743990+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Bostrychia bocagei (Chapin, 1923)

Name authority

(Chapin, 1923)

Common name

Sao Tome Ibis

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Pelecaniformes

Family

Threskiornithidae

Genus

Bostrychia

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPelecaniformes
10. familyThreskiornithidae Poche, 1904
11. genusBostrychia G. R. Gray, 1847
12. speciesBostrychia bocagei (Chapin, 1923)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Bostrychia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 30 records assigned to Threskiornithidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=824023 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:MMGF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.