Scissor-billed koa finch Scissor-billed koa finch The scissor-billed koa finch, ("Rhodacanthis forfex") or scissor finch is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. Of the four species in the genus "Rhodacanthis", the scissor-billed koa finch and the primitive koa finch became extinct before the arrival of the first Europeans to Hawaii in 1778. It was endemic to the islands of Maui and Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. The scissor-billed koa finch was a granivore, that, like the other members of its genus, had a bill adapted to eat the hard seeds and pods of legumes. Pollen and fossil evidence indicates that "Ka palupalu o
Acacia koa confirmed this close relationship; the estimated time of divergence is about 1.4 million years ago. "A. heterophylla" sequences nest within those of the more diverse "A. koa", making the latter paraphyletic. Both species are thought to be descended from an ancestral species in Australia, presumably their sister species, "Acacia melanoxylon". Dispersals most likely occurred via seed-carrying by birds such as petrels. Both species have very similar ecological niches, which differ from that of "A. melanoxylon". A closely related species, koaia or koaie ("A. koaia"), is found in dry areas. It is most easily distinguished by having smaller seeds that are