 Six reports attest to its existence, and the genus "Porphyrio" is known as a colonizer of oceanic islands, having evolved into many local endemic species, of which only the takahe is still extant.In 1974, an attempt was made to find fossil localities on the Plaine des Cafres plateau, where the bird was said to have lived.No caves (which might contain kitchen middens where early settlers discarded bones of local birds) were found, and it was determined that a more careful study of the area was needed before excavations could be made.