The peculiar swamp-dwelling hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) looks like a survivor from prehistory and does indeed have a strong link with the fossil Archaeopteryx. Like the ancient bird-like creature, young hoatzins have strong wing claws which they use to haul themselves about in the trees before they can fly. But the hoatzin is odd in other ways: it digests fibre, produces cow-like dung and defies classification. It eats the leaves of the moka-moka, stuffing its massive crop and then perching with its distended pouch resting between its feet. The leaves ferment as the muscular crop pummels them into a fatty, foul-smelling soup from which all the goodness is extracted. The extracted remains give the hoatzin its nickname - stinkbird. Classified over the years with both fowl-like birds (Galliformes), cuckoos and turacos, the hoatzin is now in a family of its own.
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