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The giant flightless bird  Sylviornis neocaledoniae  (Aves: Sylviornithidae) existed on La Grande Terre and Ile des Pins, New Caledonia, until the late Holocene when it went extinct shortly after human arrival on these islands. The species was generally considered to be a megapode (Megapodiidae) until the family Sylviornithidae was erected for it in 2005 to reflect multiple cranial autapomorphies. However, despite thousands of bones having been reported for this unique and enigmatic taxon, the postcranial anatomy has remained largely unknown. We rectify this deficiency and describe the postcranial skeleton of  S .  neocaledoniae  based on ~600 fossils and use data from this and its cranial anatomy to make a comprehensive assessment of its phylogenetic affinities.  Sylviornis neocaledoniae  is found to be a stem galliform, distant from megapodiids, and the sister taxon to the extinct flightless  Megavitiornis altirostris  from Fiji, which we transfer to the family Sylviornithidae. These two species form the sister group to extant crown-group galliforms. Several other fossil galloanseres also included in the phylogenetic analysis reveal novel hypotheses of their relationships as follows:  Dromornis planei  (Dromornithidae) is recovered as a stem galliform rather than a stem anseriform;  Presbyornis pervetus  (Presbyornithidae) is the sister group to Anseranatidae, not to Anatidae;  Vegavis iaai  is a crown anseriform but remains unresolved relative to  Presbyornis pervetus , Anseranatidae and Anatidae.  Sylviornis neocaledoniae  was reconstructed herein to be 0.8 m tall in a resting stance and weigh 27–34 kg. The postcranial anatomy of  S .  neocaledoniae  shows no indication of the specialised adaptation to digging seen in megapodiids, with for example, its ungual morphology differing little from that of chicken  Gallus gallus . These observations and its phylogenetic placement as stem galliforms makes it improbable that this species employed ectothermic incubation or was a mound-builder.  Sylviornis neocaledoniae  can therefore be excluded as the constructor of tumuli in New Caledonia.

Osteology Supports a Stem-Galliform Affinity for the Giant Extinct Flightless Bird Sylviornis neocaledoniae (Sylviornithidae, Galloanseres)