Columbidae: Mascarene Islands (1 Viewer)

[Richard Klim]

Hume 2011. Systematics, morphology, and ecology of pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with three new species. Zootaxa 3124: 1-62. [preview]

 

[Melanie]

It would be great to receive this paper. If i have understood the abstract correctly. Is there one more extinct Alectroenas species from Rodrigues (=Alectroenas rodericanus?) and Columba rodericana is now Nesoenas rodericanus?

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Pigeons and Doves of Mascarene Islands

It would be great to receive this paper. If i have understood the abstract correctly. Is there one more extinct Alectroenas species from Rodrigues (=Alectroenas rodericanus?) and Columba rodericana is now Nesoenas rodericanus?

1. Pink Pigeon Nesoenas mayeri (Prévost & Knip, 1843)
Columba mayeri Prévost & Knip 1843, p. 113, pl. 60; Jouanin 1965, p. 975.
Distribution: Mauritius, Mascarenes.

2. †Dubois’s Pink Pigeon Nesoenas duboisi Rothschild 1907
Nesoenas duboisi Rothschild, 1907, p.166.
Distribution: Réunion Island, Mascarenes.

3. Madagascar Turtle Dove Nesoenas picturata (Temminck, 1813)
Columba Picturata Temminck, 1813, 1, p.315, 481; id. Pl. Col. 1826, 242 (Île de France, i.e. Mauritius.); Shaw, 1819, p. 85 (Madagascar) ; Gibbs et al. 2001, p.236, pl. 14.
Distribution: Madagascar (ssp. picturata); Anjouan, Comoros (ssp. comoroensis); Glorioso Island, Aldabra and, formerly, Cosmeledo, Astove and Assumption (ssp. copperingi); Seychelles (†ssp. rostrata); Amirante Islands
(†ssp. aldabrana) (after Gibbs et al. 2001). Nominate introduced to Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles, Comoros and probably to most other smaller islands in the Indian Ocean.

4. †Réunion Turtle Dove Nesoenas aff. picturata
Tourterelles, Dubois 1674: 171.
Distribution: Réunion Island, Mascarenes.

5. †Mauritian Turtle Dove Nesoenas cicur sp. nov
Distribution: Mauritius, Mascarenes.

6. †Rodrigues Turtle Dove Nesoenas rodericana (Milne-Edwards, 1874) nov. comb.
‘Columba’ rodericana Milne-Edwards, 1874, 5, 19, art. 3: 16.
Distribution: Rodrigues Island, Mascarenes.

7. †Mauritian Wood Pigeon Columba thiriouxi sp.nov.
Distribution: Mauritius, Mascarenes.

8. †Réunion Wood Pigeon. Indeterminate genus and species.
Ramiers, Dubois, 1674: 171.
Distribution: Réunion Island, Mascarenes.

9. † Mauritian Blue Pigeon; Dutch Pigeon; Pigeon Hollandais Alectroenas nitidissima (Scopoli, 1786)
Columba nitidissima Scopoli, 1786, fasc. 2: 93. (Ile de France, i.e. Mauritius.).
Distribution: Mauritius, Mascarenes, Indian Ocean.

10. †Rodrigues Blue Pigeon Alectroenas payandeei sp. nov.
Distribution: Rodrigues Island, Mascarenes.

11. † Réunion Blue Pigeon Alectroenas sp.
Distribution: Réunion, Mascarenes.

 

[Melanie]

Thank you Peter, for this new list. But what is happened to Alectroenas rodericana? It is no more valid? (it is still in the IUCN Red list: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=30087)

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Thank you Peter, for this new list. But what is happened to Alectroenas rodericana? It is no more valid? (it is still in the IUCN Red list: http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=30087)

Now †Rodrigues Turtle Dove Nesoenas rodericana (Milne-Edwards, 1874) nov. comb.

Slaty pigeons, Leguat, 1708: 75.
Tourterelles, text attributed to Tafforet, 1726: 25.
‘Columba’ rodericana Milne-Edwards, 1874, 5, 19, art. 3: 16.
Columba rodericana: Shelley, 1883: 259.
?Columba rodericana: Greenway 1958: 126.
Alectroenas rodericana: Rothschild, 1907: 164; Hachisuka, 1953: 178; Cowles, 1987: 97.
?Nesoenas rodericana: Cheke & Hume, 2008: 67, 156.

 

[Melanie]

Now †Rodrigues Turtle Dove Nesoenas rodericana (Milne-Edwards, 1874) nov. comb.

Slaty pigeons, Leguat, 1708: 75.
Tourterelles, text attributed to Tafforet, 1726: 25.
‘Columba’ rodericana Milne-Edwards, 1874, 5, 19, art. 3: 16.
Columba rodericana: Shelley, 1883: 259.
?Columba rodericana: Greenway 1958: 126.
Alectroenas rodericana: Rothschild, 1907: 164; Hachisuka, 1953: 178; Cowles, 1987: 97.
?Nesoenas rodericana: Cheke & Hume, 2008: 67, 156.

Thank you Peter (by the way I've got Hume's PDF now, thank you very much). Until recently i have thought Columba rodericana and Alectroenas rodericana were two species.

 

[Richard Klim]

Rodrigues Solitaire †

Hume & Steel (in press). Fight club: a unique weapon in the wing of the solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria (Aves: Columbidae), an extinct flightless bird from Rodrigues, Mascarene Islands. Biol J Linn Soc. [abstract]

BirdLife: Species factsheet.

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Made me think of Xenicibis xympithecus Olson & Steadman, 1977. from Jamaica

See Nicholas R. Longrich & Storrs Lovejoy Olson, 2011: The Bizarre Wing of the Jamaican Flightless Ibis Xenicibis xympithecus: a Unique Vertebrate Adaptation: Proceedings the Royal Society B 278: 2333-2337

Abstract:

Birds have frequently evolved to exploit insular environments by becoming adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle and losing the ability to fly, usually via reducing the wings and pectoral girdle. The enigmatic flightless ibis Xenicibis xympithecus (Threskiornithidae) from the Quaternary of Jamaica provides a rare example of flight loss in ibises. We report on previously undescribed fossils of Xenicibis, and show that the wing differed
radically from that of all other birds, flightless or volant. The metacarpus is elongate, grotesquely inflated and has extremely thick walls; phalanges are short and block-like; the radius is distally expanded; and the humerus is elongate. The furcula, coracoid and sternum are all well developed. We propose that the elongate forelimb and massive hand functioned in combat as a jointed club or flail. This hypothesis is supported by the morphology of the carpometacarpus, by features permitting rapid extension of the
wing and by the presence of fractures in wing bones. Although other birds use the wings as weapons, none resemble Xenicibis, which represents a unique and extraordinary morphological solution to this functional problem. Xenicibis strikingly illustrates how similar selective pressures, acting on a similar starting point, can result in novel outcomes.

 

[Melanie]

Researchers Reveal Unique Wing Weapon of Extinct Bird Rodrigues Solitaire

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/article01122-rodrigues-solitaire-dodo.html

 

[Melanie]

Wolfenden, A, Jones, C G, Tatayah, V, Züel, N, and de Kort, S R. "Endangered pink pigeons treat calls of the ubiquitous Madagascan turtle dove as conspecific." Animal Behaviour 99: 83-88.

Responding to allospecific territorial signals may result in the unnecessary expenditure of energy and time and is therefore, in general, not adaptive. The signals of closely related species are often similar owing to common ancestry, especially when species evolve in allopatry. However, selection for species recognition in sympatry tends to result in distinct territorial signals. The endangered pink pigeon, Nesoenas mayeri, endemic to Mauritius, occurs in sympatry with the invasive Madagascan turtle dove, Nesoenas picturata, and their perch-coos are remarkably similar. We conducted playback experiments to test whether pink pigeons respond to coos from Madagascan turtle doves. Pink pigeons responded similarly to playback of conspecific and Madagascan turtle dove coos but not to those of the more distantly related and sympatric Stigmatopelia chinensis. This study stresses the need to identify the impact of N. picturata on the breeding success and conservation of N. mayeri.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0003347214004096

Birdwatch News Article:

Endangered pigeon tricked by coos

http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__15826