Columba (genus)

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Columba
2018-03-22 Columba oenas, Jesmond Dene 4.jpg
Stock doves in Northumberland, England
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Subfamily: Columbinae
Genus: Columba
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Columba oenas (stock dove)
Linnaeus, 1758
Diversity
33–35 species
Synonyms

Aplopelia Bonaparte, 1855 (but see text)
TrocazaBonaparte, 1854

Contents

The bird genus Columba comprises a genus of medium to large pigeons. The terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used indiscriminately for smaller and larger Columbidae, respectively. Columba species are mostly termed "pigeons", and in many cases "wood pigeons", but some (including the type species of the genus), are termed "doves". The rock dove (C. livia) has given rise to the majority of domesticated pigeon breeds, such as the racing pigeon and the fantail pigeon, some of which have become feral. Meanwhile, "wood pigeon" by itself usually means the common wood pigeon (C. palumbus).

This genus as understood today is native to the Old World, but some (notably the domestic and feral rock dove) have been introduced outside their natural range, for example in the Americas.

Etymology

The term columba comes from the Latin columba, "a dove", [1] the feminine form of columbus, "a male dove", [2] itself the latinisation of the Greek κόλυμβος (kolumbos), "diver", [3] which derives from the verb κολυμβάω (kolumbaō), "to dive, plunge headlong, swim". [4] The feminine form of kolumbos, κολυμβίς (kolumbis), "diver", [5] was the name applied by Aristophanes and others to the common rock doves of Greece, because of the "swimming" motion made by their wings when flying. [6]

Taxonomy

The genus Columba was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . [7] The type species was designated as the stock dove (Columba oenas) by Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825. [8]

The American pigeons formerly included in Columba are now split off as a separate genus Patagioenas . That the American radiation constitutes a distinct lineage is borne out by molecular evidence; in fact, the genus Patagioenas is basal to the split between the genus Columba and the genus Streptopelia . Columba, together with Streptopelia and the smaller genera Nesoenas and Spilopelia (syn. Stigmatopelia), constitute the dominant evolutionary radiation of the subfamily Columbinae in Eurasia and Africa. The taxonomic status of some African pigeons presently placed here is in need of further study; they are smaller than the usual Columba, and differ in some other aspects. Columba larvata (lemon dove) in particular might be separable in the genus Aplopelia. [9] That notwithstanding, the lineage of the typical pigeons probably diverged from its closest relatives in the Late Miocene, perhaps some 7-8 million years ago (Ma). [10] [11]

Species

African olive pigeon (C. arquatrix) African Olive Pigeon.jpg
African olive pigeon (C. arquatrix)
Nilgiri wood pigeon (C. elphinstonii) Columba elphinstonii.jpg
Nilgiri wood pigeon (C. elphinstonii)
The extinct Lord Howe pigeon (C. vitiensis godmanae) is known only from some travellers' reports LordHoweIslandPigeonByGeorgeRaper.jpg
The extinct Lord Howe pigeon (C. vitiensis godmanae) is known only from some travellers' reports

There are 35 species recognised in the genus, of which two are extinct: [12]

A fossil species, C. omnisanctorum, was described from the Early Pliocene (5.3-3.6 Ma) of the Gargano Peninsula and surroundings, Italy. A supposed "falcon" fossil from nearby contemporary and Middle Pliocene (3.6-2.6 Ma) sites may either be of the same species or another pigeon; the name Columba pisana would apply for it or (if conspecific) for both. C. melitensis is a fossil pigeon from the Late Pleistocene of Malta. Only known from a coracoid described by Richard Lydekker in 1891, whether it is indeed distinct from the living species and not just a paleosubspecies needs to be studied, given its late age. Indeterminate remains of a Columba were also found in Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene (ELMMZ MN 17) deposits at Varshets (Bulgaria) and Šandalja (Croatia). [13]

Another prehistoric pigeon, C. congi, was described from Early Pleistocene remains found in the famous Zhoukoudian caves in China. This, too, needs to be studied regarding whether it is not just an ancestral population of a still-living species. An extinct pigeon, the Mauritian wood pigeon (Columba thiriouxi), was described in 2011. The validity of the species has been challenged and it is not generally recognised. The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus collected in 1910. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbidae</span> Family of birds

Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on plants, and can be taxonomically divided amongst granivores, that feed mostly on the ground on seeds, and frugivores, that feed mostly on fruits, from branches. The family occurs worldwide, often in close proximity with humans, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock dove</span> Species of bird

The stock dove or stock pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It is widely distributed in the western Palearctic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European turtle dove</span> Threatened or vulnerable species of bird

The European turtle dove is a threatened or vulnerable member of the bird family Columbidae, the doves and pigeons. It breeds over a wide area of the south western Palearctic including north Africa but migrates to northern sub-Saharan Africa to winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common wood pigeon</span> Species of large, white/green-naped, arboreal bird of Eurasia

The common wood pigeon, also known as simply wood pigeon, is a large species in the dove and pigeon family (Columbidae), native to the western Palearctic. It belongs to the genus Columba, which includes closely related species such as the rock dove. It has a flexible diet, predominantly feeding on vegetable matter, including cereal crops, leading to them being regarded as an agricultural pest. Wood pigeons are extensively hunted over large parts of their range, but this does not seem to have a great impact on their population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinaceous dove</span> Species of bird

The vinaceous dove is a bird species in the pigeon family Columbidae that widely resident across the Sahel and Sudan (region).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolle's pigeon</span> Species of bird

Bolle's pigeon, Bolle's laurel pigeon or dark-tailed laurel pigeon is a species of the genus Columba of family Columbidae, doves and pigeons, endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain. This bird is named after the German naturalist Carl Bolle, who was the first to distinguish it from the laurel pigeon. This wood pigeon is endemic to the laurel forest habitat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurel pigeon</span> Species of bird

The laurel pigeon or white-tailed laurel pigeon is a species of bird in the Columba genus in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Canary Islands, Spain, and resides in laurel forest habitat. It is the animal symbol of the island of La Gomera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namaqua dove</span> Species of bird

The Namaqua dove is a small pigeon. It is the only species in the genus Oena. It is found over much of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Arabia and Madagascar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Band-tailed pigeon</span> Species of bird

The band-tailed pigeon is a pigeon native to the Americas, being the largest pigeon native to North America. They are a native species throughout the Southwestern United States and Mexico, extending down to Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-crowned pigeon</span> Species of bird

The white-crowned pigeon is a fruit and seed-eating species of bird in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. It is found primarily in the Caribbean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scaled pigeon</span> Species of bird

The scaled pigeon is a large New World tropical dove. It is a resident breeder from southern Mexico south to western Ecuador, southern Brazil, northern Argentina, and Trinidad.

The Réunion pink pigeon is an extinct subspecies of pigeon that formerly lived on the Mascarene island of Réunion. It is known from the description of a rusty-red pigeon given by Dubois in 1674 and a single subfossil humerus that agrees with that of the pink pigeon of Mauritius in generic characteristics, except being slightly longer. Also, Dubois' reference to the bill being red at the base and the eyes being surrounded by a red ring suggest that this species was closely allied to the Mauritius taxon. Dubois' description was as follows:

wild pigeons, everywhere full with them, some with slaty-coloured feathering [Alectroenas?], the others russet-red [N. duboisi]. They are a little larger than the European pigeons, and have larger bills, red at the end close to the head, the eyes ringed with the colour of fire, like pheasants. There is a season when they are so fat that one can no longer see their cloaca [croupion]. They are very good tasting. Wood-pigeons and turtle-doves, as one sees in Europe and as good.

<i>Patagioenas</i> Genus of pigeons

Patagioenas is a genus of New World pigeons whose distinctness from the genus Columba was long disputed but ultimately confirmed. It is basal to the Columba-Streptopelia radiation with their ancestors diverging from that lineage likely over 8 million years ago. While the biogeographic pattern of this group suggests that the ancestors of typical pigeons and turtle-doves settled the Old World from the Americas, Patagioenas may also be the offspring of Old World pigeons that radiated into different genera later, given that the cuckoo-doves (Macropygia) of Southeast Asia also seem to be closely related.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemon dove</span> Species of bird

The lemon dove or cinnamon dove is a species of bird in the pigeon family Columbidae found in montane forests of sub-Saharan Africa. The São Tomé lemon dove is usually treated as a subspecies. The lemon dove has a generally brownish-grey plumage with a cinnamon brown breast. Males have a greenish-glossed neck and white markings on the head, and females and juveniles are rather more brown and have grey facial markings. This dove is a common species, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malagasy turtle dove</span> Species of bird

The Malagasy turtle dove or Madagascar turtle dove is a bird species in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae.

<i>Nesoenas</i> Genus of birds

Nesoenas is a bird genus in the pigeon and dove family, Columbidae. It is often included with the typical turtle-doves in Streptopelia or the typical pigeons (Columba). By those who accepted it, it was usually treated as monotypic, containing only the pink pigeon of Mauritius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Azores wood pigeon</span> Subspecies of bird

The Azores wood pigeon, Columba palumbus azorica is an endemic subspecies of the common wood pigeon, located in the Atlantic Azores islands of Portugal. This endemic subspecies is the only live pigeon present in the laurel forest habitat of the Azores Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritian wood pigeon</span> Extinct species of bird

The Mauritian wood pigeon is an extinct species of the pigeon genus Columba which was endemic to Mauritius. The holotype is a right tarsometatarsus collected in 1910 by Etienne Thirioux.

<i>Columbinae</i> Subfamily of birds

Columbinae is a subfamily of birds from the family Columbidae. Otherwise, four genera Geotrygon, Leptotila, Starnoenas and Zenaida form subfamily Leptotilinae.

References

  1. columba, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus
  2. columbus, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  3. κόλυμβος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  4. κολυμβάω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  5. κολυμβίς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  6. Aristophanes, Birds, 304, on Perseus
  7. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 162.
  8. Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1825). "Observations on the natural affinities that connect the orders and families of birds". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 14 (3): 395–517 [481]. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1823.tb00098.x.
  9. del Hoyo, Josep (2020). All the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. p. 87. ISBN   978-84-16728-37-4.
  10. Johnson, K.P.; De Kort, S.; Dinwoodey, K.; Mateman, A.C.; Ten Cate, C.; Lessells, C.M.; Clayton, D.H. (2001). "A molecular phylogeny of the dove genera Streptopelia and Columba". Auk. 118 (4): 874–887. doi: 10.1642/0004-8038(2001)118[0874:AMPOTD]2.0.CO;2 . hdl: 20.500.11755/a92515bb-c1c6-4c0e-ae9a-849936c41ca2 .
  11. Cheke, Anthony S. (2005). "Naming segregates from the Columba–Streptopelia pigeons following DNA studies on phylogeny". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 125 (4): 293–295.
  12. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Pigeons". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. Mlíkovský (2002): pp.221-222.
  14. del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E., eds. (2020). "Mauritius Woodpigeon (Columba thiriouxi)" . Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.mauwop1.01. S2CID   243501558 . Retrieved 1 March 2020.

Sources