Long-legged bunting

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Long-legged bunting
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene
Emberiza alcoveri.jpg
Hypothetical restoration based on known material and related species
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Emberizidae
Genus: Emberiza
Species:
†E. alcoveri
Binomial name
†Emberiza alcoveri
Rando, Lopez, and Segui, 1999

The long-legged bunting (Emberiza alcoveri) is an extinct flightless species of bunting. It was distinguishable by its long legs and short wings, and it inhabited Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. It is one of the few flightless passerines known to science, all of which are now extinct.

Contents

Taxonomy

The yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), a close relative of the long-legged bunting Yellowhammer.jpg
The yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), a close relative of the long-legged bunting

This bunting belongs to the genus Emberiza , and is most closely related to Cabanis's bunting (E. cabanisi) and the yellowhammer (E. citrinella). [1] Emberiza is a genus inside the bunting family, Emberizidae, which is made up of small, seed-eating birds with distinctive bill shapes. [2] The species name, alcoveri, is in honour of J. A. Alcover, who contributed to fossil fauna knowledge and information. [1]

Description

The holotype of the long-legged bunting is a partial skeleton. Seven other associated skeletons were found. [3] The bones are held at the University of La Laguna, in Tenerife, Spain. This species was distinguishable from other buntings as it was larger than existing Emberiza species and had longer legs, shorter wings, and a differently-shaped bill. These features indicate that the long-legged bunting was a ground dweller and likely flightless. This makes it one of the few passerines known or suspected to be flightless, the others being four species of New Zealand wrens: Lyall's wren (Traversia lyalli), the South Island stout-legged wren (Pachyplichas yaldwyni), the North Island stout-legged wren (Pachyplichas jagmi), and the long-billed wren (Dendroscansor decurvirostris). All four of these wrens are also extinct. This bunting was probably omnivorous, like the other species in its genus. It likely ate seeds and invertebrates. However, because of its differently-shaped bill, harder seeds could have been included in its diet. [1]

Distribution and habitat

The long-legged bunting was a native of the Canary Islands. Bones from this species have only been found in the volcanic cave Cueva del Viento, on the island of Tenerife. Other species that lived alongside this bunting include various birds, mammals, and lizards. This species likely lived in the laurel forest or the transition forest, as food would be plentiful and the herb layer would protect against aerial predators. [1]

Extinction

The long-legged bunting had lived in Tenerife during the Upper Pleistocene and the Holocene. Humans arrived over 2,000 years ago, bringing with them invasive species such as goats, pigs, cats, and sheep that may have preyed on the birds or modified their habitat. The Europeans affected Tenerife even more when they arrived in the 1400s, introducing rats and clearing forest for agriculture. The long-legged bunting seems to have been driven to extinction because of these invasive species and the destruction of its habitat. [1]

Related Research Articles

Bunting (bird) Genus of birds

The buntings are a group of Old World passerine birds forming the genus Emberiza, the only genus in the family Emberizidae. They are seed-eating birds with stubby, conical bills.

New Zealand wren Family of birds

The New Zealand wrens are a family (Acanthisittidae) of tiny passerines endemic to New Zealand. They were represented by seven Holocene species in four or five genera, although only two species in two genera survive today. They are understood to form a distinct lineage within the passerines, but authorities differ on their assignment to the oscines or suboscines. More recent studies suggest that they form a third, most ancient, suborder Acanthisitti and have no living close relatives at all. They are called "wrens" due to similarities in appearance and behaviour to the true wrens (Troglodytidae) but are not members of that family.

Black-faced bunting Species of bird

The black-faced bunting is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.

Flightless bird Birds that lost the ability to fly

Flightless birds are birds that through evolution lost the ability to fly. There are over 60 extant species, including the well known ratites and penguins. The smallest flightless bird is the Inaccessible Island rail. The largest flightless bird, which is also the largest living bird, is the ostrich.

Lyalls wren Extinct species of bird

Lyall's wren or the Stephens Island wren was a small flightless passerine belonging to the family Acanthisittidae, the New Zealand wrens. It was once found throughout New Zealand, but when it came to the attention of scientists in 1894, its last refuge was Stephens Island in Cook Strait. Often claimed to be a species driven extinct by a single creature, the wren in fact fell victim to the island's numerous feral cats. The wren was described almost simultaneously by both Walter Rothschild and Walter Buller. It became extinct shortly after.

The long-billed wren was a species of New Zealand wren endemic to the South Island of New Zealand. It was the only species in the genus Dendroscansor. The long-billed wren was a small bird with stout legs and tiny wings. Its reduced sternum suggests that it had weak flight muscles and was probably flightless, like the recently extinct Lyall's wren. Its weight is estimated at 30 g, which makes it heavier than any surviving New Zealand wren, but lighter than the also-extinct stout-legged wren. The bill of this species was both long and curved, unlike that of all other acanthisittid wrens.

South Island stout-legged wren Extinct species of bird

The South Island stout-legged wren or Yaldwyn's wren is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Pachyplichas</i> Extinct genus of birds

Pachyplichas is a genus containing two extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand.

The North Island stout-legged wren or Grant-Mackie's wren is an extinct species of New Zealand wren, a family of small birds endemic to New Zealand.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Rando, J. C.; Lopez, M.; Segui, B. (February 1999). "A New Species of Extinct Flightless Passerine" (PDF). The Condor. 101 (1): 1–13. doi:10.2307/1370440. JSTOR   1370440 . Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  2. ↑ Baptista, Luis F. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. pp. 210–212. ISBN   1-85391-186-0.
  3. ↑ "Fossil records for the family Finches and Allies". KPN.com. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
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