Mangarevan whistler

Last updated

Mangarevan whistler
Status iucn3.1 EX.svg
Extinct  (Late 19th century?)  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pachycephalidae
Genus: Pachycephala
Species:
†P. gambierana
Binomial name
†Pachycephala gambierana
Gray, 1843 (?)
Synonyms
  • Acrocephalus gambieranusCibois et al., 2011
  • Eopsaltria gambieranus(Lesson, 1844)
  • Lanius gambieranusLesson, 1844

The mangarevan whistler (?Pachycephala gambierana) is a dubious [1] [2] species of extinct bird in the family Pachycephalidae that was once found in Mangareva in French Polynesia.

Contents

Discovery and extinction

It is a mysterious bird with no known specimens existing today. [2] A single specimen was collected before 1840 by Pierre Adolphe Lesson during French expeditions to the island of Mangareva, French Polynesia. [3] [4]

The holotype was in the collection of Abeillé de Bordeaux, [5] and a painting of the specimen was prepared by Charles Thélot de Rochefort, with both the painting and the specimen being lost today. René Lesson was the only person to study the specimen before it was lost, having done so in 1844. [5]

Extinction

The Mangarevan whistler was native to the island of Mangareva and it is believed to have gone extinct during the late 19th century, almost certainly after 1840. [6] A 1922 expedition to Mangareva was unable to locate the species. [1]

Classification

The mangarevan whistler is tentatively classified as a species of Pachycephala . [1] It was initially described as a shrike known as Lanius gambieranus by Lesson (1844), then it was classified as an Eopsaltria "robin", [7] [8] and ?P. gambierana may actually instead be an Acrocephalus warbler, potentially being synonymous with Acrocephalus astrolabii . [2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 D. T. Holyoak; J.-C. Thibault. (1984). Contribution à l’étude des oiseaux de Polynésie orientale. Mémoires du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle 127(1): 1-209.
  2. 1 2 3 Alice Cibois; Jon S. Beadell; Gary R. Graves; Eric Pasquet; Beth Slikas; Sarah A. Sonsthagen; Jean-Claude Thibault; Robert C. Fleischer. (2011). Charting the course of reed-warblers across the Pacific islands. Journal of Biogeography 38(10): 1963-1975.
  3. ↑ Lesson, P.-A. (1844a). Voyage to the Mangareva Islands (Oceania). Mercier and Devois, Rochefort.
  4. ↑ L'Écho du monde savant et l'Hermès : journal analytique des nouvelles et des cours scientifiques. Vol. 1844. 1844.
  5. 1 2 Lesson, R.-P. (1844b). LXXX Lanius gambieranus sp. nov. in Descriptive catalogue of new, rare or little-known birds from the Abeillé collection. Echo du Monde savant: 232
  6. ↑ "Lanius gambieranus R.-P. Lesson, 1844". The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database.
  7. ↑ Hartl. Wiegm. Arch. für Naturg. 1852, p. 133.
  8. ↑ Gray, George Robert. (1859). Catalogue of the birds of the tropical islands of the Pacific Ocean in the collection of the British Museum. London: printed by order of the Trustees
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.