Mauritius sheldgoose

Last updated

Mauritius sheldgoose
Alopochen mauritianus.jpg
1893 illustrations of the first known carpometacarpus wing-bone
Status iucn3.1 EX.svg
Extinct  (1698)  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Alopochen
Species:
†A. mauritiana
Binomial name
†Alopochen mauritiana
(Newton & Gadow, 1893)
Mauritius island location.svg
Location of Mauritius
Synonyms
  • Sarcidiornis mauritianusNewton & Gadow, 1893

The Mauritius sheldgoose (Alopochen mauritiana), also known as the Mauritius shelduck, is an extinct species of sheldgoose that was endemic to the island of Mauritius. While geese were mentioned by visitors to Mauritius in the 17th century, few details were provided by these accounts. In 1893, a carpometacarpus wing-bone and a pelvis from the Mare aux Songes swamp were used to name a new species of comb duck, Sarcidiornis mauritianus. These bones were connected to the contemporary accounts of geese and later determined to belong to a species related to the Egyptian goose and placed in the sheldgoose genus Alopochen . The Mauritius and Réunion sheldgoose may have descended from Egyptian geese that colonised the Mascarene Islands.

Contents

One contemporary account states that the Mauritius sheldgoose had wings that were half black and half white, and that the bird was not very large. The species may also be depicted in one illustration. Fossil elements show that it was smaller than the Egyptian goose, but with more robust legs. Little is known about the habits of the Mauritius sheldgoose, accounts indicate they were very tame, were grazers, lived in groups, and usually stayed on the north side of the island except for during the dry season when they were forced to the other side to drink. Their robust legs indicate they were becoming more terrestrial, which is supported by accounts stating they avoided water. The species was considered highly palatable by travellers, and while abundant in 1681, it declined quickly thereafter, being declared extinct in 1698. It was probably driven to extinction due to overhunting and predation by introduced animals, particularly cats.

Taxonomy

Geese were reported by visitors to the Mascarene island of Mauritius in the 17th century, but few details were provided by these accounts. [2] In 1889, the Mauritius government requested exploration of the Mare aux Songes swamp for "historical souvenirs", where vast amounts of dodo remains had earlier been found. The new excavations, under the direction of the French naturalist Théodore Sauzier  [ de ], were successful, and apart from dodo bones, remains of other extinct animals, previously known as well as new species, were found. These bones were sent to the Cambridge Museum, where they were examined and described by the British ornithologist Edward Newton and the German ornithologist Hans Gadow. Based on a left carpometacarpus wing-bone (part of the hand, and the holotype specimen), they determined the existence of a large member of the comb duck genus Sarcidiornis , which they considered a new species due to having been restricted to Mauritius, naming it S. mauritianus. They also considered the incomplete left half of a pelvis to belong to this species. [3] [4]

Because the contemporary accounts of geese on Mauritius did not mention a caruncle (or knob) on their bill as is seen in Sarcidiornis comb geese, the French zoologist Emile Oustalet doubted they belonged in that genus in 1896. [5] [6] When describing the Malagasy sheldgoose (then Chenalopex sirabensis, now in the genus Alopochen ) based on fossils from Madagascar in 1897, the British palaeontologist Charles William Andrews suggested that when more remains were discovered of the Mauritian species, the two might turn out to be the same. [7] While the British zoologist Walter Rothschild noted Oustalet's objection to the species belonging in Sarcidiornis In 1907, he believed that it was merely an oversight that the caruncle was not mentioned in contemporary accounts, and that an allusion to the small size of these geese supported them being Sarcidiornis. [6] The American ornithologist James Greenway listed the bird as a species of Sarcidiornis in 1967. [8]

The related Egyptian goose Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), Lake Ziway, Ethiopia.jpg
The related Egyptian goose

In 1987, the British ornithologist Graham S. Cowles stated that an additional carpometacarpus from the Mare aux Songes then recently identified in the British Museum of Natural History confirmed Andrews' suggestion that the Mauritius bird did not belong in Sarcidiornis, but in the sheldgoose (or shelduck) genus Alopochen, to which the extant Egyptian goose (A. aegyptiaca) belonged. [9] In his 1994 description of the Réunion sheldgoose (then Mascarenachen kervazoi) based on fossils from Réunion, Cowles again listed the Mauritius bird as A. mauritiana, noting that Andrews had implied it was close to the Malagasy sheldgoose. [10] In 1997, the British ornithologists Hywel Glyn Young, Simon J. Tonge, and Julian P. Hume reviewed extinct wildfowl, and noted that the interrelationships of the four extinct sheldgeese from the region of Madagascar and the western Indian Ocean were unclear, and that they may not all have been full species. They also listed the Mauritius sheldgoose as a species of Alopochen. [11]

The French palaeontologist Cécile Mourer-Chauviré and colleagues stated in 1999 that while the Mauritius sheldgoose was similar to the Malagasy and Réunion sheldgeese, it may have been endemic to Mauritius, and may be distinguishable from those species if more remains of it are found. They also moved the Réunion sheldgoose to the same genus as the Egyptian goose and the Mauritius sheldgoose, Alophochen. [4] The British writer Errol Fuller stated in 2000 that while the geese seen on Mauritius by 17th century travellers may be connected to the species described from bones, it is possible that there is no connection. [12] The British ecologist Anthony S. Cheke and Hume suggested in 2008 that the Mascarene sheldgeese were derived from Malagasy forms with African affinities, probably descended from the Egyptian goose after it had colonised the Mascarene islands. They added that fossils of the Mauritius sheldgoose were "extremely rare". [13] In 2013, Hume noted that the first known tarsometatarsus (a lower leg bone) of the Mauritius shelgoose was collected from the Mare aux Songes in 2006, and that he had reidentified a radius (a forelimb bone) as that of the sheldgoose, which had originally been assigned to the Mauritius night heron by Newton and Gadow in 1893. [14]

Reflecting changing historical classifications and definitions, the Mauritius sheldgoose has also been referred to by common names such as Mauritius shelduck and Mascarene swan, with further variations such as Mauritian shelduck and Mascarene sheldgoose. [15]

Description

Illustration of a Dutch farm on Mauritius from 1670, which may include the only contemporary depiction of a Mauritius sheldgoose (between the streams, lower middle right) The Farm at Foul Bay.jpg
Illustration of a Dutch farm on Mauritius from 1670, which may include the only contemporary depiction of a Mauritius sheldgoose (between the streams, lower middle right)

The best contemporary description of the Mauritius sheldgoose, and the only one that indicates what it looked like, is that of the English traveller John Marshall from 1668: [13]

Here are many geese, the halfe of their wings towards the end, are black, and the other halfe white. They are not large but fat and good [to eat]. [2]

The holotype carpometacarpus of the Mauritius sheldgoose has a strongly projecting alular metacarpal (the hand bone to which the alula feathers attach) which ends in a callosity (with a rough and irregular surface). The length of the carpometacarpus is 77 mm (3.0 in), within the size range of the Malagasy sheldgoose, and slightly larger than the largest individual of the Réunion sheldgoose. [4] The carpometacarpus is similar in size to that of the brant goose (Branta bernicla), but considerably smaller than that of the domestic goose (Anser anser domesticus). [3] There is no evidence that the Mauritius sheldgoose and its extinct island relatives were flightless. [11]

Additional fossil elements show that the Mauritius sheldgoose was smaller than the Egyptian goose, but with more robust legs, a feature it had in common with the Réunion sheldgoose. [2] The pelvis of the Mauritius sheldgoose is also similar in size to that of the brant goose, measuring 70 mm (2.8 in) from the front brim of the acetabulum (the socket in the hip where the femur attaches) to the hind end of the ischium (which forms the back part of the pelvis), and generally agrees with the pelvis of ducks and geese. [3] While the bill of the Mauritius sheldgoose is unknown, that of the Réunion sheldgoose was distinct in being shorter than that of the Egyptian goose. [4]

Possible depiction

In 2004, Cheke attempted to identify a drawing of a bird that had been declared a dodo by the British historian Richard Grove in a 1995 book about western colonisation of oceanic islands. The bird was depicted in an illustration of a farm at Foul Bay, Mauritius, which showed agricultural practices, introduced animals, and birds and eels. Grove considered this to be the only illustration showing a dodo in its natural habitat and the last depiction of the species in life, and stated it was drawn by the commandant of the Dutch colony of Mauritius Isaac Lamotius in 1677. Grove believed that the drawing had been made to illustrate the overexploitation of the ebony forest to the Dutch East India Company, and that Lamotius had therefore been a sort of early conservationist. [16] [17]

Cheke, who had previously researched the history of the dodo, found no documentary or ornithological arguments for this identification, and expressed puzzlement over it and other of Grove's conclusions. After contacting the Dutch national archives, he established that the illustration was unsigned, but had been accompanied by a 1670 letter written by the previous commandant G. F. van Wreeden and H. Klingenbergh. Cheke pointed out that the supposed dodo had a short, deep bill, webbed feet, normal wings, and a short, upturned tail, features inconsistent with it being a dodo. He suggested it was instead a better fit for the Mauritius sheldgoose, which would therefore make it the only known contemporary illustration of this bird in life. The new identification also implied that the dodo was already extinct by 1670, though the drawing had been used to support it surviving longer than generally assumed. Cheke identified two other waterbirds depicted in a stream as possible Mascarene teals, and a crow-like bird as a Mauritius bulbul. [16] Cheke and the British palaeontologist Jolyon C. Parish stated in 2020 that the illustration "almost certainly" showed the Mauritius sheldgoose. [18]

Behaviour and ecology

Life restoration of Mauritius sheldgeese (left) and Mascarene teals (lower right) by Julian P. Hume Alopochen kervazoi and Anas theodori.jpg
Life restoration of Mauritius sheldgeese (left) and Mascarene teals (lower right) by Julian P. Hume

Little is known about the habits of the Mauritius sheldgoose. [2] The Dutch soldier Johannes Pretorius' 1660s report about his stay on Mauritius is the most detailed contemporary account of its behaviour:

Geese are also here in abundance. They are a little larger than ducks, very tame and stupid, seldom in the water, eating grass, sometimes 40 or 50 or even a 100 together. When they are being shot, the ones that are not hit by the hail stay put and do not fly away. They usually keep to the north side of the island, far away from where the people live, except in the dry season when they are forced to drink on the other side of the island, and sometimes near the lodge. [19]

Hume and the British historian Ria Winters stated in 2015 that like many geese, the Mauritius sheldgoose was a grazer, and pointed out that Mauritius once had seven endemic species of grass, two of which are now extinct, as well as other species. [19]

Hume suggested in 2017 that the relatively robust legs of the Mauritius sheldgoose may indicate it was becoming more terrestrial, supported by the 1681 ship's log of the President which stated:

Up a little within the woods are several ponds and lakes of water with great numbers of flamingoes and gray teal and geese; but for the geese these are most in the woods or dry ponds. [2]

Many other endemic species of Mauritius were lost after human colonisation of the island, so the ecosystem of the island is severely damaged and hard to reconstruct. Before humans arrived, Mauritius was entirely covered in forests, almost all of which have since been lost to deforestation. [20] The surviving endemic fauna is still seriously threatened. [21] The Mauritius sheldgoose lived alongside other recently extinct Mauritian birds such as the dodo, the red rail, the Mascarene teal, the broad-billed parrot, the Mascarene grey parakeet, the Mauritius blue pigeon, the Mauritius scops owl, the Mascarene coot, and the Mauritius night heron. Extinct Mauritian reptiles include the saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise, the domed Mauritius giant tortoise, the Mauritian giant skink, and the Round Island burrowing boa. The small Mauritian flying fox and the snail Tropidophora carinata lived on Mauritius and Réunion but became extinct in both islands. Some plants, such as Casearia tinifolia and the palm orchid, have also become extinct. [13]

Extinction

Travellers to Mauritius and Réunion made repeat mentions of highly palatable geese and ducks, and geese were listed among the favourite prey of hunters there. Cheke stated in 1987 that the Mauritius sheldgoose were considered abundant in 1681, but quickly declined thereafter; the French explorer François Leguat considered them rare in 1693, and the Dutch governor of Mauritius Roelof Deodati declared them extinct in 1698. Cheke added that since the number of men on these islands was low in the 1600s, it is unlikely they would have been responsible for the extinction of widespread animals, but those limited to certain habitats, like for example geese and ducks, may have been exterminated by hunting, though reduced breeding would probably be due to introduced animals. [22] Cheke elaborated in 2013 that the main culprit was cats, with hunting being secondary, and the species survived introduced rats and pigs. [23] Hume stated in 2017 that the Mauritius sheldgoose probably went extinct due to overhunting and possibly predation on its eggs and chicks by introduced mammals, particularly cats. [2]

Related Research Articles

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

The dodo is an extinct flightless bird that was endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightless Rodrigues solitaire. The two formed the subfamily Raphinae, a clade of extinct flightless birds that were a part of the family which includes pigeons and doves. The closest living relative of the dodo is the Nicobar pigeon. A white dodo was once thought to have existed on the nearby island of Réunion, but it is now believed that this assumption was merely confusion based on the also-extinct Réunion ibis and paintings of white dodos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newton's parakeet</span> Extinct parrot from the island Rodrigues

Newton's parakeet, also known as the Rodrigues parakeet or Rodrigues ring-necked parakeet, is an extinct species of parrot that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues in the western Indian Ocean. Several of its features diverged from related species, indicating long-term isolation on Rodrigues and subsequent adaptation. The rose-ringed parakeet of the same genus is a close relative and probable ancestor. Newton's parakeet may itself have been ancestral to the endemic parakeets of nearby Mauritius and Réunion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Réunion ibis</span> Extinct bird that was endemic to Réunion

The Réunion ibis or Réunion sacred ibis is an extinct species of ibis that was endemic to the volcanic island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The first subfossil remains were found in 1974, and the ibis was first scientifically described in 1987. Its closest relatives are the Malagasy sacred ibis, the African sacred ibis, and the straw-necked ibis. Travellers' accounts from the 17th and 18th centuries described a white bird on Réunion that flew with difficulty and preferred solitude, which was subsequently referred to as the "Réunion solitaire".

<i>Alopochen</i> Genus of birds

Alopochen is a genus of the bird family Anatidae, part of the subfamily Tadorninae along with the shelducks. It contains one extant species, the Egyptian goose, and three or four species which became extinct in the last 1,000 years or so. The Egyptian goose is native to mainland Africa, and the extinct species are from Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Echo parakeet</span> Species of parrot endemic to Mauritius

The echo parakeet is a species of parrot endemic to the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and formerly Réunion. It is the only living native parrot of the Mascarene Islands; all others have become extinct due to human activity. Two subspecies have been recognised, the extinct Réunion parakeet and the living echo parakeet, sometimes known as the Mauritius parakeet. The relationship between the two populations was historically unclear, but a 2015 DNA study determined them to be subspecies of the same species by comparing the DNA of echo parakeets with a single skin thought to be from a Réunion parakeet, but it has also been suggested they did not constitute different subspecies. As it was named first, the binomial name of the Réunion parakeet is used for the species; the Réunion subspecies thereby became P. eques eques, while the Mauritius subspecies became P. eques echo. Their closest relative was the extinct Newton's parakeet of Rodrigues, and the three are grouped among the subspecies of the rose-ringed parakeet of Asia and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphina</span> Extinct subtribe of birds

The Raphina are a clade of extinct flightless birds formerly called didines or didine birds. They inhabited the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, but became extinct through hunting by humans and predation by introduced non-native mammals following human colonisation in the 17th century. Historically, many different groups have been named for both the dodo and the Rodrigues solitaire, not all grouping them together. Most recently, it is considered that the two birds can be classified in Columbidae, often under the subfamily Raphinae. The first person to suggest a close affinity to the doves was Johannes Theodor Reinhardt, whose opinions were then supported by Hugh Edwin Strickland and Alexander Gordon Melville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad-billed parrot</span> Extinct parrot endemic to Mauritius

The broad-billed parrot or raven parrot is a large extinct parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius. The species was first referred to as the "Indian raven" in Dutch ships' journals from 1598 onwards. Only a few brief contemporary descriptions and three depictions are known. It was first scientifically described from a subfossil mandible in 1866, but this was not linked to the old accounts until the rediscovery of a detailed 1601 sketch that matched both the subfossils and the accounts. It is unclear what other species it was most closely related to, but it has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other Mascarene parrots. It had similarities with the Rodrigues parrot, and may have been closely related.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodrigues night heron</span> Extinct species of bird

The Rodrigues night heron is an extinct species of heron that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean. The species was first mentioned as "bitterns" in two accounts from 1691–1693 and 1725–1726, and these were correlated with subfossil remains found and described in the latter part of the 19th century. The bones showed that the bird was a heron, first named Ardea megacephala in 1873, but moved to the night heron genus Nycticorax in 1879 after more remains were described. The specific name megacephala is Greek for "great-headed". Two related extinct species from the other Mascarene islands have also been identified from accounts and remains: the Mauritius night heron and the Réunion night heron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodrigues rail</span> Extinct bird of the rail family that was endemic to Rodrigues

The Rodrigues rail, also known as Leguat's gelinote or Leguat's rail, is an extinct species of the rail family that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues. The bird was first documented from life by two accounts from 1691–93 and 1725–26. Subfossil remains were later discovered and correlated with the old accounts in 1874, and the species was named E. leguati in Leguat's honour. It is generally kept in its own genus, Erythromachus, but has sometimes been assigned to the genus Aphanapteryx along with its close relative the red rail of Mauritius; their relationship with other rails is unclear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red rail</span> Extinct species of flightless rail which was endemic to Mauritius

The red rail is an extinct species of rail that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It had a close relative on Rodrigues island, the likewise extinct Rodrigues rail, with which it is sometimes considered congeneric, but their relationship with other rails is unclear. Rails often evolve flightlessness when adapting to isolated islands, free of mammalian predators, and that was also the case for this species. The red rail was a little larger than a chicken and had reddish, hairlike plumage, with dark legs and a long, curved beak. The wings were small, and its legs were slender for a bird of its size. It was similar to the Rodrigues rail, but was larger, and had proportionally shorter wings. It has been compared to a kiwi or a limpkin in appearance and behaviour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mascarene teal</span> Extinct species of bird

The Mascarene teal, also known as Sauzier's teal and Mauritian duck, is an extinct dabbling duck that formerly occurred on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mascarene coot</span> Extinct species of bird

The Mascarene coot is an extinct species of coot that inhabited the Mascarene islands of Mauritius and Réunion. Long known from subfossil bones found in the Mare aux Songes swamp on the former island, but only assumed from descriptions to also have been present on the latter, remains have more recently been found on Réunion also. Early travellers' reports from Mauritius were, in reverse, generally assumed to refer to common moorhens, but it seems that this species only colonized the island after the extinction of the endemic coot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodrigues parrot</span> Extinct species of parrot that was endemic to Rodrigues

The Rodrigues parrot or Leguat's parrot is an extinct species of parrot that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Rodrigues. The species is known from subfossil bones and from mentions in contemporary accounts. It is unclear to which other species it is most closely related, but it is classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other Mascarene parrots. The Rodrigues parrot bore similarities to the broad-billed parrot of Mauritius, and may have been related. Two additional species have been assigned to its genus, based on descriptions of parrots from the other Mascarene islands, but their identities and validity have been debated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Réunion swamphen</span> Hypothetical extinct species of bird

The Réunion swamphen, also known as the Réunion gallinule or oiseau bleu, is a hypothetical extinct species of rail that was endemic to the Mascarene island of Réunion. While only known from 17th- and 18th-century accounts by visitors to the island, it was scientifically named in 1848, based on the 1674 account by Sieur Dubois. A considerable literature was subsequently devoted to its possible affinities, with current researchers agreeing it was derived from the swamphen genus Porphyrio. It has been considered mysterious and enigmatic due to the lack of any physical evidence of its existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius blue pigeon</span> Extinct bird in the family Columbidae from Mauritius

The Mauritius blue pigeon is an extinct species of blue pigeon formerly endemic to the Mascarene island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. It has two extinct relatives from the Mascarenes and three extant ones from other islands. It is the type species of the genus of blue pigeons, Alectroenas. It had white hackles around the head, neck and breast and blue plumage on the body, and it was red on the tail and the bare parts of the head. These colours were thought similar to those of the Dutch flag, a resemblance reflected in its French common name, Pigeon Hollandais. The juveniles may have been partially green. It was 30 cm (12 in) long and larger and more robust than any other blue pigeon species. It fed on fruits, nuts, and molluscs, and was once widespread in the forests of Mauritius.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue pigeon</span> Genus of birds

The blue pigeons are a genus, Alectroenas, of birds in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. They are native to islands in the western Indian Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mascarene grey parakeet</span> Extinct parrot from Mauritius and Réunion

The Mascarene grey parakeet, Mauritius grey parrot, or Thirioux's grey parrot, is an extinct species of parrot which was endemic to the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the western Indian Ocean. It has been classified as a member of the tribe Psittaculini, along with other parrots from the Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian P. Hume</span>

Julian Pender Hume is an English palaeontologist, artist and writer who lives in Wickham, Hampshire. He was born in Ashford, Kent, and grew up in Portsmouth, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mare aux Songes</span>

The Mare aux Songes swamp is a lagerstätte located close to the sea in south eastern Mauritius. Many subfossils of recently extinct animals have accumulated in the swamp, which was once a lake, and some of the first subfossil remains of dodos were found there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malagasy shelduck</span> Extinct species of bird

The Malagasy shelduck, also known as the Sirabe shelduck, is an extinct species of waterfowl in the shelduck subfamily, described from Late Pleistocene fossils found at Antsirabe in central Madagascar. It is related to the extant Egyptian goose, which is widespread in mainland Africa, and to the extinct Réunion and Mauritius shelducks from the Mascarene Islands.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Alopochen mauritianus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22728658A94993056. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hume, J. P. (2017). Extinct Birds (2 ed.). Croydon: Bloomsbury Natural History. p. 50. ISBN   978-1-4729-3744-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Newton, E.; Gadow, H. (1893). "On additional bones of the Dodo and other extinct birds of Mauritius obtained by Mr. Théodore Sauzier". The Transactions of the Zoological Society of London. 13 (7): 281–302. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1893.tb00001.x.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Mourer-Chauvire, C.; Bour, R.; Ribes, S.; Moutou, F. (1999). "Avian paleontology at the close of the 20th century: The avifauna of Réunion Island (Mascarene Islands) at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 89: 8–11. hdl:10088/2005.
  5. ↑ Oustalet, M. E. (1896). "Notice sur la faune ornithologique ancienne et moderne des Iles Mascareignes et en particulier de I'lle Maurice" [Notice on the ancient and modern ornithological fauna of the Mascarenes and Mauritius in particular]. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie (in French). 8 (3): 102–103.
  6. 1 2 Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds. London: Hutchinson & Co. p. 101. OCLC   191907718.
  7. ↑ Andrews, C. W. (1897). "On some fossil remains of carinate birds from central Madagascar". Ibis. 39 (3): 335. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1897.tb03281.x.
  8. ↑ Greenway, J. C. (1967). Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. New York: American Committee for International Wild Life Protection 13. p. 114. ISBN   978-0-486-21869-4.
  9. ↑ Cowles, G. S. (1987). "The fossil record". In Diamond, A. W. (ed.). Studies of Mascarene Island Birds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 95. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511735769.004. ISBN   978-0-511-73576-9.
  10. ↑ Cowles, G. S. (1994). "A new genus, three new species and two new records of extinct Holocene birds from Réunion Island, Indian Ocean". Geobios. 27 (1): 87–93. Bibcode:1994Geobi..27...87C. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(06)80215-9.
  11. 1 2 Young, H. G.; Tonge, S. J.; Hume, J. P. (1997). "Review of Holocene wildfowl extinctions". Wildfowl. 47 (47): 167–181. ISSN   2052-6458.
  12. ↑ Fuller, E. (2000). Extinct Birds (revised ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 84. ISBN   978-0-8014-3954-4.
  13. 1 2 3 Cheke, A. S.; Hume, J. P. (2008). Lost Land of the Dodo: an Ecological History of Mauritius, Réunion & Rodrigues. London: T. & A. D. Poyser. pp. 43–52, 66, 112. ISBN   978-0-7136-6544-4.
  14. ↑ Hume, J. P. (2013). Göhlich, U. B.; Kroh, A. (eds.). "A synopsis of the pre-human avifauna of the Mascarene Islands". Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: 208.
  15. ↑ "Alopochen mauritiana (Mauritian Shelduck) – Avibase". avibase.bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  16. 1 2 Cheke, A. (2001). "Is the bird a Dodo? The wildlife of a mid-seventeenth century drawing of Dutch Mauritius". Archives of Natural History. 28 (3): 347–351. doi:10.3366/anh.2001.28.3.347.
  17. ↑ Grove, R. (1995). Green imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens, and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600–1860. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 139, 146–148. ISBN   978-0-521-56513-4.
  18. ↑ Cheke, A. S.; Parish, J. C. (2020). "The Dodo and the Red Hen, a saga of extinction, misunderstanding, and name transfer: A review". Quaternary. 3 (1): 4. doi: 10.3390/quat3010004 .
  19. 1 2 Hume, J. P.; Winters, R. (2015). "Captive birds on Dutch Mauritius: Bad-tempered parrots, warty pigeons and notes on other native animals". Historical Biology. 28 (6): 812–822. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1036750. S2CID   84473440.
  20. ↑ Cheke, A. S. (1987). "The legacy of the dodo—conservation in Mauritius". Oryx. 21 (1): 29–36. doi: 10.1017/S0030605300020457 .
  21. ↑ Temple, S. A. (1974). "Wildlife in Mauritius today". Oryx. 12 (5): 584–590. doi: 10.1017/S0030605300012643 .
  22. ↑ Cheke, A. S. (1987). "An ecological history of the Mascarene Islands, with particular reference to extinctions and introductions of land vertebrates". In Diamond, A. W. (ed.). Studies of Mascarene Island Birds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 19, 34. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511735769.003. ISBN   978-0-521-11331-1.
  23. ↑ Cheke, A. S. (2013). "Extinct birds of the Mascarenes and Seychelles – a review of the causes of extinction in the light of an important new publication on extinct birds". Phelsuma. 21: 4–19.
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.