Mangareva reed warbler

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Mangareva reed warbler
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Acrocephalidae
Genus: Acrocephalus
Species:
A. astrolabii
Binomial name
Acrocephalus astrolabii
Holyoak & Thibault, 1978

The Mangareva reed warbler or Astrolabe reed warbler (Acrocephalus astrolabii) is a presumed extinct songbird that existed on Mangareva in the Gambier Islands. It is known from only two specimens, and is believed to have gone extinct in the mid-19th century, likely due to deforestation and the introduction of exotic predators. [2]

Contents

Description

The Mangareva reed warbler was 17 cm (7 in) long. It was generally dull greyish-olive above with pale yellowish eyebrow and underparts, and a dark line through the eye. The bill was dark from above and buff from below, the iris dark brown, and the legs and feet grey. The female was slightly smaller than the male. [2]

The species was very similar to the also extinct Guam reed warbler (A. luscinius), but differed in its larger size, relatively shorter bill, and extraordinarily stout feet and claws. [2]

Taxonomic history

Both specimens were collected in an unknown date by Jules Dumont d'Urville, who visited the South Pacific aboard the French ship Astrolabe in 1826-1829 and again on the Zélée in 1838-1839. They were only studied and recognized as a new species by Holyoak and Thibault a century and a half later. [2]

D'Urville recorded the locality of collection of the first specimen as "Mangereva" in the Gambier Islands and the second as "Nouhera" (Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands). This was considered an error by Holyoak and Thibault, due to the great distance between both islands and the similarity of the species to warblers from Micronesia. Because the Astrolabe was known to have visited Losap, Truk, Guam, Yap, and Pelelin in Micronesia, and other warbler species are known from Guam and Truk, they hypothesized that the species was native to Yap, where no ornithological survey was made until 1872, presumably after the native warbler had become extinct. The Saipan reed warbler (A. hiwae) was named as its closest extant relative. [2]

However, mitochondrial DNA and morphological analysis in 2011 showed that the Astrolabe reed warbler was only distantly related to the Saipan reed warbler and much closer to the Northern Marquesan reed warbler (A. percernis), making a strong biogeographic case for the species to have come from the Gambier Islands after all. The authors of the study also found travellers accounts and descriptions of warblers collected in the Gambier Islands that were subsequently lost, and evidence that the Marquesan native name for reed warblers, komako, was still used in the islands in 1934. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Acrocephalus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

The Acrocephalus warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus Acrocephalus. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are sometimes called marsh warblers or reed warblers, but this invites confusion with marsh warbler and reed warbler proper, especially in North America, where it is common to use lower case for bird species.

The Eiao Marquesan warbler is a subspecies of the northern Marquesan reed warbler found only in the dry upland forest on Eiao in the northern Marquesas Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The Australian reed warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus and is the only Acrocephalus species native to Australia. It has also been observed in Papua New Guinea and nearby islands. The name Acrocephalus refers to the peaked crown found on reed warblers in this genus and can be translated to mean "topmost head" in Greek. The species name australis is translated to mean "southern" in Latin, and refers to the species range, Australia. In its western range the Australian reed warbler is also known as "Koordjikotji" in the local Aboriginal language of Perth and its surrounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guam kingfisher</span> Species of kingfisher from the United States Territory of Guam

The Guam kingfisher is a species of kingfisher from the United States Territory of Guam. It is restricted to a captive breeding program following its extinction in the wild due primarily to predation by the introduced brown tree snake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nightingale reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The nightingale reed warbler, or Guam reed-warbler, is an extinct songbird that was endemic to Guam.

Mangareva, Mangarevan is a Polynesian language spoken by about 600 people in the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia and by Mangarevians emigrants on the islands of Tahiti and Moorea, located 1,650 kilometres (1,030 mi) to the North-West of the Gambier Islands.

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

The Acrocephalidae are a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cook reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The Cook reed warbler or Cook Islands reed warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It is native to the southeastern Cook Islands. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, swamps, and rural gardens. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The Caroline reed warbler or Caroline Islands reed warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It is found only on the Caroline Islands in Micronesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden white-eye</span> Bird in the white-eye family from the Northern Mariana Islands

The golden white-eye is a species of bird in the white-eye family, Zosteropidae. It is the only species within the genus Cleptornis. The golden white-eye was once considered to be a honeyeater in the family Meliphagidae and although it is now known to be a white-eye, its position within that family is still uncertain. The species is restricted to the islands of Saipan and Aguijan in the Northern Mariana Islands, where it is sympatric and competes with the related bridled white-eye. The golden white-eye has golden plumage and a pale eye-ring. It feeds on insects, fruit, and nectar and forages in pairs or small family groups. The bird is monogamous and lays two eggs in a small cup nest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micronesian myzomela</span> Species of bird

The Micronesian myzomela is a species of bird in the honeyeater family Meliphagidae. The species forms a superspecies with a number of related and similar looking island and mainland myzomelas across the Pacific and Australasia. It in turn is composed of seven insular subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Marquesan reed warbler</span> Species of bird


The southern Marquesan reed warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saipan reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The Saipan reed warbler is a critically endangered songbird of the Northern Mariana Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Marquesan reed warbler</span> Species of bird

The northern Marquesan reed warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. It was formerly considered conspecific with the southern Marquesan reed warbler, and together known as the Marquesan reed warbler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garrett's reed warbler</span> Species of bird

Garrett's reed warbler, sometimes called Society Islands reed warbler or Forster's reed-warbler was a songbird in the genus Acrocephalus. Formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage (Sylviidae), it is now in the newly recognized marsh warbler family Acrocephalidae. It was endemic to Raiatea and Huahine in the Society Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nauru reed warbler</span> Passerine bird endemic to the Pacific island of Nauru

The Nauru reed warbler is a passerine bird endemic to the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two native breeding land-birds on Nauru and it is the only passerine found on the island. It is related to other Micronesian reed warblers, all of which evolved from one of several radiations of the genus across the Pacific. Related warblers on nearby islands include the Caroline reed warbler, with which the Nauru species was initially confused, and the nightingale reed warbler, which was formerly sometimes considered the same species.

The Aguiguan reed warbler or Aguijan reed warbler was a bird that originally occurred on the Northern Mariana Island Aguigan. It is considered a subspecies of the nightingale reed warbler by some taxonomists. Of this subspecies there never have been reports of a substantial population. In 1982 only four up to possibly 15 birds of the subspecies have been counted, and since 1995 none has been sighted, despite extended efforts to find specimens.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2017). "Acrocephalus astrolabii". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . IUCN. 2017: e.T103780156A119547838. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103780156A119547838.en . Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hume, J.P. (2017) Extinct Birds. Bloomsbury Publishing, 560 pages.