Kangaroo Island emu
Kangaroo Island emu | |
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Only known skin, Natural History Museum of Geneva | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
Order: | Casuariiformes |
Family: | Casuariidae |
Genus: | Dromaius |
Species: | D. novaehollandiae |
Subspecies: | †D. n. baudinianus
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Trinomial name | |
†Dromaius novaehollandiae baudinianus Parker, S.A., 1984[2]
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Geographic distribution of emu taxa and historic shoreline reconstructions around Tasmania, D. n. baudinianus in purple | |
Synonyms | |
Casuarius diemenianus Jennings,1827 |
The Kangaroo Island emu or dwarf emu
Taxonomy
It was first recorded in 1802 by Matthew Flinders and reported to be quite common around Nepean Bay. The first bones of the subspecies were discovered in 1903 at The Brecknells, sandhills on the west side of Cape Gantheaume. Initially, there was confusion regarding the taxonomic status and geographic origin of the Kangaroo Island emu, particularly with respect to their relationship to the King Island emu, which were also transported to France as part of the same expedition. The expeditions logbooks failed to clearly state where and when dwarf emu individuals were collected. This led to both taxa being interpreted as a single taxon and that it originated from Kangaroo Island. More recent finds of subfossil material and subsequent studies on King and Kangaroo Island emu confirm their separate geographic origin and distinct morphology.[4]
In his 1907 book
The subspecies is known from historical observer accounts and from bones, including sets deposited at the South Australian Museum. The mounted skin that can be seen at the Natural History Museum of Geneva in Switzerland and the skeleton exhibited in the Natural History Museum of Paris belong to the same individual. The Geneva specimen is thus the only skin left of this taxon.
It is believed that this emu lived in the interior forest.[13]
The subspecies' extinction has been attributed to hunting and habitat clearance through burning.[14]
Relationship with humans
Several emu specimens belonging to the different subspecies were sent to France, both alive and dead, as part of the expedition. Some of these are in European museums today. Le Naturaliste brought one live specimen and one skin of the mainland emu to France in June 1803. Le Géographe collected emus from both King and Kangaroo Island, and at least two live King Island individuals, assumed to be a male and female by some sources, were taken to France in March 1804. This ship also brought skins of five juveniles collected from different islands. Two of these skins, of which the provenance is unknown, are presently kept in Paris and Turin; the rest are lost.[7]
Peron's 1807, three-volume account of the expedition, Voyage de découverte aux terres Australes, contains an illustration (plate 36) of "casoars" by
The Australian museum curator, Stephanie Pfennigwerth, has instead proposed that the larger "male" was actually drawn after a captive Kangaroo Island emu, that the smaller, dark "female" is a captive King Island emu, that the scenario is fictitious, and the sexes of the birds indeterminable. They may instead only have been assumed to be male and female of the same subspecies due to their difference in size. A crooked claw on the "male" has also been interpreted as evidence that it had lived in captivity, and it may also indicate that the depicted specimen is identical to the Kangaroo Island emu skeleton in Paris, which has a deformed toe. The juvenile on the right may have been based on the Paris skin of an approximately five-month-old King Island emu specimen, which may, in turn, be the individual that died on board le Geographe during rough weather, and was presumably stuffed there by Lesueur himself. The chicks may instead simply have been based on those of mainland emus, as none are known to have been collected.[15]
References
- . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ a b c Davies, S. J. J. F. (2003)
- ^ Stattersfield et al. 1998.
- PMID 21494561.
- ^ Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds (PDF). London: Hutchinson & Co. pp. 235–237.
- .
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1.
- ^ C., Jouanin (1959), "Les emeus de l'expédition Baudin", L'Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie, 29: 168–201
- ^ Balouet, J. C.; Jouanin, C. (1990). "Systématique et origine géographique de émeus récoltés par l'expédetion Baudin". L'Oiseau et la Revue Française d'Ornithologie: 314–318.
- ^ Parker, S. A. (1984). "The extinct Kangaroo Island Emu, a hitherto unrecognised species". Bull. B.O.C. 104: 19–22.
- ^ [1] Archived March 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Parker S (1984) The extinct Kangaroo Island Emu, a hitherto-unrecognised species. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 104: 19–22.
- ^ BirdLife International (2008)
- ^ Garnett 1993.
- ^ .
- "Species factsheet: Dromaius baudinianus". BirdLife International. 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- BirdLife International (2008). "Kangaroo Island Emu – BirdLife Species Factsheet". Data Zone. Retrieved 6 Feb 2009.
- Davies, S.J.J.F. (2003). "Emus". In Hutchins, Michael (ed.). Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Vol. 8 Birds I Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group. pp. 83–87. ISBN 978-0-7876-5784-0.
External links
- Species profile at the Australian Government's Department of Environment and Heritage website
- Species page at The Extinction Website
Further reading
- Baxter, Chris (1995): An Annotated List of the Birds of Kangaroo Island (revised edition). South Australia National Parks and Wildlife Service. ISBN 0-7308-0677-4
- Garnett, S. (1993): Threatened and extinct birds of Australia. Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union
- Parker, Shane A. (1984): The extinct Kangaroo Island emu, a hitherto unrecognised species. Bull. Brit. Ornithol. Club 104: 19–22.
- Stattersfield, Alison J.; Crosby, Michael J.; Long, Adrian J. & Wege, David C. (1998) Endemic Bird Areas of the World: Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation.