Mauke starling

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Mauke starling

Extinct (mid-19th century)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sturnidae
Genus: Aplonis
Species:
†A. mavornata
Binomial name
†Aplonis mavornata
Buller, 1887[2]
Synonyms

The Mauke starling or mysterious starling (Aplonis mavornata) is an extinct

binomen is the result of Buller's
misreading of the name inornata on the specimen label. As he seems to have genuinely believed this spelling to be correct, the binomial, although it has no meaning, is valid.

Description

Its overall length is 7.5 inches (19 cm). Bill from gape 1 inch (2.5 cm), from

remiges and tail. Iris yellow. Feet dusky brownish; bill the same colour or somewhat lighter.[3]

The geographically closest relative is the Rarotonga starling, which is larger and has a greyish body plumage with light grey feather margins. In overall appearance, A. mavornata is closest to the Polynesian starling's subspecies tenebrosus of Niuatoputapu and Tafahi, Tonga; alternatively, it looks much like a much (nearly one-third) smaller, yellow-eyed version of the Samoan starling.

Extinction

There is a lot of mystery surrounding the Mauke Starling. The only known specimen (

Norway rat".[4]
Thus, and considering the vulnerability of other Aplonis species to rat predation, it can be assumed that the species became extinct soon thereafter.

The mystery and its resolution

There was much uncertainty surrounding the specimen, as it had no information on its place of origin or date of collection. Sharpe[5] is the origin of much of this confusion, but it actually started with Buller's 1887 description,[2] when he misread the name on the label. Sharpe corrected this to inornata, but this was both unjustified (as Buller apparently really believed to have read mavornata) and in any case preoccupied, as Salvadori had already named another starling Calornis inornata[6] in 1880. Thus, although Buller's description – a few throwaway lines in an account of the striated starling referring to the unique specimen – is barely sufficient and his name nonsensical, it is nonetheless valid according to ICZN rules.

There exists a drawing by

bowdlerized and misleading edition[12]
where it is only mentioned that they "...saw [...] a starling..." without any details and especially no reference to a specimen, the true origin of the mysterious starling was long overlooked.

In an ironic twist, Forster's bird, which had long puzzled

Pacific
islands.

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710499A94248417.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Buller, Walter L. (1887): "Description of Aplonis mavornata", in A history of the birds of New Zealand (2nd edition), 1: 25. Published by the author, London.
  3. ISBN 0-19-850837-9
  4. ^ a b Jones, Stella M. (editor) (1925): Diary of Andrew Bloxam, naturalist of the "Blonde" on her trip from England to the Hawaiian Islands, 1824–25. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publications 10: 1–96.
  5. ^ Sharpe, Richard Bowdler (1890): Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 13: Sturniformes. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), London.
  6. ^ Today, this bird is classified as Aplonis metallica inornata, the subspecies of the metallic starling occurring on the Cenderawasih Bay islands. According to ICZN rules, a species or subspecies name must only be used once per genus to avoid two taxa having the same name if subspecies are split or species lumped.
  7. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1949.tb02264.x
    .
  8. JSTOR 4080770
    .
  9. ISBN 3-540-03423-4
  10. ^ IUCN (1965): List of birds either known or thought to have become extinct since 1600. IUCN Bulletin 16(Supplement): 1–8.
  11. ^ Olson, Storrs L. (1986). "An early account of some birds from Mauke, Cook Islands, and the origin of the "mysterious starling" Aplonis mavornata Buller" (PDF). Notornis. 33 (4): 197–208.
  12. ^ Graham, Maria (editor) & Byron, Lord George Anson (1827): Voyage of H.M.S. Blonde to the Sandwich Islands in the Years 1824–1825. John Murray, London.

External links

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