Rodrigues starling
Rodrigues starling | |
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The lectotype skull and other bones as depicted in the 1879 description
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sturnidae |
Genus: | †Necropsar Günther & Newton, 1879 vide Slater |
Species: | †N. rodericanus
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Binomial name | |
†Necropsar rodericanus Günther & Newton, 1879
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Location of Rodrigues | |
Synonyms | |
The Rodrigues starling (Necropsar rodericanus) is an
The Rodrigues starling was 25–30 centimetres (10–12 inches) long, and had a stout beak. It was described as having a white body, partially black wings and tail, and a yellow bill and legs. Little is known about its behaviour. Its diet included eggs and dead tortoises, which it processed with its strong bill. Predation by rats introduced to the area was probably responsible for the bird's extinction some time in the 18th century. It first became extinct on mainland Rodrigues, then on Île Gombrani, its last refuge.
Taxonomy
In 1725, the French sailor
In 1900, the English scientist
Misidentifications
In 1898, the British naturalist
Hachisuka believed the
In 1987, the British ornithologist Graham S. Cowles prepared a manuscript that described a new species of Old World babbler, Rodriguites microcarina, based on an incomplete sternum found in a cave on Rodrigues. In 1989, the name was mistakenly published before the description, making it a nomen nudum. Later examination of the sternum by Hume showed that Rodriguites microcarina was identical to the Rodrigues starling.[6]
Evolution
In 1943, the American ornithologist
Extant East Asian starlings, such as the Bali myna (Leucopsar rothschildi) and the white-headed starling (Sturnia erythropygia), have similarities with these extinct species in colouration and other features. As the Rodrigues and Mauritius starlings seem to be more closely related to each other than to the hoopoe starling, which appears to be closer to Southeast Asian starlings, there may have been two separate colonisations of starlings in the Mascarenes from Asia, with the hoopoe starling being the latest arrival. Apart from Madagascar, the Mascarenes were the only islands in the south-west Indian Ocean that contained native starlings. This is probably due to the isolation, varied topography and vegetation of these islands.[12]
Description
The Rodrigues starling was large for a starling, being 25–30 cm (10–12 in) in length. Its body was white or greyish white, with blackish-brown wings, and a yellow bill and legs.[2] Tafforet's complete description of the bird reads as follows:
A little bird is found which is not common, for it is not found on the mainland. One sees it on the islet au Mât [Ile Gombrani], which is to the south of the main island, and I believe it keeps to that islet on account of the birds of prey which are on the mainland, as also to feed with more facility on the eggs of the fishing birds which feed there, for they feed on nothing else but eggs or turtles dead of hunger, which they well know how to tear out of their shells. These birds are a little larger than a blackbird [Réunion bulbul (
Hypsipetes borbonicus)], and have white plumage, part of the wings and tail black, the beak yellow as well as the feet, and make a wonderful warbling. I say a warbling, since they have many and altogether different notes. We brought up some with cooked meat, cut up very small, which they eat in preference to seed.[a][2][23]
Tafforet was familiar with the fauna of Réunion, where the related hoopoe starling lived. He made several comparisons between the faunas of different locations, so the fact that he did not mention a crest on the Rodrigues starling indicates that it was absent. His description of their colouration is similar.[6]
The skull of the Rodrigues starling was similar to and about the same size as that of the hoopoe starling, but the skeleton was smaller. Though the Rodrigues starling was clearly able to fly, its sternum was smaller compared to that of other starlings; it may not have required powerful flight, due to the small area and topography of Rodrigues. The two starlings differed mainly in details of the skull, jaws, and sternum. The
Compared to the other Mascarene starlings, the skull of the Rodrigues starling was relatively compressed from top to bottom, and it had a wide
The coracoid of the Rodrigues starling was small, relatively gracile, and was otherwise identical to that of the hoopoe starling, measuring 27.5 mm (1.08 in). The keel of the sternum (breast-bone) was similar to that of the hoopoe starling, though the front part was 1 mm lower. The wing and leg bones did not differ much from those of the hoopoe starling and other starlings; the length of the forearm of the hoopoe starling was somewhat longer relatively to the humerus than that of the Rodrigues starling, while other measurements were roughly the same. The humerus was gracile and had a curved shaft, and measured 32–35 mm (1.3–1.4 in). The ulna was small, relatively gracile, and had distinct
Behaviour and ecology
Little is known about the behaviour of the Rodrigues starling, apart from Tafforet's description, from which various inferences can be made. The robustness of its limbs and the strong jaws with the ability to gape indicates that it foraged on the ground. Its diet may have consisted of the various snails and invertebrates of Rodrigues, as well as scavenged items.[2] Rodrigues had large colonies of seabirds and now-extinct Cylindraspis land tortoises, as well as marine turtles, which would have provided a large amount of food for the starling, particularly during the breeding seasons. Tafforet reported that the pigeons and parrots on the offshore southern islets only came to the mainland to drink water, and Leguat noted that the pigeons only bred on the islets due to persecution from rats on the mainland; the starling may have also done this. Originally, the Rodrigues starling may have been widely distributed on Rodrigues, with seasonal visits to the islets. Tafforet's description also indicates that it had a complex song.[6]
The stouter build and more bent shape of the mandible suggest that the Rodrigues starling used greater force than the hoopoe starling when searching and perhaps digging for food. It probably also had the ability to remove objects and forcefully open entrances when searching for food; it did this by inserting its wedge-shaped bill and opening its mandibles, as other starlings and crows do. This ability supports Tafforet's observation that the bird fed on eggs and dead tortoises.[7] It could have torn dead, presumably juvenile, turtles and tortoises out of their shells. Tafforet did not see any Rodrigues starlings on the mainland, but he stated that they could easily be reared by feeding them meat, which indicates that he brought young birds from a breeding population on Île Gombrani.[2] Tafforet was marooned on Rodrigues during the summer and was apparently able to procure juvenile individuals; some other Rodrigues birds are known to breed at this time, so it is likely that the starling did the same.[6]
Many other species endemic to Rodrigues became extinct after humans arrived, and the island's ecosystem is now heavily damaged. Before humans arrived, forests completely covered the island, but very little remains today. The Rodrigues starling lived alongside other recently extinct birds, such as the Rodrigues solitaire, the Rodrigues parrot, Newton's parakeet, the Rodrigues rail, the Rodrigues scops owl, the Rodrigues night heron, and the Rodrigues pigeon. Extinct reptiles include the domed Rodrigues giant tortoise, the saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise, and the Rodrigues day gecko.[24]
Extinction
Leguat mentioned that pigeons only bred on islets off Rodrigues, due to predation from rats on the mainland. This may be the reason why Tafforet only observed the Rodrigues starling on an islet. By Tafforet's visit in 1726, the bird must have either been absent or very rare on mainland Rodrigues. Rats - constituting an Invasive species - could have arrived in 1601, when a Dutch fleet surveyed Rodrigues. The islets would have been the last refuge for the bird, until the rats colonised them, too. The Rodrigues starling was extinct by the time French scientist Alexandre Guy Pingré visited Rodrigues during the French 1761 Transit of Venus expedition.[2]
The large populations of tortoises and marine turtles on Rodrigues resulted in the export of thousands of animals, and cats were introduced to control the rats, but the cats attacked the native birds and tortoises as well. The Rodrigues starling was already extinct on the mainland by this time. Rats are adept at crossing water, and inhabit almost all islets off Rodrigues today. At least five species of Aplonis starlings have become extinct in islands of the Pacific Ocean, and rats also contributed to their demise.[12]
Notes
- ^ Tafforet's original French description is as follows: "On trouve un petit oiseau qui n'est pas fort commun, car il ne se trouve pas sur la grande terre; on en vout sur l'île au Mât, qui est au sud de la grande terre, et je crois qu'il se tient sur cette île à cause des oiseaux de proie qui sont à la grande terre, comme aussi pur vivre avec plus de facilité de oefs ou quelques tortues mortes de faim qu'ils savent assez bien déchirer. Ces ouiseaux sont un peu plus gros qu'un merle et ont le plumage blanc, une partie des aîles et de la queue noire, le bec jaune aussi bein que les pattes, et ont un ramage merveillex; je dis un ramage quoiqu'ils en aient plusieurs, et tous différents, et chacun de plus jolis. Nous en avons nourri quelques uns avec de la viande cuite hachée bien menu, qu'ils mangeaient préférablement aux graines de bois."[5]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1.
- .
- ISBN 978-0-8014-3954-4.
- ^ a b Newton, A. (1875). "Additional Evidence as to the Original Fauna of Rodriguez". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1875: 39–43.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hume, J. P. (2014). pp. 44–51.
- ^ .
- S2CID 128901896.
- ^ Shelley, G. E. (1900). The birds of Africa comprising all the species which occur in the Ethiopian region. London: R.H. Porter. p. 342.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-486-21869-4.
- ISBN 9780511735769.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ a b c d Hume, J. P. (2014). pp. 55–58.
- Hume, J. P.(2005). "Contrasting taphofacies in ocean island settings: the fossil record of Mascarene vertebrates". Proceedings of the International Symposium "Insular Vertebrate Evolution: The Palaeontological Approach". Monografies de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears. 12: 129–144.
- ^ Forbes, H. O. (1898). "On an apparently new, and supposed to be extinct, species of bird from the Mascarene Islands, provisionally referred to the genus Necropsar". Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums. 1: 28–35.
- ^ Rothschild, W. (1907). Extinct Birds. London: Hutchinson & Co. pp. 5–6.
- ^ Hachisuka, M. (1953). The Dodo and Kindred Birds, or, The Extinct Birds of the Mascarene Islands. London: H. F. & G. Witherby.
- ^ a b Olson, S. L.; Fleischer, R. C.; Fisher, C. T.; Bermingham, E. (2005). "Expunging the 'Mascarene starling' Necropsar leguati: archives, morphology and molecules topple a myth". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 125: 31–42.
- ^ Hachisuka, M. (1937). "Extinct chough from Rodriguez". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 50: 211–213.
- ISBN 978-0521113311.
- ^ Amadon, D. (1943). "Genera of starlings and their relationships" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (1247): 1–16.
- ^ Amadon, D. (1956). "Remarks on the starlings, family Sturnidae" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (1803): 1–41.
- S2CID 56403448.
- ^ Tafforet, J. (1891). "Relation de l'ile Rodrigue". In Oliver, S. P. (ed.). The Voyage of François Leguat of Bresse, to Rodriguez, Mauritius, Java, and the Cape of Good Hope. Vol. 2. London: Hakluyt Society. p. 335.
- ISBN 978-0-7136-6544-4.
Works cited
- Hume, J. P. (2014). "Systematics, morphology, and ecological history of the Mascarene starlings (Aves: Sturnidae) with the description of a new genus and species from Mauritius" (PDF). PMID 25112426.
External links
- Media related to Necropsar rodericanus at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Necropsar rodericanus at Wikispecies