Tanna ground dove
| Tanna ground dove | |
|---|---|
| |
| Female painted in 1774 | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Columbiformes |
| Family: | Columbidae |
| Genus: | Pampusana |
| Species: | †P. ferruginea
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| Binomial name | |
| †Pampusana ferruginea | |
| |
| The female specimen was shot in the forest at Port Resolution, which is the bay west of Ireupuow. | |
| Synonyms | |
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The Tanna ground dove (Pampusana ferruginea), also known as Forster's dove of Tanna, is an extinct
Taxonomy
The taxonomic authority is often given as Wagler (1829).[4] However, although Forster's Descriptiones… was finally printed in 1844, some time after Wagler's treatise, the original description was written in 1775 and thus predates Wagler.[2][3]
This species was formerly in the genus Alopecoenas Sharpe, 1899, but the name of the genus was changed in 2019 to Pampusana Bonaparte, 1855 as this name has priority.[5][6]
Description
The Tanna ground dove was only known from two specimens, which are both now lost. The better-known was a female which was sketched by
The head and the breast of the female were rusty brown. The back was coloured dark red to purple. The wings had a dark green hue, with the primaries brown-grey with narrow pale edges. The abdomen was grey. In the male, the forehead, supercilium and lower part of the head, as well as the throat and the breast were white as in the nominate race of the
When the Forsters analyzed the crop or gizzard of the dead dove they noticed that it contained a wild nutmeg (Myristica inutilis). They searched for this tree on Tanna but their endeavor was not successful. The tree was later determined to be not uncommon in the island's forests but rather small and thus easily overlooked; it is known to the local population as netan.[8]
Extinction
The year of its extinction is unknown, but it can be assumed that the bird disappeared not later than the early 19th century. When Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg saw the female specimen on August 17, 1774 they shot it. The only remaining evidence of its existence, apart from the paintings, is an entry in Forster's notes: "...behind these fields we came into a forest [where] a dove of a new [kind] was shot." Likewise, it is not known why this species became extinct, but introduced rats are a prime suspect.
References
- .
- ^ a b Forster, Johann Reinhold (1844): [Description of Columba ferruginea] In: Heinrich Lichtenstein (ed.), Descriptiones animalium quae in itinere ad Maris australis terras per annos 1772, 1773 et 1774 suscepto collegit, observavit et delineavit Ioannes Reinoldus Forster. Berlin.
- ^ a b Forster, Johann Reinhold (1778–80) Dr. Johann Reinhold Forster's Reise um die Welt, etc.. 4 volumes. Berlin
- ^ Wagler, Johann Georg (1829): Beyträge und Bemerkungen zu dem ersten Band seines Systema Avium (Fortsetzung III). Isis von Oken 22(7): col. 738.
- ^ Bruce, M.; Bahr, N.; David, N. (2016). "Pampusanna vs. Pampusana: a nomenclatural conundrum resolved, along with associated errors and oversights" (PDF). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 136: 86–100.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Pigeons". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ISBN 1-873403-60-7
- ^ Schmid, M. (1970): Florule de Tanna Archived 2003-11-27 at the Wayback Machine. ORSTOM, Nouméa
Further reading
- Day, David (1981): The Doomsday Book of Animals. Ebury, London/Viking, New York. ISBN 0-670-27987-0
- Fuller, Errol (2000): Extinct Birds. Oxford University Press, Oxford, New York. ISBN 0-19-850837-9
- Stresemann, Erwin (1950): Birds collected during Capt. James Cook's Last Expedition. Auk67(1): 66–88.