Extinct species of parrot that was endemic to Rodrigues
The
Rodrigues parrot
or
Leguat's parrot
(
Necropsittacus rodricanus
) is an
extinct
species of
parrot
that was
endemic
to the
Mascarene
island of
Rodrigues
. The species is known from
subfossil
bones and from mentions in contemporary accounts. It is unclear to which other species it is most closely related, but it is classified as a member of the
tribe
Psittaculini
, along with other Mascarene parrots. The Rodrigues parrot bore similarities to the
broad-billed parrot
of
Mauritius
, and may have been related. Two additional species have been assigned to its
genus
(
N. francicus
and
N. borbonicus
), based on descriptions of parrots from the other Mascarene islands, but their identities and validity have been debated.
The Rodrigues parrot was green, and had a proportionally large head and beak and a long tail. Its exact size is unknown, but it may have been around 50 cm (20 in) long. It was the largest parrot on Rodrigues, and it had the largest head of any Mascarene parrot. It may have looked similar to the
great-billed parrot
. By the time it was discovered, it frequented and nested on islets off southern Rodrigues, where introduced rats were absent, and fed on the seeds of the shrub
Fernelia buxifolia
. The species was last mentioned in 1761, and probably became extinct soon after, perhaps due to a combination of predation by introduced animals,
deforestation
, and hunting by humans.
Taxonomy
[
edit
]
Birds thought to be the Rodrigues parrot were first mentioned by the French traveler
Francois Leguat
in his 1708 memoir,
A New Voyage to the East Indies
. Leguat was the leader of a group of nine
French Huguenot
refugees who colonised
Rodrigues
between 1691 and 1693 after they were
marooned
there. Subsequent accounts were written by the French sailor
Julien Tafforet
, who was marooned on the island in 1726, in his
Relation de l'Ile Rodrigue
, and then by the French astronomer
Alexandre Pingre
, who travelled to Rodrigues to view the
1761 transit of Venus
.
[2]
[3]
[4]
In 1867, the French zoologist
Alphonse Milne-Edwards
described
subfossil
bird bones from Rodrigues he had received via the British ornithologist
Alfred Newton
, which had been excavated under the supervision of his brother, Colonial Secretary
Edward Newton
.
[5]
Among the bones was a fragmentary front part of an upper beak that he identified as belonging to a parrot. Based on this beak, he
scientifically described
and named the new species
Psittacus
rodricanus
. While he found the bone similar to the beaks of the
lories
in the genus
Eclectus
, he preferred to give it a less precise classification than assigning it to that genus, due to the scant remains.
[6]
The
specific name
rodricanus
refers to Rodrigues, which is itself named after the discoverer of the island, the Portuguese navigator
Diogo Rodrigues
.
[7]
Milne-Edwards corrected the spelling of the specific name to
rodericanus
(in a footnote in an 1873 compilation of his articles about extinct birds that included the original description), a spelling which was used in the literature henceforward, but was changed back to
rodricanus
by the
IOC World Bird List
in 2014.
[8]
[9]
After receiving a more complete upper and lower beak which he thought showed the bird to be close to the parrot genus
Palaeornis
, Milne-Edwards moved the species to its own genus
Necropsittacus
in 1873; the name is derived from the Greek words
nekros
, which means dead, and
psittakos
, parrot, in reference to the bird being extinct.
[7]
[10]
In another footnote to his 1873 compilation, Milne-Edwards correlated the subfossil species with parrots mentioned by Leguat.
[8]
In 1875, A. Newton analysed Tafforet's then newly rediscovered account, and identified a description of the Rodrigues parrot.
[11]
In a footnote in an 1891 edition of Leguat's memoir, the British writer
Samuel Pasfield Oliver
doubted that the parrots mentioned were the Rodrigues parrot, due to their smaller size, and suggested they may have been
Newton's parakeet
.
[3]
As Leguat mentioned both green and blue parrots in the same sentence, the British
palaeontologist
Julian Hume
suggested in 2007 that these could either be interpreted as references to both the Rodrigues parrot and Newton's parakeet, or as two
colour morphs
of the latter.
[7]
The current whereabouts of the
holotype
beak are unknown. It may be specimen UMZC 575, a
rostrum
that was sent from Milne-Edwards to A. Newton after 1880, which matches the drawing and description in Milne-Edwards's paper, but this cannot be confirmed.
[7]
In 1879 the German ornithologist
Albert Gunther
and E. Newton described more fossils of the Rodrigues parrot, including a skull and limb bones.
[12]
Remains of the species are scarce, but subfossils have been discovered in caves on the
Plaine Corail
and in
Caverne Tortue
.
[13]
Evolution
[
edit
]
Many
endemic
Mascarene birds, including the
dodo
, are derived from South Asian ancestors, and the British ecologist
Anthony S. Cheke
and Hume have proposed that this may be the case for all the parrots there as well. Sea levels were lower during the
Pleistocene
, so it was possible for species to colonise some of the then less isolated islands.
[2]
Although most extinct parrot species of the Mascarenes are poorly known, subfossil remains show that they shared features such as enlarged heads and jaws, reduced pectoral bones, and robust leg bones.
[7]
In 1893, E. Newton and the German ornithologist
Hans Gadow
found the Rodrigues parrot to be closely related to the
broad-billed parrot
due to their large jaws and other
osteological
features, but were unable to determine whether they both belonged in the same genus, since a head-crest was only known from the latter.
[14]
The British ornithologist
Graham S. Cowles
instead found their skulls too dissimilar for them to be close relatives in 1987.
[15]
Hume has suggested that the Mascarene parrots have a common origin in the
radiation
of the
tribe
Psittaculini
, basing this theory on
morphological
features and the fact that parrots of that group have managed to colonise many isolated islands in the Indian Ocean.
[7]
The Psittaculini may have invaded the area several times, as many of the species were so specialised that they may have evolved significantly on
hotspot islands
before the Mascarenes emerged from the sea.
[2]
Hypothetical extinct relatives
[
edit
]
The British zoologist
Walther Rothschild
assigned two
hypothetical
parrot species from the other Mascarene Islands to the genus
Necropsittacus
;
N. francicus
in 1905 and
N. borbonicus
in 1907. Rothschild gave the original description of
N. francicus
as "head and tail fiery red, rest of body and tail green", and stated it was based on descriptions from voyages to
Mauritius
in the 17th and early 18th century.
N. borbonicus
(named for Bourbon, the original name of Reunion) was based on a single account by the French traveller
Sieur Dubois
, who mentioned "green parrots of the same size [presumably as the
Reunion parakeet
] with head, upper parts of the wings, and tail the colour of fire" on Reunion. Rothschild considered it to belong to
Necropsittacus
since Dubois compared it to related species.
[7]
[16]
[17]
[18]
The two assigned
Necropsittacus
species have since become the source of much taxonomic confusion, and their identities have been debated.
N. borbonicus
later received
common names
such as Reunion red and green parakeet or Reunion parrot, and
N. francicus
has been called the Mauritian parrot. The Japanese ornithologist
Masauji Hachisuka
recognised
N. borbonicus
in 1953, and published a restoration of it with the colouration described by Dubois and the body-plan of the Rodrigues parrot. He did not find the naming of
N. francicus
to have been necessary, but expressed hope more evidence would be found. In 1967, the American ornithologist
James Greenway
suggested that
N. borbonicus
may have been an escaped pet
lory
seen by Dubois, since 16th century Dutch paintings show the somewhat similar East Indian
chattering lory
, presumably in captivity. However, Greenway was unable to find any references that matched those Rothschild had given for
N. francicus
.
[7]
[19]
[20]
In 1987, Cheke found the described colour-pattern of
N. borbonicus
remiscent of
Psittacula
parrots, but considered
N. francicus
to be based on confused reports.
[4]
In 2001 the British writer
Errol Fuller
suggested Dubois's account of
N. borbonicus
could either have referred to an otherwise unrecorded species or have been misleading, and found
N. francicus
to be "one of the most dubious of all hypothetical species".
[18]
In 2007, Hume suggested that Rothschild had associated
N. borbonicus
with the Rodrigues parrot because he had mistakenly incorporated Dubois's account into his description of the latter; he stated the Rodrigues parrot also had red plumage (though it was all-green), and had been mentioned by Dubois (who never visited Rodrigues). Rothschild also attributed the sighting of
N. francicus
to Dubois, repeating the colour-pattern he had described earlier for the Rodrigues parrot, and this led Hume to conclude that the name
N. francicus
was based solely on "the muddled imagination of Lord Rothschild". Hume added that if Dubois's description of
N. borbonicus
was based on a parrot endemic to Reunion, it may have been derived from the
Alexandrine parakeet
, which has a similar colouration, apart from the red tail.
[7]
[16]
Description
[
edit
]
The Rodrigues parrot was described as being the largest parrot species on the island, with a big head and a long tail. Its plumage was described as being of uniform green colouration.
[19]
Its skull was flat and depressed compared to those of most other parrots, but similar to the genus
Ara
. The skull was 50 mm (2.0 in) long without the beak, 38 mm (1.5 in) wide, and 24 mm (0.94 in) deep. The
coracoid
(part of the shoulder) was 35 mm (1.4 in) long, the
humerus
(upper-arm bone) 53 mm (2.1 in), the
ulna
(lower-arm bone) 57 mm (2.2 in), the
femur
(thigh-bone) 49 mm (1.9 in), the
tibia
(lower-leg bone) 63 mm (2.5 in), and the
metatarsus
(foot bone) 22 mm (0.87 in).
[12]
Its exact body length is unknown, but it may have been around 50 cm (20 in), comparable to the size of a large
cockatoo
.
[18]
Its tibia was 32% smaller than that of a female broad-billed parrot, yet the pectoral bones were of similar size, and proportionally its head was the largest of any Mascarene species of parrot.
[7]
The Rodrigues parrot was similar in skeletal structure to the parrot genera
Tanygnathus
and
Psittacula
. The pectoral and
pelvic
bones were similar in size to those of the
New Zealand kaka
, and it may have looked like the
great-billed parrot
in life, but with a larger head and tail. It differed from other Mascarene parrots in several skeletal features, including having nostrils that faced upwards instead of forwards. No features of the skull suggest it had a crest like the broad-billed parrot, and there is not enough fossil evidence to determine whether it had pronounced
sexual dimorphism
.
[7]
There are intermediate specimens between the longest and shortest examples of the known skeletal elements, which indicates there were no distinct size groups.
[12]
Behaviour and ecology
[
edit
]
Tafforet's 1726 description is the only detailed account of the Rodrigues parrot in life:
The largest are larger than a pigeon, and have a tail very long, the head large as well as the beak. They mostly come on the islets which are to the south of the island, where they eat a small black seed, which produces a small shrub whose leaves have the smell of the orange tree, and come to the mainland to drink water ... they have their plumage green.
[7]
Tafforet also mentioned that the parrots ate the seeds of the shrub
Fernelia buxifolia
("bois de buis"), which is endangered today, but was common all over Rodrigues and nearby islets during his visit. Leguat mentioned that the parrots of the island ate the nuts of the tree
Cassine orientalis
("bois d'olive"). Due to a large population of introduced rats on Rodrigues, the parrots, the
Rodrigues starling
, and the
Rodrigues pigeon
, frequented and nested on offshore islets, where the rats were absent.
[7]
Many of the other endemic species of Rodrigues became extinct after the arrival of humans, so the
ecosystem
of the island is heavily damaged. Before humans arrived, forests covered the island entirely, but very little remains today due to
deforestation
. The Rodrigues parrot lived alongside other recently extinct birds such as the
Rodrigues solitaire
, the
Rodrigues rail
, Newton's parakeet, the Rodrigues starling, 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
.
[2]
Extinction
[
edit
]
Of the eight or so parrot species endemic to the Mascarenes, only the echo parakeet of Mauritius has survived. The others were likely all made extinct by a combination of excessive hunting and deforestation by humans. Like mainland Rodrigues, the offshore islets were eventually infested by rats, which is believed to have caused the demise of the Rodrigues parrot and other birds there.
[7]
Cats may also have hunted the remaining birds.
[21]
The rats probably preyed on their eggs and chicks.
[19]
Leguat mentioned use of local parrots as food, but it is uncertain whether the green species was the Rodrigues parrot or a green Newton's parakeet:
[7]
There are abundance of green and blew Parrets, they are of a midling and equal bigness; when they are young, their Flesh is as good as young Pigeons.
[7]
Pingre indicated in 1671 that local species were popular
game
, and found that the Rodrigues parrot was rare:
The perruche [Newton's parakeet] seemed to me much more delicate [than the flying-fox]. I would not have missed any game from France if this one had been commoner in Rodrigues; but it begins to become rare. There are even fewer perroquets [Rodrigues parrots], although there were once a big enough quantity according to Francois Leguat; indeed a little islet south of Rodrigues still retains the name Isle of Parrots [Isle Pierrot].
[7]
Pingre also reported that the island was becoming deforested by
tortoise
hunters who set fires to clear vegetation. Along with direct hunting of the parrots, this likely led to a reduction in the population of Rodrigues parrots. Pingre's 1761 account is the last known mention of the species, and it probably became extinct soon after.
[7]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
BirdLife International (2016).
"
Necropsittacus rodricanus
"
.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
.
2016
: e.T22728851A94998888.
doi
:
10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728851A94998888.en
. Retrieved
19 November
2021
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cheke, A. S.; Hume, J. P. (2008).
Lost Land of the Dodo: an Ecological History of Mauritius, Reunion & Rodrigues
. New Haven and London: T. & A. D. Poyser. pp. 49?73, 181.
ISBN
978-0-7136-6544-4
.
- ^
a
b
Leguat, F. (1891).
Pasfield Oliver, S.
(ed.).
The voyage of Francois Leguat of Bresse, to Rodriguez, Mauritius, Java, and the Cape of Good Hope
. Vol. 1. London: Hakluyt Society. pp. 84?85.
Archived
from the original on 2016-04-11
. Retrieved
2017-02-23
.
- ^
a
b
Cheke, A. S. (1987). "An ecological history of the Mascarene Islands, with particular reference to extinctions and introductions of land vertebrates". In Diamond, A. W. (ed.).
Studies of Mascarene Island Birds
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.
5
?89.
doi
:
10.1017/CBO9780511735769.003
.
ISBN
978-0-521-11331-1
.
- ^
Hume, J. P.; Steel, L.; Andre, A. A.; Meunier, A. (2015).
"In the footsteps of the bone collectors: nineteenth-century cave exploration on Rodrigues Island, Indian Ocean"
.
Historical Biology
.
27
(2): 265?286.
doi
:
10.1080/08912963.2014.886203
.
S2CID
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.
- ^
Milne-Edwards, A. (1867).
"Une Psittacien fossile de l'Ile Rodrigue"
.
Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie
. Series 5 (in French).
8
: 145?156.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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f
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h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
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(PDF)
.
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.
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: 4?34.
doi
:
10.11646/zootaxa.1513.1.1
.
Archived
(PDF)
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. Retrieved
2013-08-05
.
- ^
a
b
Milne-Edwards, A. (1866?1873).
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Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Gill, F.; Donsker, D. (2014).
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. IOC World Bird List.
Archived
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. Retrieved
February 11,
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.
- ^
Milne-Edwards, A. (1873).
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.
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. Series 5 (in French).
19
: 1?31.
Archived
from the original on 2017-02-27
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Newton, A. (1875).
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.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London
: 39?43.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
a
b
c
Gunther, A.; Newton, E. (1879).
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.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
.
168
: 423?437.
doi
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10.1098/rstl.1879.0043
.
- ^
Hume, J. P. (2013). Gohlich, U. B.; Kroh, A. (eds.).
"A synopsis of the pre-human avifauna of the Mascarene Islands"
(PDF)
.
Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution
: 195?237.
Archived
(PDF)
from the original on 2016-03-03
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Newton, E.; Gadow, H. (1893).
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.
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?100.
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{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
)
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.
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.
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c
Fuller, E. (2001).
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.
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.
- ^
Greenway, J. C. (1967).
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. New York: American Committee for International Wild Life Protection 13. p. 127.
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.
- ^
Cheke, A. S. (2013).
"Extinct birds of the Mascarenes and Seychelles ? a review of the causes of extinction in the light of an important new publication on extinct birds"
.
Phelsuma
.
21
: 4?19.
External links
[
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]
Genera of
parrots
and their extinct allies
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Necropsittacus rodricanus
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