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Post by another specialist on May 20, 2005 6:32:52 GMT
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Post by Melanie on May 20, 2005 11:53:46 GMT
The Rodriguez Solitaire is known from a large number of bones found on the island of Rodriguez in the Indian Ocean. No mounted specimens of the Rodriguez Solitaire exist. Most of our knowledge of its appearance and behaviour is derived from the account of the French Huguenot François Leguet, who was marooned on the island between 1691 and 1693. Amongst other peculiarities, Leguat described the birds' odd nesting behaviour. For example, a pair would not allow any other Rodriguez Solitaire near the nest. If intruders did appear, males would drive off rival males, while females dealt with females. Whenever a male was confronted with a female intruder it called its partner to chase the stranger off. The Huguenots also praised the birds for their flavour. The young, who were caught in the summer, were considered a particular delicacy. They were easy to catch, due to their inability to fly. Leguat's account was written around 1690. From an anonymous author we know the Rodriguez Solitaire was still quite common in 1730. The birds were heavily hunted by humans and predated by introduced cats. The Rodriguez Solitaire was very rare by 1755, when Cossigny tried to obtain one without success, but was told that the species did still survive. When a French research vessel visited the island in 1961, it also did not find any Rodriguez Solitaires, even though inhabitants claimed that some were still here. If the species still survived in 1761, it probably became extinct shortly after. paintings and bones can be found here: www.birds.mu/Extinct/Solitaire.htmand here piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/search.php?show=12&subj=&offline=&search_type=new&search=pezophaps |
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Post by another specialist on May 20, 2005 12:45:31 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Jun 7, 2005 20:16:03 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Jun 10, 2005 6:34:07 GMT
Rodriguez Solitaire Peculiar, but very tasty The flightless Rodriguez Solitaire Pezophaps solitaria ( Gmelin, 1789) is a somewhat mysterious bird. It is known from a large number of bones found on the island of Rodriguez in the Indian Ocean. Its closest relatives are the Dodo species Raphus cucullatus and Raphus solitarius, which lived on the nearby islands of Mauritius and Réunion, respectively. As with the dodo, no mounted specimens of the Solitaire exist. Most of our knowledge of its appearance and behaviour is derived from the account of the French Huguenot François Leguat, who was marooned on the island between 1691 and 1693. Leguat was clearly enchanted by this strange, flightless bird. Even the map he drew of the settlement he decorated with Solitaires. IMAGE, click here!Bones of Rodriguez Solitaire A peculiar delicacy Amongst other peculiarities, Leguat described the birds' odd nesting behaviour. For example, a pair would not allow any other Solitaires near the nest. If intruders did appear, males would drive off rival males, while females dealt with females. Whenever a male was confronted with a female intruder, it called its partner to chase the stranger off. The admiration of the Huguenots for this endemic bird did not stop at its appearance or peculiar behaviour. They also praised the birds for their flavour. The young, which were caught in summer, were considered a particular delicacy. Hunting was therefore probably the main cause of the Solitaire's disappearance: due to their inability to fly they were relatively easy to catch. Leguat's account was written around 1690. From an anonymous author we know that the species was still quite common in 1730, but when a French research vessel visited the island in 1761, it did not find any Solitaires, even though inhabitants claimed that some were still there. If the species still survived in 1761, it probably became extinct shortly after. IMAGE, click here!Rodriguez Solitaire Photograph by Rosamond Purcell from Swift as a Shadow. © 1999. The museum collection The 14 bones of the Rodriguez Solitaire in the National Museum of Natural History were a gift of professor Alfred Newton from Cambridge. Newton was a specialist on the fossil and extant avifauna of the Mascarenes. Procuring bones of the Solitaire and the Dodo was relatively easy for him, since his brother Edward was Colonial Secretary on Mauritius. Apart from the original material, the museum also possesses a series of 19th-century casts. IMAGE, click here!Photograph by Rosamond Purcell from Swift as a Shadow. © 1999. www.naturalis.nl/300pearls/default.asp |
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Post by another specialist on Oct 26, 2005 4:20:28 GMT
The Rodrigues Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria) was a flightless member of the pigeon family endemic to Rodrigues, Mauritius. It was a close relative of the Dodo. It was first recorded by François Leguat, the leader of a group of French Huguenots who colonised the island from 1691 to 1693. He described the bird in some detail, including its solitary nesting behaviour. The Huguenots praised the birds for their flavour, especially the young ones. Due to hunting and predation by introduced cats the birds soon became scarce, and when Cossigny attempted to get a specimen in 1755 none could be found. The Rodrigues Solitaire probably became extinct sometime in the 1760s. A large number of bones of the bird have been collected, but there are no mounted specimens. Solitaires are distinguished by an unusual large, gnarled knob of bone at the base of the thumb. In life, this knob would have been covered by a thick layer of skin and used as a weapon (a similar, smaller thumb knob is seen in Canada geese). Observations of the solitaire indicate that breeding pairs were highly territorial; presumably they settled disputes by striking each other with the wings. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigues_Solitaire |
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Post by RSN on Nov 13, 2005 16:13:58 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Nov 13, 2005 21:39:02 GMT
nice pic thanks for showing us
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Post by RSN on Jan 28, 2006 19:02:27 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Jan 31, 2006 19:22:53 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Jan 31, 2006 19:25:14 GMT
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Post by RSN on May 20, 2006 18:39:41 GMT
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2006 9:48:17 GMT
I never head anything about sexual dimorphism in Rodriguez Solitaire. But I did. But the only thing I heard was 'maybe sexual dimorphism' that was all !  |
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Post by Carlos on Jun 10, 2006 16:00:17 GMT
In Fuller (2002) Extinct Birds (Foreword - HBW7)
Rodrigues Solitaire Pezophaps solitariaDidus solitarius J. F. Gmelin, 1789
Syst. Nat. 1(2): 728The island of Rodrigues, far out in the Indian Ocean, is one of the Mascarene group and here a dodo-like species evolved from an ancestral pigeon stock. This species has become known as the Rodrigues Solitaire. The Huguenot refugee François Leguat, whose name occurs so regularly in the stories of extinct birds, took a particular liking to this species and it is from his account that most information concerning it is derived. Leguat was marroned on Rodrigues during 1691 and stayed for around two years. He and his small band of followers became entranced by the strange bird they found there and Leguat penned a number of observations of the Solitaire. One of these constitutes the first recorded observation of territorial behaviour in birds: All the while they are sitting...or bringing up their young one, which is not able to provide for itself in several Months, they will not suffer any other Bird of their Species to come within 200 yards round of the place; but what is very singular, is that Males will never drive away the females; only when he perceives one he makes a noise with his wings to call [his] Female, and she drives the unwelcome Stranger away, not leaving it till 'tis without her Bounds. The Female do's the same as Males, whom she leaves to the Male. The only other early authority for the birds of Rodrigues is an anonymous author, usually thought to have been a marooned sailor by the name of Tafforet, who wrote a document that has come to be known as the Relation de l'Île Rodrige. A translation of the part of this document that relates to the Solitaire reads: The Solitary...weights 40 or 50 pounds. They have a very big head, with a...frontlet, as if of black velvet. Their feathers are neither feathers nor fur...of a light grey colour, with a little black on their backs. Strutting proudly about...they preen their plumage...and keep themselves very clean...[They] run with quickness among the rocks, where a man, however agile, can hardly catch them...They do not fly at all, having no feathers to their wings but they flap them and make a great noise...I have never seen but one little one alone with them, and if anyone tried to approach it, they would bite him severely. These birds live on seeds and leaves of trees. Confirmation of the one-time existence of this creature comes froom bones found in caves on Rodrigues. Complete skeletons have been assembled and these show that there was an extraordinary divergence in the size of the sexes with the males being much bigger. The bones aslo confirm some anatomical details that were mentioned by Leguat. The remarks in the Relation indicate that the birds were still plentiful during 1720's, and the document is thought to date from around 1725. However, at some time soon afterwards, they seem to have declined rapidly. during 1761 the Abbé Pingré arrived on the island with the intention of viewing the Transit of Venus. He arrived in time to see the heavenly wonder but not, it seems, in time to see the Solitaire. If the species still existed at this time it was so rare that it stood at the very brink of extinction. Solitaires seem to have been tasty birds and it can only be assumed that settlers who arrived on Rodrigues during the eighteenth century ate them out of existence. |
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Post by RSN on Mar 24, 2007 21:38:30 GMT
Thinking about dodo evolution, I always imagined if is not possible to discover ancestral dodo species in the islands. Did the family is poyfiletic? Here a hypothetycal quickly made picture showing how I imagine the two species evolution (the first grey dove is the common ancestor):  Here, the pictures for my book project:  The images are also avaliable in my deviantArt account ( rsnature.deviantart.com). |
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Post by another specialist on Aug 31, 2007 19:11:46 GMT
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Post by RSN on Sept 15, 2007 18:39:08 GMT
The pic I've redrawed in my vision of it, but I still don't understand that supposed sexual dimorphism...
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Post by another specialist on May 12, 2008 6:30:22 GMT
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Post by another specialist on May 27, 2008 9:40:15 GMT
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Post by another specialist on Jul 22, 2008 6:27:48 GMT
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