Double-banded Argus Pheasant

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Argus pheasant feathers and one double-banded argus pheasant feather (No. 4 from left)

The double-banded argus pheasant or double- spotted argus pheasant ( Argusianus bipunctatus ) is a most likely invalid species of pheasant of unknown origin, known only through part of a male's hand - wing spring . This nib was discovered in a cargo for a milliner and described by Thomas Waterman Wood in the Natural History Museum's magazine The Annals and Magazine of Natural history: Zoology, Botany, and Geology in 1871 .

In his consideration of this species, William Robert Ogilvie-Grant wrote in 1897: “It differs so perfectly from the above species (note: Argus argus and Argus grayi ), both in its markings and in the shape of the quill , that one can assign it to an independent species without hesitation, regardless of the somewhat fragmentary evidence. The general coloration is similar to the hand-wing quill of Argus argus and Argus grayi , however, a reddish-brown band with a fine, white dot pattern extends on both the inner and outer vane. The spring shaft is very narrow. "

The taxonomic classification of this bird is still controversial today. In 1951 Jean Delacour named the island of Java as a presumed area of ​​origin. In 1983 ornithologist Geoffrey Davison suspected that Argusianus bipunctatus could be an extinct, flightless species of Tioman . In a reply to Davison's study, the ornithologist Kenneth Carroll Parkes questioned the validity of Argusianus bipunctatus and viewed this feather as merely an abnormal feather of the Argus pheasant . In 2002, Steve Madge and Philip McGowan argued that the structure and pattern of this feather were too different from that of the Argus Pheasant to be considered a deviant Argus Pheasant.

After a new study in 2009 showed that Argusianus bipunctatus is only an abnormal specimen of the Argus pheasant, the IUCN removed the double-banded Argus pheasant from the Red List in 2012.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ingo Krumbiegel: Of new and undiscovered animals Kosmos, Stuttgart, 1950
  2. ↑ William Robert Ogilvie-Grant: A Handbook of the Game-birds. 1897, pp. 74-75.
  3. ^ J. Delacour: The pheasants of the world. London: Country Life. 1951.
  4. ^ GWH Davison: Notes on the extinct Argusianus bipunctatus (Wood). In: Bull. Brit. Ornithole. Club. 103, 1983, pp. 86-88.
  5. ↑ Kenneth C. Parkes: [Review of] Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. In: Journal of Field Ornithology. 63 (2), 1992, pp. 228-235.
  6. ↑ Steve Madge, Phil McGowan: A Guide to the Pheasants, Partridges, Quails, Grouse, Guineafowl, Buttonquails, and Sandgrouse of the World. Prince University Press, 2002.
  7. ^ GWH Davison, Phil McGowan: Asian enigma: Is the Double-banded Argus Argusianus bipunctatus a valid species? In: BirdingASIA. 12, 2009, p. 94.

literature

  • Errol Fuller: Extinct Birds . Oxford University Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8160-1833-2 .
  • William Robert Ogilvie-Grant: A Handbook of the Game-birds . WH Allen & Co, London 1897.
  • Kenneth C. Parkes: [Review of] Sibley & Monroe: Distribution and taxonomy of birds of the world. In: Journal of Field Ornithology. 63 (2), 1992, pp. 228-235. (PDF full text)
  • Thomas Waterman Wood: On a new Species of Argus Pheasant . In: The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology being a continuation of the Annals combined with Loudon and Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History . tape 8 , 1871, p. 67-68 ( online [accessed June 9, 2012]).