Marie Galante Rabbit Owl
| Marie Galante Rabbit Owl | ||||||||||||
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| Athene cunicularia guadeloupensis | ||||||||||||
| ( Ridgway , 1874) |
The Marie Galante rabbit owl ( Athene cunicularia guadeloupensis ) is an extinct subspecies of the rabbit owl ( Athene cunicularia ). It was endemic to the island of Marie-Galante in the Lesser Antilles . Ferdinand Joseph L'Herminier's claim that he discovered the holotype on the island of Guadeloupe is probably incorrect, as the remains of this owl have never been found on that island.
features
The wing length was 152 to 162.5 mm, the tail length 75.5 to 86.5 mm, the beak ridge length 15 to 15.5 mm, the barrel length 42.5 to 46.5 mm and the length of the middle toe 21.6 mm . Compared to the nominate form, the Marie Galante rabbit owl was darker and the wide white bands on each flag of the hand wings were missing. The hand covers were a solid brown. The underside was white with brown cross marks. The top was marked by very small white spots. The outer tail feathers and the inner flags of the hand wings had light ocher bands.
status
The Marie Galante rabbit owl is known from only 6 specimens that are in the Museum of the Boston Society of Natural History and the United States National Museum . The main reason for the extinction of the Marie Galante rabbit owl, which disappeared around 1890, was introduced mongoose .
literature
- Robert Ridgway: Speotyto cunicularia guadeloupensis In: Baird, Brewer and Ridgway: A History of North American Birds , Volume 3, 1874, p. 90, annotation.
- Friedhelm Weick : Owls (Strigiformes): annotated and illustrated checklist. Springer, 2006. ISBN 978-354-035-23-41 : S 196
- Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Volume 70, 1930. Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. P. 199
- Dieter Luther: The extinct birds of the world , Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei / A. Ziemsen Verlag Wittenberg, 3rd updated edition 1986, pages 122–123