Mauritius gray parakeet
| Mauritius Gray Parakeet † | ||||||||||||
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Mauritius gray parakeet ( Psittacula bensoni ) |
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| Psittacula bensoni | ||||||||||||
| ( Holyoak , 1973) |
The Mauritius gray parakeet ( Psittacula bensoni ) is an extinct species of parrot belonging to the genus Psittacula . In the literature it is also listed under Lophopsittacus bensoni .
The species was described on the basis of skeletal remains or bone fragments (lower jaw, palatine bone and tarsometatarsus ) as well as old travel reports. So far, there has been no evidence of a hide in old museum holdings or that the species was kept in human hands. European seafarers believe that the cause of extinction is hunting for food. The Mauritius gray parakeet had gray plumage, white eyes and a long tail. He showed little fear of humans. Calling decoys were used in the hunt and the parakeets that came flying were killed. Willem van West-Zanen (1602) provided a description of the hunt in his travel report, which is also shown. In 1764, the Governor General of Pondicherry, Réunion and Mauritius David Charpentier de Cossigny (1740-1801) noted that the forests of Mauritius are full of parrots, but this description can also refer to other native parrot species. The last reports of the Mauritius gray parakeet were in the 1730s.
swell
literature
- Julian Pender Hume: Reappraisal of the parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with comments on their ecology, morphology, and affinities. Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand. 2007. ISSN 1175-5326 ( PDF abstract )
- DT Holyoak: An undescribed extinct parrot from Mauritius. In: The Ibis 1973: pp. 417-419. (Initial description)
Web links
- Reconstruction in color
- Lophopsittacus bensoni in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2008. Posted by: Bird, J. & Butchart, S., 2008. Accessed October 30 of 2008.
