Plain star

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Plain star
Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Family : Starlings (Sturnidae)
Subfamily : Mainatinae
Genre : Singing Starlings ( Aplonis )
Type : Plain star
Scientific name
Aplonis mavornata
Buller , 1887

The simplicity Star ( Aplonis mavornata ) is an extinct species of bird in the family of starlings . He was endemic to the island of Mauke, one of the Cook Islands . The type epithet “mavornata” is the result of Walter Lawry Buller's incorrect reading of the binomial “inornata” on the identification label of the specimen copy. Since Buller was convinced that his spelling was correct when it was first scientifically described in 1887, it is to be regarded as valid according to the International Rules for Zoological Nomenclature .

features

The simple star reached a length of 19.2 centimeters. The beak ridge length was 2.56 centimeters, the barrel length 2.74 centimeters, the tail length 6.4 centimeters, the wing length 10.5 centimeters and the wingspan 32 centimeters. The top and bottom were blackish brown with lighter brown feather edges. The head showed a faint brownish sheen. The wings of the hand and the tail were darker. The iris was yellow. The feet were dark brown, the beak light brown.

The geographically closest relative is the Rarotonga star ( Aplonis cinerascens ), which is larger and has grayish plumage with light gray feather edges. In its overall appearance, the plain star looks the most similar to the South Sea star subspecies Aplonis tabuensis tenebrosus from the islands of Niuatoputapu and Tafahi in the Kingdom of Tonga . The Samoan star ( Aplonis atrifusca ) is about a third larger and has a black iris.

die out

The only known specimen, which is in the Natural History Museum in London and is registered under catalog number 12.192 , was shot at Mauke on August 9, 1825 by Andrew Bloxam , a naturalist from the "HMS Blonde". Bloxam noted that he was only two years after the arrival of Europeans saw "large accumulations of rats with long tails extending from the Pacific rat under scheideten in coat color and size but the brown rat gleichten" . In view of the endangerment of other Aplonis species by rats, it can be assumed that the taxon died out soon after the rats had spread to Mauke.

Systematics

The common name of the plain star is Mysterious Starling . This name refers to the fact that for a long time there was a lack of clarity about the origin and collection year of the museum specimen from London. The confusion began when Walter Lawry Buller misread the label in 1887. In 1890 Richard Bowdler Sharpe corrected the binomial in Aplonis inornata . However, this was unjustified because Buller was convinced that he had read the binomial Aplonis marvornata and since Tommaso Salvadori had already given the name Calornis inornata for another species of starling in 1880 .

Although Buller's description - a few lines about the plain star in an article about the thick-billed star ( Aplonis striata ) - is hardly sufficient and the specific epithet makes no sense, it is valid according to the International Rules for Zoological Nomenclature .

There is a drawing of an enigmatic bird by Ulieta (now called Raiatea ), which was made on June 1, 1774 by Georg Forster . Sharpe and many subsequent authors claimed that the bird in the drawing was identical to the Schlichtstar, although numerous inconsistencies between the museum copy 12.192 and Forster's description of the Ulieta bird spoke against it. Erwin Stresemann rejected Sharpe's theory in 1949, but the subsequent descriptions of the simple star (including Ziswiler 1965 and IUCN 1965) referred to Forster's bird. In 1986, Storrs Lovejoy Olson published the results of his research on the plain star, which contains quotations from Bloxam's original diary and came to the conclusion that Bloxam's Sturnus mautiensis is identical to Buller's Aplonis mavornata . This solved the riddle about the museum specimen 12.192. Because Bloxam's records were originally published in an adjusted and misleading form (Graham & Byron, 1827), the plain star's true origins have long been overlooked.

Remarks

  1. ↑ According to the ICZN, an epithet may only be assigned once per genus. The name Calornis inornata is now a synonym for the weaver star subspecies Aplonis metallica inornata .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jones, Stella M. (1925): Diary of Andrew Bloxam, naturalist of the "Blonde" on her trip from England to the Hawaiian Islands, 1824-25. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publications 10 : 1-96

literature

  • Buller, Walter L. (1887): [Description of Aplonis mavornata ] In: A history of the birds of New Zealand (2nd edition) 1:25 . Edited by the author, London.
  • Graham, Maria & Byron, Lord George Anson (1827): Voyage of HMS Blonde to the Sandwich Islands in the Years 1824-1825 . John Murray, London.
  • Fuller, Errol (2000): Extinct Birds (2nd edition) . Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 0-19-850837-9
  • Olson, Storrs L. (1986): An early account of some birds from Mauke, Cook Islands, and the origin of the "mysterious starling" Aplonis mavornata Buller. Notornis 33 (4): 197-208. PDF full text
  • Sharpe, Richard Bowdler (1890): Catalog of the Birds in the British Museum. 13 : Sturniformes. Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History), London.
  • Stresemann, Erwin (1949). Birds collected in the North Pacific area during Capt. James Cook's last voyage (1778 and 1779). Ibis 91 : 244-255.
  • Stresemann, Erwin (1950). Birds collected during Capt. James Cook's last expedition (1776-1780). Auk 67 (1): 66-88. PDF full text
  • Ziswiler, Vinzenz (1965): Endangered and exterminated animals . Understandable Science 86. Springer, Berlin - Heidelberg - New York. ISBN 3-540-03423-4
  • IUCN (1965): List of birds either known or thought to have become extinct since 1600 . IUCN Bulletin 16 (Supplement): p. 1-8.

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