Vini vidivici
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Vini vidivici (Hypothetical representation based on bones and comparisons with other Maidlori species . The plumage coloring is fictional.) |
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| Vini vidivici | ||||||||||||
| Steadman & Zarriello , 1987 |
Vini vidivici is an extinct Lori belonging to the genus Maidloris ( Vini ). It appeared on the Marquesas and on Huahine . The scientific name is derived from the quote Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I won), which Julius Caesar wrote after defeating Pharnakes II , King of Pontus, in the battle of Zela in 47 BC. To his friend Gaius Matius . In relation to this bird species and its rapid extinction after the arrival of the first settlers, this should indicate that people who saw the parrots for the first time hunted them until only bones were left.
features
The holotype is a complete tarsometatarsus , which the archaeologist Peter Bellwood unearthed in December 1967 in the Hanatekua deposit on Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. Other material includes a tibiotarsus , nine raven bones , three humerus bones , a carpometacarpus , seven tarsometatarsi and two mandibles from the Hane deposit on Ua Huka as well as a raven bone and two tarsometatarsi from the Hanamiai deposit on Tahuata . In addition, material is known from the Fa'ahia site on the island of Huahine . After the species Vini sinotoi , which also occurred in the Marquesas , Vini vidivici was the second largest species of the Maidloris . Initially, the size of the tarsometatarsus suggested that the species belongs to the genus of the parakeet ( Cyanoramphus ). For this reason, thorough osteological comparisons were made between the genera Vini and Cyanoramphus, as well as geographical comparisons with the genus of the Masked Parakeet ( Prosopeia ) from Fiji and Tonga . These comparisons showed that the subfossil bone material can clearly be assigned to the genus Vini .
die out
The stratigraphic assignment of the bones shows that this species survived until shortly after the first settlers arrived in the Marquesas. The extinction of Vini vidivici probably occurred between 1000 and 1200 AD.
literature
- Steadman, DW: Extinction and Biogeography in Tropical Pacific Birds , University of Chicago Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-226-77142-7
- Steadman, DW, Zarriello, MC: Two New Species of Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from Archeological Sites in the Marquesas Islands In: Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 100 (3), 1987, pp. 518-528