Tag Archives: Ilha da Trindade

Rallidae gen. & sp. ‘Ilha da Trindade’

Trindade Rail (Rallidae gen. & sp.)

The Ilha da Trindade is a volcanic island that is located in the Atlantic Ocea, about 1150 km offshore the Brazilian eastern coast.

The island harbors some sea birds but is surprisingly lacking any land birds, a situation that is highly unlikely, not only in my own opinion ….:

“In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that there was not an endemic species of rail (Rallidae) on Trindade in the past, as there was ample habitat and these birds successfully colonized all the other South Atlantic islands …. That I was unable to find any fossil remains of such a bird may perhaps be attributed to my usual good fortune temporarily running out. The great abundance of land crabs on Trindade may also have reduced the chances of any rail carcasses surviving long enough to be preserved, although this did not prevent rail bones from being fossilized on Fernando de Noronha, where land crabs also occur.” [1]

If there have been any land birds living on the island (and there surely have), they must have become extinct very shortly after the discovery of the island in 1502, followed by the inevitable introduction of cats, mice (but fortunately no rats) and several kinds of grazing mammals.

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References:

[1] S. L. Olson: Natural history of vertebrates on the Brazilian islands of the mid South Atlantic. National Geographic Society Research Reports 13: 481-492. 1981

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edited: 03.05.2022

Peperomia beckeri E. F. Guim. & R. J. V. Alves

Becker’s Peperomia (Peperomia beckeri)

Becker’s Peperomia was described in 1998 “from an old but well preserved herbarium specimen” that had been collected in 1965; it was endemic to the Ilha da Trindade some 1500 km offshore the eastern coast of Brazil, an island that suffered extremely from the introduction of feral mammals, especially goats that had been introduced already in 1700. These goats ate away nearly the whole vegetation of the island, leading to the complete loss of the former forest.:

“Before 1821, however, something or some event had killed them – killed them all – leaving a weird landscape of standing corpses. It was, in the words of one who saw it, “a forest of desolation, as if nature had at some particular moment ceased to vegetate.”” [1]

When the goats were finally removed from the island in 2005, the flora recovered very quickly, especially the fern species, which apparently survived in the form of spores in the ground. Becker’s Peperomia, however, was never found again, despite field searches. [3]

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The species was believed to have been rediscovered in 2009, however, these plants later turned out to have been another, misidentified species. [2][3]

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References:

[1] Richard H. Eyde; Storrs L. Olson: The dead trees of Ilha da Trindade. Bartonia 49: 32-51. 1983
[2] R. J. V. Alves; N. G. da Silva; A. Aguirre-Muñoz: Return of endemic plant populations on Trindade Island, Brazil, with comments on the fauna. In: C. R. Veitch; M. N. Clout; D. R. Towns (eds.): Island Invasives: Eradication and Management. pages 259-263. 2011
[3] Nílber Gonçalves da Silva; Ruy José Válka Alves; Lana da Silva Sylvestre; Ruy Barreto dos Santos: Two rediscoveries and one extinction for the flora of Trindade Island, Brazil. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Survey 140(2): 230-235. 2013

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edited: 03.05.2022

Vegrandinia trindadensis (Breure & Coelho)

Trindade Vegrandinia Snail (Vegrandinia trindadensis)

This species was described in 1976; it is, or rather was, restricted to the Ilha da Trindade, a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1150km offshore the east coast of Brazil.

Apparently, the species is known exclusively from empty shells, which differ greatly in their size depending on their collection date, foreshadowing the reasons for their final extinction.:

“Curiously, the shell length of the adult specimens analysed by Breure and Coelho (1976) averaged from 8 to 9 mm (which was an overestimation, our measures of the same specimens average 7 mm), while the ones collected by the MD-55 and later expeditions average 4.8 mm; the shell morphology, though, is the same. It is suspected that this reduction in size reflects inappropriate environmental conditions due to the Island’s much degraded environment.”

The native flora of the island is now largely destroyed due to introduced goats, this again led to the extinction of all native (and non-native, except for two spp.) land snail species! [1][2]

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References:

[1] Rodrigo B. Salvador; Carlo M. Cunha; Luiz Ricardo L. Simone: Taxonomic revision of the orthalicid land snails (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora) from Trindade Island, Brazil. Journal of Natural History 47(13-14): 949-961. 2013
[2] Rodrigo B. Salvador; Nílber G. Silva; Carlo M. Cunha; Luiz Ricardo L. Simone; Ruy J. V. Alves: Rediscovery of living land snails on Trindade Island, Brazil. American Malacological Bulletin 32(1): 140-142. 2014

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Photo: Rodrigo Salvador

(under creative commons license (3.0))
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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edited: 02.05.2022

Naesiotus arnaldoi (Lanzieri & Rezende)

Arnaldo’s Naesiotus Snail (Naesiotus arnaldoi)

This species was described in 1971; it was endemic to the Ilha da Trindade offshore Brazil; it is apparently known from over 300 specimens.

The shells reach heights of about 0,95 cm.

The species disappeared sometimes during the 1970s due to the destruction of most of the native vegetation by introduced goats. [1]

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References:

[1] Rodrigo B. Salvador; Carlo M. Cunha; Luiz Ricardo L. Simone: Taxonomic revision of the orthalicid land snails (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora) from Trindade Island, Brazil. Journal of Natural History 47(13-14): 949-961. 2013

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edited: 02.05.2022

Bulimulus brunoi (Ihering)

Bruno’s Bulimulus Snail (Bulimulus brunoi)

Bruno’s Bulimulus Snail was described in 1917; it was endemic to the Ilha da Trindade offshore Brazil.

“Only the shell of B. brunoi is known; unfortunately, no complete animal has so far been recovered.” [1]

The species disappeared due to the more or less complete destruction of the island’s native vegetation by introduced feral goats. [1]

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References:

[1] Rodrigo B. Salvador; Carlo M. Cunha; Luiz Ricardo L. Simone: Taxonomic revision of the orthalicid land snails (Pulmonata: Stylommatophora) from Trindade Island, Brazil. Journal of Natural History 47(13-14): 949-961. 2013

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edited: 02.05.2022