Tag Archives: Ptilinopus sp.

Ptilinopus sp. ‘Gambier Islands’

Gambier Islands Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus sp.)

The Atoll Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus coralensis Peale) is distributed all over the Tuamotu Archipelago and was formerly also believed to have occurred on the Gambier Islands, however, no such specimen appears to have ever been collected and thus the former occurence of fruit-doves on these islands is actually known only from accounts. [1][2][3]

There are, however, at least three subfssil bones found on the island of Taravai, the second largest of the Gambier Islands, that can be assigned to the genus Ptilinopus, but apparently not to the Atoll Fruit-Dove. [2]

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The Atoll Fruit-Dove is actually a species that appears to be very well adapted to the low coral atolls it is inhabiting, thus the form that once occurred on the Gambier Islands most likely was a distinct one; its native name is given as having been kuku. [2]

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References:

[1] David Gibbs, Eustace Barnes, John Cox: Pigeons and Doves, A Guide to the Pigeons and Doves of the World. Pica Press, Sussex 2001
[2] Jean-Claude Thibault; Alice Cibois: From early Polynesian settlement to the present: bird extinctions in the Gambier Islands. Pacific Science 66(3): 271-281. 2012
[3] Stanislas Rigal; Patrick V. Kirch; Trevor H. Worthy: New prehistoric avifaunas from the Gambier Group, French Polynesia. Palaeontologia Electronica 21.3.4A 1-35. 2018

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edited: 17.03.2020

Ptilinopus sp. ‘Tubuai’

Tubuai Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus sp.)

The Tubuai Fruit-Dove is known from subfossil remains that were recovered from a archaeological site on the island of Tubuai, Austral Islands.

These remains differ significantly from the bones of its geographically nearest congeners, the Rapa Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus huttoni Finsch) from Rapa, Austral Islands, and the Lilac-crowned Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus rarotongensis Hartlaub & Finsch) from Rarotonga, Cook islands.

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References:

[1] Trevor H. Worthy; Robert Bollt: Prehistoric birds and bats from the Atihara Site, Tubuai, Austral Islands, East Polynesia. Pacific Science 65(1): 69-85. 2011

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edited: 29.05.2019

Ptilinopus sp. ‘Lakeba’

Lakeba Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus sp.)

The Lakeba Fruit-Dove is known only from subfossil remains that were recovered from Archaeological sites on the island of Lakeba in the Lau Archipelago in eastern Fiji.

The remains cannot be assigned to any of the other fruit-dove species known from the Fijian Islands and thus most likely represents a distinct species. [1]

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References:

[1] D. W. Steadman; J. Franklin: A preliminary survey of landbirds on Lakeba, Lau Group, Fiji. Emu 100(3): 227-235. 2000

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edited: 29.05.2019