Relatives of the Watanabe: Until extinction, almost no one believes its existence

The ferry bird from Mauritius is the first animal in the world to be identified. There is also an English saying "as dead as dodo" (as dead as the ferry). This big bird who does not fly is unfortunately killed by the invasive animals brought by humans and humans. However, there is another relative of the ferry bird, which is more unlucky than it.

The only surviving ferry bird soft organization specimen in the world | ED SCHIPUL / WIKIMEDIA

PEZOPHAPS SOLITARIA, also known as Rodriguez, lives on another island of Rodriguez, another island of hundreds of kilometers west of Mauritius Island.

Like the ferry bird, it is also extinct because of the predation of humans and invasive species. However, the Watanabe became a classic case of promoting the protection of animals and the stars of the extinction species. The lone dove was obscured in the eyes of the public, and also got a unlucky name "destined to be lonely".

However, Gushu is actually a very strange bird. Its discovery history is also very interesting, and it is worth writing a story for it.

1

Beautiful, delicious, but unfortunate

We can understand the solitary dove today, thanks to a Frenchman named Francois Leguat. From 1691 to 1693, he and six companions were exiled to Rodriguez. There, he made a detailed observation record of Gu Jiu, and the name of solitaire was also from him.

The solitary doves drawn by Lu Guga himself, this is the only painting drawn based on the living lone dove | HUME, Julian P., and Lorna Steel. / Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (2013)

According to Lu Gua's notes, solitary doves are a very large bird that eats plants and does not fly; there is a bullet -shaped bone tumor on the wings. This is the weapon of its fighting. It will make a sound quickly fanning the wings.

They are lonely, but the husband and wife cooperate closely. Gu Diu only produced only one egg at a time, the husband and wife hatched the egg together for 7 weeks, and then took care of the chicks for a few months. During this period, they will not allow any similar to the radius of 200 yards (about 180 meters). Interestingly, solitary dove does not fight against the opposite sex. If there is a mother's solitary dove to the public dove site, he will make his wings make a sound, summon his wife to drive the invaders; on the contrary, if the male litter is coming, the mother's lone dove will also call his husband Fight.

Rodriguez Map of Lugua | Wikimedia

Lu Gua also recorded some interesting strange things: there is a stone in the sand sac of Gukou, which is as big as eggs. He doubt whether the lone dove's throat can swallow it. Female solitary doves are very beautiful, some feathers are brown, and some are pale golden hair like blonde. The most strange thing is that on the root of the female lone dove, there are two raised positions on the sac, and the feathers on it are white, like a fashionable girl. Lu Gua may be afraid of being injured and vaguely here, probably meaning like a woman's breast.

The question that everyone is most interested in, Lu Gua didn't miss it: the solitary dove in May to September is very fat, and the male bird can grow to more than 20 kg, and the meat is delicious (By the way, the ferry bird is hard to eat To. The solitary dove came to the way, and he was not afraid of people at all. This made convenience for human beings.

2

Because of the inside, Wud is abundant

Lu Gu's notes were published in the UK in 1708. He was not the only person who witnessed the lonely dove (there are few people who have seen the live dove), but the records of this bird were really poor at the time. Because his description is too weird, American scholar Geoffroy Atkinson even concluded that solitary doves were compiled and even Lu Gua was compiled. No such bird.

Gushu's picture | biodiveResity heritage library

In the days when people were trustworthy to Gu Jiu Ning, Gu Jiu was quietly walking to the end. The specific time is unclear, but the extinction of solitary doves should occur in the 18th century. Some people have lived on Rodriguez for 40 years since 1790, and have never seen a solitary dove.

Surprisingly, since 1786, people have discovered the bones of solitary dove many times in the custard cave on the island. These bones are wrapped in minerals in the groundwater and saved, and there are thousands of pieces. On the carpometacarpi, this is a bone unique to birds. As the name suggests, it is formed by the bone of the wrist and the palm of the hand), and the bone tumor that Lugu Etti arrived.

The lone dove's wrist palm bone, a large bone tumor can exceed 3 cm in diameter | HUME, Julian P., and Lorna Steel. / Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (2013)

In 1789, Lugoa recorded for nearly 100 years after Lu Gu's records, and this strange bird finally got the first scientific name. Didus Solitarius was the same as the ferry bird. Later, Gu Diu had his own genus. Today we know that Gu Diu is a relative of the ferry bird, and both belong to the pigeon family. Their ancestors were flying, but they evolved on two islands into giant birds who would not fly. Although there is no way to fly at the same way, there is still a difference between the solitary dove and the ferry bird, such as its "martial arts".

Although the solitary dove does not fly, the wings are quite long, and the pectoral muscles that beat the wings are also quite strong, and they can beat the wings strongly; the bone tumors on the palm of the wrist, waving is two sledgehammers. On the bone of Gu Jiu, many traces of healing after fracture were found, which is rare on the bone of the ferry bird. It can be seen that they often use this terrible weapon to fight each other (when writing this article, I am The boxer who found an ultimate fighting champion was Rodriguez, coincidence, this must be coincidence). Julien Tafforet, a sailor, who had seen Lumo, said that the sound of lone dove's wings was very loud, just like thunder.

The lone dove's skeletal is small, the small is female, the big is male | Hume, Julian P., and Lorna Steel. / Biology of the Linnean Society (2013)

By the way, it is not unique to Wude. The existing Goura Victoria, a large pigeon, also uses wings to pat the enemy with wings. It also has bone bulging on its wings, but it is very small.

The gap between the male and female of solitary dove is very large, and the female body is only 60%of the male. This is a common feature of the extremely good and good animals. Why is the solitary dove so good? It may be because there is insufficient living space and must compete with the most violent means. Update the rising sea level at the end of the world, which reduced the area of ​​Rodriguez 90%. It is really sympathetic to crazy for the residence.

3

The flesh and blood exist in the hometown

Other records of Lu Gua may also be confirmed scientifically. For example, the stones in the sand sac are also found in existing birds. Birds often swallow the stones to help grind the food. The stones swallowed by the pigeons are quite large. This also caused Nikapawan to be killed illegally.

Another example is the rules of "good men (women) do not fight with women (men)". It may not be because the solitary doves have a sports spirit and implement the men's and women's distribution system, but the couples are pregnant with ghosts. Patting wings may not be a lonely dove to summon a partner, but the way they seek for love. Regardless of whether it is Mr. Gu Jiu or Mrs. Gu Jiu, he finds the strange similarity of the opposite sex. The first reaction is to have a close relationship with it; but his "original match" will also come and drive the competitors away.

According to the skeleton, the solitary dove restoration map drawn by the computer | Rodríguez-Pontes, Martín A. / Historical Biology (2016)

The most interesting thing is the protruding position of the female lone dove, which may really be "breasts" ... The pigeon family has a strange feature- "milk production", the inner wall of the pigeon parents will produce a protein -rich type of protein -rich. Special cells with fat, fall off, as nutritious foods for young pigeons, are called sac milk. The two protrusions that Lu Gua saw, perhaps the unusually developed sac, which is used to produce a sac milk that feeds the child.

It's just that we can't understand anymore, what is the fledgling of the lone dove. The Watanabe has a small amount of living and specimens left Mauritius Island, but whether it is alive or dead, Gukou has no flesh to leave Rodriguez Island. Somehow, the captured solitary dove died quickly, and they were destined to be buried in their narrow home.

Fighting and background Forest | HUME, Julian P., and Lorna Steel. / Biology Journal of the Linnean Society (2013)

Rodriguez is covered with forests and has lived many unique creatures, because human beings have been reclaimed and fell for hundreds of years. At least 20 kinds of birds and 2 large tortoises are extinct, and 37 plants are in a very critical state. Most animals on Rodriguez disappeared silently. Compared with it, how many records of the recorded solitary doves seemed to have a little luck.

references

[4] STORER, Robert W. "A POSSIBLE Connection Between Crop Milk and the Maximumum Size Attainable by Flightless Pigeons." The Auk 122.3 (2005): 1003-1004..

Author: Little Hug Bear

Edit: Pee Pee Shrimp

- END -