Alaotra grebe
| Alaotra Grebe | |
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| File:Alaotra Grebe photograph by Paul Thompson.jpg | |
| The only known photograph of an Alaotra Grebe | |
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| Species: | T. rufolavatus
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| Binomial name | |
| Tachybaptus rufolavatus (Delacour, 1932)
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The Alaotra Grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus), also known as Delacour's Little Grebe or Rusty Grebe, was a grebe endemic to Lake Alaotra and surrounding lakes in Madagascar. The last sighting (which may have been a hybrid with the Little Grebe) was in 1985 and the species was declared extinct in 2010.[2][3] Only one photograph of the species is known to exist.[4]
The grebe was a bird of about 10 inches (25 cm) in length.[5] Its ability to fly long distances is believed to have been restricted by its small wings.[4]
The species declined in the course of the 20th century, mainly because of habitat destruction and predation by the introduced snakehead murrel (Channa striata).[6] Also, the few remaining birds increasingly hybridized with Little Grebes which use the wetlands as a migration stopover site; as the species differed in several key aspects, the hybrid birds may have suffered from decreased fitness, to the detriment of the rufolavatus gene pool.
The Madagascar Pochard, which also lived on Lake Alaotra, was thought to be extinct but was rediscovered in 2006[7]. Unlike this species, however, the grebe had poor powers of dispersal and was never found elsewhere.[citation needed]
The species was officially declared extinct in 2010, 25 years after the last confirmed sighting.[2][3][4][8] Although some species have been classified as extinct and later have been found to still exist, Leon Bennun, the director of the conservation organization BirdLife International has stated that "no hope remains for this species" and blames the "unforeseen consequences" of human action.[8]
This extinction brings the number of confirmed bird extinctions since 1600 C.E. to 162. The previous confirmed extinction of a bird species was of the Liverpool Pigeon (Caloenas maculata) in 2008.[4]
See also
- Atitlán Grebe, extinct since 1989 for similar reasons
- Endemic birds of Madagascar and western Indian Ocean islands
References
- ^ Template:IUCN2008
- ^ a b BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Tachybaptus rufolavatus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26 May 2010
- ^ a b BirdLife International (2010). Wetland aliens cause bird extinction. Downloaded on 26 May 2010 from http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/05/red-list-for-birds-2010.html
- ^ a b c d Walker, Matt (26 May 2010). "Bird conservation: Alaotra grebe confirmed extinct". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
- ^ Endangered Wildlife and Plants of the World. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 2001. p. 649. ISBN 0761471944.
- ^ Andrianandrasana, Herizo T.; Randriamahefasoa, Jonah; Durbin, Joanna; Lewis, Richard E. and Ratsimbazafy, Jonah H. (2005): Participatory ecological monitoring of the Alaotra wetlands in Madagascar. Biodiversity and Conservation 14(11): 2757–2774. doi:10.1007/s10531-005-8413-y
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Elliott, Valerie (26 May 2010). "Alaotra grebe declared extinct after struggle against carnivorous fish". The Times. Retrieved 26 May 2010.