Unforeseen diversity of quails (Galliformes: Phasianidae: Coturnix) in oceanic islands provided by the fossil record of Macaronesia

The original bird fauna of most oceanic islands has been affected by recent extinction processes associated with human arrival and its subsequent impacts. In the volcanic Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cape Verde), in the North Atlantic, the Late Quaternary...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
Main Authors: Rando, JC, Alcover, JA, Pieper, H, Olson, SL, Hernández, C. Nayra, López Jurado, Luis Felipe
Other Authors: #NODATA#, BU-BAS
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2020
Subjects:
241601 Paleontología animal
Anatomy
Extinction
Fossil birds
Island biogeography
Morphometrics
Quaternary
Santo Island
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10553/121651
https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz107
Description
Summary:The original bird fauna of most oceanic islands has been affected by recent extinction processes associated with human arrival and its subsequent impacts. In the volcanic Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cape Verde), in the North Atlantic, the Late Quaternary fossil record indicates that there was formerly a higher avian diversity, including a high number of now extinct endemic species. This assemblage of extinct birds includes endemic insular quails (Galliformes: Phasianidae). In this study, we describe three newly discovered extinct species of quails, two of which inhabited the archipelago of Madeira (Coturnix lignorum sp. nov. from Madeira Island and Coturnix alabrevis sp. nov. from Porto Santo Island) and one from Cape Verde (Coturnix centensis sp. nov.). The fossil record also indicates the presence of additional species of extinct endemic quails on other Macaronesian islands. These birds plus the extinct Canary Island quail (Coturnix gomerae) indicate a high former endemic diversity of this genus in Macaronesia, a feature unique among oceanic archipelagos. Anatomical traits show that the new taxa were flightless ground dwellers, making them vulnerable to human interference, with their extinction being linked to human arrival and subsequent habitat alterations and the introduction of invasive species. 1,148 3,286 Q1 Q1 SCIE

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