Botanist • K.Larsen | In Memoriam: Kai Larsen, 1926-2012

Prof. Kai Larsen, Legend of the Thai Flora

Professor Kai Larsen (K.Larsen) passed away in Denmark on Thursday, August 23, 2012 in his 86th year. He was a well-known botanist and a Professor of botany at Århus University, Denmark. In 1963, Professor Larsen, in collaboration with Professor Tem Smitinand and other legendary botanists, started the Flora of Thailand Project under Thai-Danish collaboration. He had directed the extensive Project, which aims to describe all of Thailand flora, and had actively participated in it since then throughout the years in spite of his age. His extensive lifelong scientific works and his untiring will have inspired hundreds of botanists and he shall long be in our memory always.

Genera:

Rubiaceae | Kailarsenia fragrant plant from Southeast Asia

Rubiaceae | Larsenaikia once endemic Australian species of Gardenia 

Gesneriaceae | Kaisupeea B.L. Burtt honours Kai and Supee Larsen

Zingiberaceae |  Larsenianthus W.J.Kress & Mood, Asian Gingers genus with four species

Species:

Palaeontology/Leguminosae | Bauhinia larsenii • fossil legume from Guangxi, China

Balsaminaceae | Impatiens larsenii T.Shimizu -- Acta Phytotax. Geobot. 28(1-3): 33 (1977). 

Lauraceae | Cassytha larsenii Kosterm. -- Rheedea 4(1): 14 (1994). 

Leguminosae | Crotalaria larsenii Niyomdham -- Thai Forest Bull., Bot. 11: 139 (1978). 

Primulaceae | Primula larsenii C.M.Hu -- Nordic J. Bot. 10(4): 399 (1990). 

Rubiaceae | Lasianthus larsenii H.Zhu -- Acta Bot. Yunnan. 22(4): 395. 2000 

Rubiaceae | Mouretia larsenii Tange -- Nordic J. Bot. 17(2): 128 (1997).

Zingiberaceae | Caulokaempferia larsenii Suksathan & Triboun -- Edinburgh J. Bot. 60(3): 513. 2004 

Zingiberaceae | Cornukaempferia larsenii P.Saensouk -- Nat. Hist. J. Chulalongkorn Univ. 7(2): 115 (-118; figs. 1-2). 2007

Zingiberaceae | Curcuma larsenii Maknoi & Jenjitt. -- Gard. Bull. Singapore 58(1): 41 (-44; plate 1(loose, unpaged), fig. 1). 2006 

Zingiberaceae | Hedychium larsenii M.Dan & C.S.Kumar -- Nordic J. Bot. 19(3): 333 (1999). 

Zingiberaceae | Kaempferia larsenii Sirirugsa -- Nordic J. Bot. 9(3): 257 (1989). 

Zingiberaceae | Zingiber larsenii Theilade -- Nordic J. Bot. 19(4): 404 (1999). 

เปราะภูนวล Caulokaempferia saxicola K. Larsen 

ชื่ออื่น เปราะหิน | วงศ์ Zingiberaceae

ไม้ล้มลุกเกาะตามโขดหิน สูงได้ประมาณ 30 ซม. ลำต้นเทียมเป็นกาบใบซ้อนกัน เกลี้ยง มี 5-7 ใบ เรียงเวียนสลับ รูปใบหอก ยาว 6-13 ซม. ใบด้านล่างขนาดเล็ก กว้าง ไร้ก้าน ปลายใบแหลมยาว ขอบใบบาง ลื้นใบบาง ปลายกลม ช่อดอกออกที่ปลายลำต้น ดอกสีเหลือง ส่วนมากมีดอกเดียวในแต่ละใบประดับ ใบประดับมี 5-10 ใบ เรียงตรงข้าม 2 แถว ยาวประมาณ 3 ซม. กลีบเลี้ยงมีขนสั้นนุ่มด้านนอก ติดกันเป็นหลอด ยาว 7-9 มม. ปลายแยกเป็น 3 กลีบรูปสามเหลี่ยม ยาว 2-3 มม. กลีบดอกติดกันเป็นหลอด ยาวประมาณ 2-2.5 ซม. กลีบข้างขนาดเท่าๆ กัน รูปสามเหลี่ยม ยาว 0.7-1 ซม. เกสรเพศผู้ที่เป็นหมันคล้ายกลีบดอก รูปไข่ กลีบปากคล้ายรูปลิ้น ยาวได้ประมาณ 1.7 ซม. ผลแบบแคปซูล ยาวประมาณ 2.2 ซม. เปราะหินเป็นพืชถิ่นเดียวของไทย พบเฉพาะทางภาคตะวันออกที่อุทยานแห่งชาติเขาใหญ่ จังหวัดนครนายกและปราจีนบุรี โดยเฉพาะบริเวณเขาเขียว ขึ้นเป็นกลุ่มตามโขดหินที่มีมอสหนาแน่นใต้ร่มเงาในป่าดิบเขา ระดับความสูง 900-1100 เมตร

ภาพ: สุคนธ์ทิพย์ ศิริมงคล (เขาใหญ่ นครนายก)

เอกสารอ้างอิง: Larsen, K. (1964). Studies in Zingiberaceae IV. Botanisk Tidsskrift Vol. 60 part 3: 171 .

ข้อมูลแสตมป์

ชุดที่ 878: ตราไปรษณียากรชุดปีใหม่ 2553

วันแรกจำหน่าย 15 พฤศจิกายน 2552

ชนิดราคา 3.00 บาท (4แบบ)

จำนวนพิมพ์ 1,000,000 ดวงต่อแบบ

ขนาด 29X24 มม. (แนวนอน)

ผู้ออกแบบ ปาริชาติ ทัศนเทพ (บริษัท ไปรษณีย์ไทย จำกัด )

บริษัทผู้พิมพ์ ไทยบริติช ซีเคียวริตี้ พริ้นติ้ง จำกัด (มหาชน) ประเทศไทย

วิธีการพิมพ์และสี ลิโธกราฟี่ - หลายสี

จำนวนดวงในแผ่น 10 ดวง

http://web3.dnp.go.th/Botany/stamp.aspx?StampGroupCode=0022

http://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/id(d35cf49b-8778-4ed4-9e62-5182e5350ced).html

http://www.sc.mahidol.ac.th/scpl/Kai_Larsen/index.htm

http://www.nhpborneo.com/book/g016

[Botany • 2003] Caulokaempferia larsenii • a new species species of Caulokaempferia (Zingiberaceae) from northern Thailand

Caulokaempferia larsenii Suksathan & Triboun

The new species Caulokaempferia larsenii (Zingiberaceae) from northern Thailand is described and illustrated.

Keywords: Caulokaempferia, new species, Thailand, Zingiberaceae.

2003. a new species species of Caulokaempferia (Zingiberaceae) from Thailand.

http://www.aseanbiodiversity.info/Abstract/53005866.pdf

[Botany • 1999] Hedychium larsenii • a new novelties in Hedychium (Zingiberaceae) from Manipur, North East India

Hedychium larsenii M.Dan & C.S.Kumar

Two new species of Hedychium viz. H. larsenii and H. sirirugsae are described and illustrated from Manipur, North East India.

Two novelties in Hedychium (Zingiberaceae) from Manipur, India

DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.1999.tb01121.x/

Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Hedychium J. Koenig (Zingiberaceae) in India

http://www.iapt-taxon.org/index_layer.php?page=s_grants_sanoj&subpage=grants

[Botany • 1999] Burmannia larseniana • a new species of Burmanniaceae from northern Thailand

Burmannia larseniana D.X.Zhang & R.M.K.Saunders

photo: http://www.cpukforum.com/

A new semi-mycotrophic species, Burmannia larseniana, is described from northern Thailand. The species is related to B. pusilla, a species widely distributed in Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, India and Sri Lanka, but can be easily distinguished from the latter by its succulent stem, single-veined leaf, and the outer perianth lobes with double margins that encircle the inner perianth lobes. The ecological preferences of the species are also discussed.

Burmannia larseniana (Burmanniaceae): a new species from Thailand

DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.1999.tb00670.x

[Botany • 2001] Kaisupeea • a new genus of Gesneriaceae centred in Thailand

Kaisupeea orthocarpa B.L.Burtt

Kaisupeea (C.B.Clarke) B.L.Burtt

Type species: Kaisupeea herbacea (C.B.Clarke) B.L.Burtt

The genus Kaisupeea is established for Boea herbacea, a species long recognised as being out of place in Boea, and two new species closely allied to it. These plants produce annual flowering stems whose basal leaves may be represented by broad foliaceous cataphylls. Kaisupeea herbacea and K. cyanea have spirally twisted fruit-valves, but those of K. orthocarpa are straight. Kaisupeea ranges from Moulmein in Burma [Mawlamyne in Myanmnar] eastwards across Thailand to Bassac on the Mekong river in lower Laos and south to the neighbourhood of Satun on the south coast of Thailand just north of the Malaysian border.

Etymology: The name is an amalgamation of the forenames of the Danish/Thailand botanists Kai and Supee Larsen.

Species number: 3 [Kaisupeea herbacea (C.B.Clarke) B.L.Burtt, 

Kaisupeea cyanea B.L.Burtt, 

Kaisupeea orthocarpa B.L.Burtt].

Distribution: Myanmar, Thailand, S Laos.

Notes: The genus is remarkable for the perennial habit with annual stems. Kaisupeea herbacea dies down to the ground in the unfavourable season, and no new leaves appear above ground until favourable conditions return. Then there appear, not normal foliage leaves, but light green expanded leaf-bases, that have presumably been covering the new bud underground; this soon bursts through and produces a flowering stem whose leaves diminish quickly upwards as do the axillary inflorescences so that the whole forms a terminal thyrse about 0.5 m high. Details of this regime deserve study in the field.“ (Burtt 1998: 3).

Burtt, B. L. 2001. Kaisupeea: a new genus of Gesneriaceae centred in Thailand. Nord. J. Bot. 21: 115-1 19.   DOI: 10.1111/j.1756-1051.2001.tb01345.x

http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at/genera/kaisupeea.htm

Milica Stankovic, Sahut Chantanaorrapint and Kitichate Sridith. 2013. Notes on the Vegetation of the Fast-flowing Streams in Peninsular Thailand, the Tropical Mainland of South East Asia. Taiwania. 58(4): 275‒290.

DOI:  10.6165/tai.2013.58.275 | http://tai2.ntu.edu.tw/taiwania/pdf/tai.2013.58.4.275.pdf

Boea hygroscopica F.Muell.

http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at/genera/boea.htm

[Botany • 1998] Emarhendia bettiana • new Genus (Gesneriaceae) from Peninsular Malaysia

Emarhendia bettiana (M.R.Hend.) R. Kiew, A.Weber & B.L.Burtt

Etymology: Named for M. [Murray] R. [Ross] Henderson (1899-1982), a Scottish botanist working mainly in Singapore and the Malay Peninsula.

Ecology: On damp limestone rocks, especially at cave entrances. 

Distribution: Malay Peninsula (Pahang: Bkt. Charas and vicinity). 

Notes: The genus is based on Paraboea bettiana M.R.Hend., which is discordant with the other species of Paraboea (Burtt 1984). A unique feature is the patch of glands on the upper lip of the corolla, also remarkable are the straight plagiocarpic fruits opening only on the upper side.

Kiew, A.Weber & B.L.Burtt.1998. Beitr. Biol. Pflanzen 70(2-3): 400. 

http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at/genera/emarhendia.htm

[Botany • 1998] Senyumia minutiflora • new Genus (Gesneriaceae) from Peninsular Malaysia

Senyumia minutiflora (Ridl.) Kiew, A.Weber & B.L.Burtt

Etymology: The name refers to the the locality of the only species, Gunung Senyum, in Peninsular Malaysia.

Ecology: On rock faces in damp limestone caves.

Distribution: Malay Peninsula (Pahang: Gunung Senyum and adjacent localities). 

Notes: The only species was originally described as Boea minutiflora Ridl. Remarkable is the resupinate white and widely open flower with a yellow anther cone in the center (syndrome of an oligandric pollen flower).

Kiew, A.Weber & B.L.Burtt.1998. Beitr. Biol. Pflanzen 70(2-3): 400. 

http://www.genera-gesneriaceae.at/genera/senyumia.htm

[Ichthyology • 2012] The First Record of a Trans-Oceanic Sister-Group Relationship between Obligate Vertebrate Troglobites | Typhleotris from Madagascar & Milyeringa from Australia

Abstract 

We show using the most complete phylogeny of one of the most species-rich orders of vertebrates (Gobiiformes), and calibrations from the rich fossil record of teleost fishes, that the genus Typhleotris, endemic to subterranean karst habitats in southwestern Madagascar, is the sister group to Milyeringa, endemic to similar subterranean systems in northwestern Australia. Both groups are eyeless, and our phylogenetic and biogeographic results show that these obligate cave fishes now found on opposite ends of the Indian Ocean (separated by nearly 7,000 km) are each others closest relatives and owe their origins to the break up of the southern supercontinent, Gondwana, at the end of the Cretaceous period. Trans-oceanic sister-group relationships are otherwise unknown between blind, cave-adapted vertebrates and our results provide an extraordinary case of Gondwanan vicariance.

Chakrabarty P, Davis MP, Sparks JS. 2012. The First Record of a Trans-Oceanic Sister-Group Relationship between Obligate Vertebrate Troglobites. PLoS ONE. 7(8): e44083. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044083

[Ichthyology • 2010] Milyeringa brooksi • Status and phylogeny of Milyeringidae (Teleostei: Gobiiformes), with the description of a new blind cave-fish from Australia

FIGURE 2. Holotype of Milyeringa brooksi, WAM P28330.

Abstract
A phylogeny of Milyeringidae is reported and a new species, Milyeringa brooksi, is described from Cape Range National Park in the North West Cape (Cape Range Peninsula) of Australia.  This species is distinguished on the basis of morphological and molecular characters from its only congener Milyeringa veritas. These diagnostic characters are related to a unique pattern of sensory papillae on the body and synapomorphies in three genes (cytochrome c oxidase I, cytochrome b, and NADH dehydrogenase 2).  The new species is known only from the southern portion of the North West Cape spanning roughly 50 kilometers of subterranean habitat.  This habitat is exceedingly rare and measures to preserve it and its fauna should be taken.
Key words: blind, cave, stygobites, taxonomy, troglodytic

Chakrabarty, P. 2010: Status and phylogeny of Milyeringidae (Teleostei: Gobiiformes), with the description of a new blind cave-fish from Australia, Milyeringa brooksi, n. sp. Zootaxa. 2557: 19-28.

http://www.prosanta.net/docs/milyeringa.pdf

http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Milyeringa_veritas

[Paleontology • 2012] Nelson Mandela's Pliocene Woodpecker | Australopicus nelsonmandelai • Biogeographic and Paleoenvironmental Implications of a New Woodpecker Species (Aves, Picidae) from the Early Pliocene of South Africa

Australopicus nelsonmandelai

| Nelson Mandela's Pliocene Woodpecker

"..the new taxon forms a clade with the extant woodpecker genera Celeus and Dryocopus, which do not occur in Africa.."

[Pics: Dryocopus lineatus http://avesdeelsalvador.blogspot.com/

Celeus flavescens http://www.arthurgrosset.com/]

A fragmentary coracoid as well as isolated ulnae, carpometacarpi, and tarsometatarsi from the Varswater Formation at Langebaanweg, South Africa (early Pliocene), can be assigned to a new genus and species of true woodpecker (Picidae, Picinae), Australopicus nelsonmandelai, gen. et sp. nov. The new taxon is the first documented pre-Pleistocene record of woodpeckers from the entire African continent and it is clearly distinct from the three extant lineages of Picinae that are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, i.e., Campethera-Geocolaptes, Dendropicos, and Dendrocopos obsoletus. Our phylogenetic analysis shows that the new taxon forms a clade with the extant woodpecker genera Celeus and Dryocopus, which do not occur in Africa, but in the Americas and Eurasia. The new taxon represents a previously unknown fourth lineage of African woodpeckers of Eurasian origin that probably became isolated on the African continent as a result of environmental changes during the Miocene. Evidence for an arboreal true woodpecker in the fossil record strongly supports previous hypotheses regarding the presence of riverine forests at Langebaanweg during the early Pliocene.

Albrecht Manegold, Antoine Louchart. 2012. Biogeographic and Paleoenvironmental Implications of a New Woodpecker Species (Aves, Picidae) from the Early Pliocene of South Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (4),

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2012.664597

Woodpecker fossil named for Mandela on eve of his birthday http://phys.org/news/2012-07-woodpecker-fossil-mandela-eve-birthday.html via @physorg_com

[Ornithology • 2012] Madagascar's Vangas beat Darwin’s finches in diversity • Extreme endemic radiation of the Malagasy Vangas (Passeriformes: Vangidae)

The Madagascan vangas include 22 species which differ considerably in terms of morphology and resulting foraging habits.. 

photo: Jon Fjeldså

Abstract

Adaptive radiation is the rapid diversification of a single lineage into many species that inhabit a variety of environments or use a variety of resources and differ in traits required to exploit these. Why some lineages undergo adaptive radiation is not well-understood, but filling unoccupied ecological space appears to be a common feature. We construct a complete, dated, species-level phylogeny of the endemic Vangidae of Madagascar. This passerine bird radiation represents a classic, but poorly known, avian adaptive radiation. Our results reveal an initial rapid increase in evolutionary lineages and diversification in morphospace after colonizing Madagascar in the late Oligocene some 25 Mya. A subsequent key innovation involving unique bill morphology was associated with a second increase in diversification rates about 10 Mya. The volume of morphospace occupied by contemporary Madagascan vangas is in many aspects as large (shape variation)—or even larger (size variation)—as that of other better-known avian adaptive radiations, including the much younger Galapagos Darwin's finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Morphological space bears a close relationship to diet, substrate use, and foraging movements, and thus our results demonstrate the great extent of the evolutionary diversification of the Madagascan vangas.

Keywords: core corvoidea, island endemism, lineage diversification, passeriformes, phylogenetics

The vanga family's members, revealing their extreme morphological diversity (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/10/kinkimavo-and-bristle-head-couple-of.html

Helmet vangas measure up to 30 centimeters. The bird has a huge blue bill which it uses to catch lizards, frogs and geckos. 

photo: Nick Athanas 

 Yamagishi, S.; Honda, M.; Eguchi, K. & Thorstrom, R. 2001. Extreme endemic radiation of the Malagasy Vangas (Aves: Passeriformes). J. Mol. Evol. 53(1): 39-46. http://www.springerlink.com/content/yt0q7rycg5gr9ha5/

Jønsson, K.A; Fabre, P.-H.; Fritz, S.A. et al. 2012. Ecological and evolutionary determinants for the adaptive radiation of the Madagascan vangas. PNAS Early Edition. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1115835109

Evolution: Vangas beat Darwin’s finches in diversity

Release: http://www.bik-f.de/root/index.php?page_id=267&PHPSESSID=bdihnh3te7e3t181bu1efano1m0d4bvl&ID=623

Evolution: Vangas beat Darwin’s finches in diversity: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120419090824.htm 

Madagascar’s vanga birds, new study

http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/madagascars-vanga-birds-new-study/

[Ornithology • 2001] Extreme endemic radiation of the Malagasy Vangas (Aves: Passeriformes: Vangidae)

Tylas Vanga | Tylas eduardi Hartlaub, 1862

Abstract

Phylogenetic relationships of the family Vangidae and representatives of several other passeriform families were inferred from 882 base positions of mitochondrial DNA sequences of 12S and 16S rRNA genes. Results indicated the monophyly of the Vangidae, which includes the genus Tylas, hitherto often placed in the family Pycnonotidae. Our results also revealed the Malagasy endemic Newtonia, a genus never previously assigned to the Vangidae, to be a member of this family. These results suggest the occurrence of an extensive in situ radiation of this family within Madagascar, and that the extant high diversity of this family is not the result of multiple colonizations from outside. The extremely high morphological and ecological diversification of the family seems to have been enhanced through the use and ultimate occupancy of vacant niches in this island.

Key words: 12S rRNA — 16S rRNA — Phylogeny — Passeriformes — Oscines — Vangidae —  Madagascar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonia_(bird)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylas

Yamagishi, S.; Honda, M.; Eguchi, K. & Thorstrom, R. 2001. Extreme endemic radiation of the Malagasy Vangas (Aves: Passeriformes). J. Mol. Evol. 53(1): 39-46. http://www.springerlink.com/content/yt0q7rycg5gr9ha5/

[Ornithology • 2011] Tsingy Wood Rail | Mentocrex kioloides • Patterns of morphological and genetic variation in the Mentocrex kioloides complex (Gruiformes: Rallidae) from Madagascar, with the description of a new species

Tsingy Wood Rail | Canirallus (Mentocrex) beankaensis

Goodman, Raherilalao & Block, 2011

Illustration by: Velizar A. Simeonovski. 

Abstract

We examine patterns of morphological and molecular genetic differentiation in the endemic Mentocrex kioloides complex of Madagascar. This forest-dwelling rail (often placed in Canirallus) is known from two subspecies: M. k. kioloides, which occurs in the island’s humid central and eastern forests; and M. k. berliozi, which occurs in the transitional dry deciduoushumid forests of the northwest. Two new specimens (an adult and a downy young) recently became available from limestone karst areas of the lowland central west, the adult of which is notably different in size and plumage coloration, as well as showing considerable genetic divergence, from the two recognized subspecies of M. kioloides. The central west animals are herein named as a species new to science, Mentocrex beankaensis, sp. nov. 

Key words: Madagascar Wood Rail, Beanka Massif, tsingy forest

Image: new bird discovered in Madagascar http://shar.es/vAMy3

Steve M. Goodman, Marie Jeanne Raherilalao, and Nicholas L. Block. 2011. Patterns of morphological and genetic variation in the Mentocrex kioloides complex (Aves: Gruiformes: Rallidae) from Madagascar, with the description of a new species. Zootaxa. 2776: 49-60. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2011/f/zt02776p060.pdf

[Ornithology • Extinction] Alaotra Grebe | Tachybaptus rufolavatus • water bird endemic to Lake Alaotra and surrounding lakes in Madagascar's northern central plateau | Extinct (2010)

Alaotra Grebe has been declared Extinct in the 2010 Red List update for birds

Art: Chris Rose

BirdLife International has announced, in the 2010 IUCN Red List update for birds, the extinction of Alaotra Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus. Restricted to a tiny area of east Madagascar, this species declined rapidly after carnivorous fish were introduced to the lakes in which it lived. This, along with the use of nylon gill-nets by fisherman which caught and drowned birds, has driven this species into the abyss.

Madagascar's Alaotra Grebe was last seen in 1985 and is now Extinct

photo: Paul Thompson

Carnivorous fish blamed for grebe's extinction in Madagascar http://gu.com/p/2h8kk/tw via @guardian

Wetland aliens cause bird extinction

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2010/05/red-list-for-birds-2010.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8702000/8702598.stm

End of Alaotra grebe is further evidence of Sixth Great Extinction

Species are vanishing quicker than at any point in the last 65 million years http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/end-of-alaotra-grebe-is-further-evidence-of-sixth-great-extinction-1982947.html via @Independent

[Ornithology • Conservation] BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme

BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme

Annual Report

http://www.birdlife.org/extinction/

Birds are disappearing forever…

The natural rate of bird extinction is one bird per century. In the last thirty years alone, 21 bird species have become extinct. At present, 197 are classified as Critically Endangered. On the very edge of extinction. Without immediate action, many will not be here in ten years’ time.

A Critically Endangered male Juan Fernandez Firecrown Sephanoides fernandensis

Kevin D. Mack; http://www.rarebirdsyearbook.com/

http://www.birdlife.org/extinction/

[News 2006] Going or gone: defining 'Possibly Extinct - PE' species to give a truer picture of recent extinctions

Madagascar's Alaotra Grebe was last seen in 1985 and is now Extinct

photo: Paul Thompson

According to the IUCN Red List, 131 bird species have become Extinct since 1500, with an additional four species surviving only in captivity and classified as Extinct in the Wild. But a new paper by BirdLife’s Stuart Butchart and Alison Stattersfield and Conservation International’s Tom Brooks argues that the number of recent extinctions documented on the Red List is likely to be "a significant underestimate".

The paper, Going or gone: defining 'Possibly Extinct' species to give a truer picture of recent extinctions (published in The Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club), describes the method the authors have developed to identify 15 Critically Endangered species as Possibly Extinct (PE).

"A precautionary approach by IUCN to classifying extinctions is appropriate in order to encourage continuing conservation efforts until there is no reasonable doubt that the last individual of a species has died," says lead author Dr Stuart Butchart, BirdLife's Global Species Programme Coordinator. However, this approach means that analyses of recent extinctions are likely to come up with unduly optimistic figures.

"We defined ‘Possibly Extinct’ species as those that are, on the balance of evidence, likely to be extinct, but for which there is a small chance that they may be extant and thus should not be listed as Extinct until adequate surveys have failed to find the species and local or unconfirmed reports have been discounted," Butchart explains. "Adding this tag to the Red List allows more realistic assessment of extinction rates without giving up on species prematurely."

Some Possibly Extinct species have not been recorded for more than 50 years, with the record being held by Hooded Seedeater Sporophila melanops – not seen since it was discovered in central Brazil in 1823. Others have undergone well-documented declines, such as the Oloma'o Myadestes lanaiensis, a Hawaiian thrush that was last seen in 1980 following its disappearance resulting from habitat destruction and introduced avian malaria.

"Combining data on these 15 species with data for 135 Extinct and Extinct in the Wild species shows that over the last century bird species have become extinct at a rate of one every 1.8 years," says Butchart. "Habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, and exploitation have been the main causes of extinction."

Grimmer picture painted of recent extinctions

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/06/pe.html

Going or gone: defining 'Possibly Extinct' species to give a truer picture of recent extinctions

http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/06/possibly_extinct_paper.pdf

[News 2012] Appeal launched for Patagonian grebe Podiceps gallardoi

Hooded Grebe | Podiceps gallardoi Rumboll, 1974

© Pablo Hernández

Recent surveys on its coastal Patagonian wintering grounds indicate that the Endangered Hooded Grebe Podiceps gallardoi has declined by 40% in the last seven years and this, along with alarming new threats detected on its breeding grounds during 2011, indicate action is now urgently required to prevent the rapidly increasing threat of its extinction.In response to these worrying findings, Aves Argentinas (BirdLife in Argentina) has mounted a wide-ranging offensive to protect this highly-threatened migratory species from further decline. 

In support, we are launching an international online appeal through the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme to help fund the urgently required conservation action that they have already begun.

Hooded Grebes alerted to aerial predators Dec 2011 © Pablo Hernández

Two Hooded Grebes slaughtered by mink at Laguna El Cervecero © Ignacio Roesler

Appeal launched for Patagonian grebe http://www.birdlife.org/community/2012/01/international-appeal-for-patagonian-grebe-in-crisis/ via @@BirdLife_News

[Ornithology • Extinction] Atitlán Grebe | Podilymbus gigas • water bird endemic at the Lago de Atitlán in Guatemala | Extinct (1989)

Atitlán Grebe 

Podilymbus gigas Griscom, 1929

The decline of the Atitlán Grebe began in 1958 and again in 1960 after Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) and Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were introduced into Lake Atitlán. These invasive species reduced the crabs and fish which the grebes depended on for food and the fish even killed the grebe chicks. The population of the Atitlán Grebe declined from 200 individuals in 1960 to 80 in 1965. Thanks to the conservation efforts of Anne LaBastille, in 1966 a refuge was established where this species was able to rebound. The population recovered to 210 in 1973. Unfortunately after the 1976 Guatemala earthquake, the lake bed fractured. An underwater drain led to a fall of the water level and to a further severe decrease of the number of grebes. In 1983 only 32 individuals were left, of which the largest part were hybrids with the Pied-billed Grebe. The last two birds were seen in 1989, and after they disappeared the Atitlán Grebe was declared officially extinct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atitlán_Grebe

http://thedrinkingbirdblog.com/2010/03/04/guatemala-requiem-for-a-grebe/