[Herpetology • 2021] Discovery of the first Mascarene Giant Tortoise (Testudinidae: Cylindraspis) Nesting Site on Rodrigues Island, Indian Ocean

 Rodrigues giant tortoises on the Plaine Corail, 
based on a unique stuffed Saddleback Tortoise Cylindraspis vosmaeri male (MNHN 1883.558; centre left) and a complete carapace of Domed Tortoise C. peltastes (MNHN 7831; front). The Rodrigues rail Erythromachus leguati, a predator of tortoise eggs and young, forages amongst the tortoises. 

in Hume, Griffiths, ... et Bour, 2021. 

  biotaxa.org/HN

Illustration: Julian Pender Hume

Abstract

Five species of giant tortoise (genus Cylindraspis) once occurred in huge abundance on the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues. They disappeared after colonisation of the island by humans in the 17th and 18th centuries, primarily due to over-hunting and predation of eggs and young by introduced pigs and cats. So rapid was their extinction that virtually nothing is known about their life history, especially nesting and egg-laying behaviour. Here we report the discovery on Rodrigues of the first Mascarene tortoise-nesting site, which contained intact nesting chambers, complete egg clutches and fossil remains of a known native predator of tortoise eggs. We further compare the nesting behaviour with the giant tortoises of Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles and the Galapagos Archipelago in Ecuador and provide details of the decline and extinction of Mascarene tortoises, most notably those of Rodrigues, for which good historical records exist. 

Keywords: Mauritius, Réunion, Aldabrachelys gigantea, Chelonoidis, egg chamber, clutches, extinction 

A complete clutch of Cylindraspis vosmaeri eggs removed intact from PB4 on Rodrigues Island. The clutch contains 13 eggs. 

Scale bar = 100 mm.

A reconstruction of Rodrigues giant tortoises on the Plaine Corail, based on a unique stuffed Saddleback Tortoise Cylindraspis vosmaeri male (MNHN 1883.558; centre left) and a complete carapace of Domed Tortoise C. peltastes (MNHN 7831; front) (see Bour et al. 2014a). The Rodrigues rail Erythromachus leguati, a predator of tortoise eggs and young, forages amongst the tortoises. 

Illustration by Julian Pender Hume.

Two species of extinct giant tortoises, Cylindraspis vosmaeri (larger, saddlebacked) and C. peltastes (smaller, domed) in their native habitat on Rodrigues Island in the late 1600s when accounts indicate the herds of tortoises were so large and dense that it was possible to walk for long distances on their backs without touching the ground (Leguat 1707). 

Painting by Julian Pender Hume (from Griffiths et al. 2013).

Julian Pender Hume, Owen Griffiths, Aurèle Anquetil Andre, Arnaud Meunier and Roger Bour. 2021. Discovery of the first Mascarene Giant Tortoise Nesting Site on Rodrigues Island, Indian Ocean (Testudinidae: Cylindraspis). Herpetology Notes. 14; 103-116. biotaxa.org/HN/article/view/62722/64867

Researchgate.net/publication/348371293_Discovery_of_the_first_Cylindraspis_nesting_site_on_Rodrigues_Island

    

    

[Botany • 2020] Revision of Angraecum sect. Perrierangraecum (Orchidaceae; Epidendroideae; Vandeae) for the Mascarenes, with A Description of A New Endemic Species for Mauritius

Angraecum sp. (sect. Perrierangraecum) 

in Pailler, Verlynde, Bytebier, et al., 2020. 

DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.442.3.4

 twitter.com/ClBaider

Abstract

While revising the genus Angraecum (Orchidaceae) for the Mascarenes, a new taxon endemic to Mauritius was identified and it is here described as Angraecum baiderae. More than 300 Angraecum specimens, including types, collected in the Mascarenes and Madagascar, and available at DBEV, G, K, KM, L, MARS, MAU, MO, P, REU, SEY, TEF, and TAN were studied to confirm the taxonomic status of this new taxon. Its conservation status was assessed as Endangered. Furthermore, this paper presents detailed descriptions, conservation status, and a key to all species of Angraecum sect. Perrierangraecum occurring in the Mascarenes.

Keywords: conservation, IUCN Red List, Mauritius, orchid, Réunion, taxonomy, Monocots

Thierry Pailler, Simon Verlynde, Benny Bytebier, F.B. Vincent Florens and Claudia Baider. 2020. Revision of Angraecum sect. Perrierangraecum (Orchidaceae; Epidendroideae; Vandeae) for the Mascarenes, with A Description of A New Endemic Species for Mauritius. Phytotaxa. 442(3); 183–195. DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.442.3.4

twitter.com/ClBaider/status/1260108102210334721

[Ichthyology • 2018] Redescription and Phylogenetic Placement of Cirrhilabrus sanguineus Cornic (Teleostei: Labridae), with First Documentation of the Female Form

Cirrhilabrus sanguineus Cornic, 1987

in Tea, Frable & Van Der Wal, 2018. 

DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4526.3.5 

 twitter.com/LemonTYK

Abstract

The labrid fish Cirrhilabrus sanguineus Cornic is redescribed on the basis of the neotype, two male specimens, and an additional female specimen recently collected from the northern coast of Mauritius. We provide new live and nuptial colouration descriptions, as well as the first documented female specimen for the species. we also include a molecular phylogenetic analysis of related species, with brief comments on phylogenetic interpretation of putative relationships amongst members of the genus Cirrhilabrus.

Keywords: Pisces, taxonomy, ichthyology, Mauritius, systematics, fairy wrasse

Yi-Kai Tea, Benjamin Frable and Cara Van Der Wal. 2018. Redescription and Phylogenetic Placement of Cirrhilabrus sanguineus Cornic (Teleostei: Labridae), with First Documentation of the Female Form. Zootaxa. 4526(3); 358–372. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4526.3.5

 twitter.com/LemonTYK/status/1068313613297889280

[Fungi • 2018] High Diversity, High Insular Endemism and Recent Origin in the Lichen Genus Sticta (lichenized Ascomycota, Peltigerales) in Madagascar and the Mascarenes

in Simon, Goffinet, Magain & Sérusiaux, 2018. 

   DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.01.012 

Highlights

•  A lineage of Sticta restricted to the Indian Ocean underwent a rapid radiation.

•  The adaptive radiation gave rise to 31 species, most with small-range endemism.

•  The dramatic diversification followed a single colonization event (c. 11 Mya).

Abstract

Lichen biodiversity and its generative evolutionary processes are practically unknown in the MIOI (Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands) biodiversity hotspot. We sought to test the hypothesis that lichenized fungi in this region have undergone a rapid radiation, following a single colonization event, giving rise to narrow endemics, as is characteristic of other lineages of plants. We extensively sampled specimens of the lichen genus Sticta in the Mascarene archipelago (mainly Réunion) and in Madagascar, mainly in the northern range (Amber Mt and Marojejy Mt) and produced the fungal ITS barcode sequence for 148 thalli. We further produced a four-loci data matrix for 68 of them, representing the diversity and geographical distribution of ITS haplotypes. We reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships within this group, established species boundaries with morphological context, and estimated the date of the most recent common ancestor. Our inferences resolve a robust clade comprising 31 endemic species of Sticta that arose from the diversification following a single recent (c. 11 Mya) colonization event. All but three species have a very restricted range, endemic to either the Mascarene archipelago or a single massif in Madagascar. The first genus of lichens to be studied with molecular data in this region underwent a recent radiation, exhibits micro-endemism, and thus exemplifies the biodiversity characteristics found in other taxa in Madagascar and the Mascarenes.

Keywords: Biogeography; Indian Ocean; Lobariaceae; Photomorph; Radiation

Fig. 1. Representatives of MIOI Sticta species. 
(B) Sticta sp. 20. (C) Sticta sp. 23. (D) S. macrophylla. (E) Sticta sp. 22.

Photographs taken in the field by E. Sérusiaux (A–D) and B. Goffinet (E).

Conclusions

The present study demonstrates the existence of a well-supported monophyletic lineage within the genus Sticta, which is endemic to three islands of the Western Indian Ocean: Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion (MIOI hotspot). This clade comprises an assemblage of mostly narrow endemic species six times more diverse than previously recognized, highlighting the extent of the undiscovered diversity within lichen-forming fungi in this region, especially in the genus Sticta. Our results strongly support a local species-rich radiation starting in the Late Miocene, that is concomitant with the emergence of the Mascarene archipelago. Thus, the following biogeographic scenario can be tentatively suggested for the MIOI Sticta species: their most recent common ancestor reached either Madagascar or the Mascarenes, via a single long dispersal event, most likely from an area in the Southern Hemisphere; thereafter migrations between the three islands shaped the observed evolutionary patterns and local speciation, including within each Madagascan montane area, giving rise to a rich complex of small-range endemic species.

Antoine Simon, Bernard Goffinet, Nicolas Magain and Emmanuël Sérusiaux. 2018. High Diversity, High Insular Endemism and Recent Origin in the Lichen Genus Sticta (lichenized Ascomycota, Peltigerales) in Madagascar and the Mascarenes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.  122; 15–28.  DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.01.012

[Ornithology • 2007] Reappraisal of the Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with Comments on Their Ecology, Morphology and Affinities

Abstract 

The parrots (Psittacidae: Lophopsittacus, Psittacula, Necropsittacus, Mascarinus) of the Mascarenes (Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues) have been relatively poorly studied. Most analyses have been based on a few skins, insufficient fossil material, and unreliable contemporary accounts and illustrations, which have led to erroneous interpretations. The discovery of new fossil remains of parrots and new interpretations of contemporary descriptions and illustrations has clarified many issues. One problematic species, Lophopsittacus bensoni is here removed to the genus Psittacula. A detailed comparative analysis of fossil skeletal elements indicates that the affinities of the Mascarene parrots lie within the Psittaculini, a wide ranging tribe of parrots that occurs mainly in Southeast Asia and Australasia. The Mascarenes are remote volcanic islands and biogeographical evidence presented here suggests that parrots reached this isolated group by island-hopping from India, probably during low sea level stands. 

Key words: Mascarene parrots, extinction , affinities, morphology, ecology, biogeography, Psittaculini, Psittacula bensoni new comb.

 Julian Hume. 2007. Reappraisal of the Parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with Comments on Their Ecology, Morphology, and Affinities. Zootaxa. 1513; 1-76. 

ResearchGate.net/publication/228443968_Reappraisal_of_the_parrots_Aves_Psittacidae_from_the_Mascarene_Islands_with_comments_on_their_ecology_morphology_and_affinities

http://julianhume.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Hume-Mascarene-Parrots.pdf

[Ornithology / Behaviour • 2013] Fight Club: a Unique Weapon in the Wing of the Solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria (Aves: Columbidae), an extinct flightless bird from Rodrigues, Mascarene Islands

A pair of male solitaires Pezophaps solitaria fight over territory
in the valley of Saint François, Rodrigues.

An artistic reconstruction by Julian P. Hume. |  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bij.12087

Abstract

The solitaire (Columbidae; Pezophaps solitaria) of Rodrigues was an extinct giant flightless pigeon and the sister taxon to the dodo (Columbidae; Raphus cucullatus) from neighbouring Mauritius. The appearance and behaviour of the solitaire was recorded in detail by two observers before it became extinct in the mid 1700s. They described a prominent wing structure termed the ‘musket ball’ (carpal knob), which was used as a weapon and to produce an audible signal by either sex in territorial combat. Our study of subfossil solitaire bones from cave localities shows that the carpal knob formed after skeletal maturity, and reached its greatest size in adult males. We describe the morphology of the carpal knob, including its histology in thin section. It is an outgrowth of the processus extensorius of the carpometacarpus, but differs morphologically from homologous structures in other bird taxa, and thus is unique in Aves. We also compare the pectoral and wing osteology of the solitaire with that of the dodo, which had a similar morphology, but lacked any bony outgrowths on the wing. Furthermore, we suggest some biological and environmental factors leading to the evolution of this remarkable and unique carpal weapon.

Keywords: bird behaviour; intraspecific combat; Pezophaps solitaria; Raphus cucullatus; sexual dimorphism; territory

  

Carpometacarpus of male Pezophaps solitaria with carpal knob

Figure 4. Comparison of adult male and female carpometacarpi of P. solitaria, showing specimens with and without carpal knob. Left side, ventral aspect:
A, male without carpal knob (NHMUK PVA9044); B, male with carpal knob (NHMUK PVA3505);
C, female without carpal knob (NHMUK PVA9046); D, female with carpal knob (NHMUK PVA9045).

Scale bar = 10 mm. | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bij.12087

Julian P. Hume & Lorna Steel. 2013. Fight Club: a unique weapon in the wing of the solitaire, Pezophaps solitaria (Aves: Columbidae), an extinct flightless bird from Rodrigues, Mascarene Islands. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bij.12087

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/article01122-rodrigues-solitaire-dodo.html

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2013/may/angry-birds-unique-wing-weapon-revealed121659.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pezophaps