Blue pigeon
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2012) |
| Blue pigeon | |
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| Seychelles blue pigeon | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Columbiformes |
| Family: | Columbidae |
| Subfamily: | Treroninae |
| Genus: | Alectroenas G.R. Gray, 1840 |
| Species | |
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see text | |
A blue pigeon is a bird species in the genus Alectroenas of the pigeon family. The group includes the:
- Madagascan blue pigeon (Alectroenas madagascariensis)
- Comoros blue pigeon (Alectroenas sganzini)
- Seychelles blue pigeon (Alectroenas pulcherrimus)
- Mauritius blue pigeon (Alectroenas nitidissimus)†
- Rodrigues blue pigeon (Alectroenas payandeei)†
- Réunion blue pigeon (Alectroenas sp.)†
Taxonomy and evolution
George Robert Gray named a new genus, Alectroenas, for the Mauritius blue pigeon in 1840; alektruon means domestic cock and oinas means dove. Alectroenas nitidissima is the type species of the genus, which includes all blue pigeons.[1]
The Alectroenas blue pigeons are closely interrelated and occur widely throughout islands in the western Indian Ocean. They are allopatric and can therefore be regarded as a superspecies.[2] There are three extant species; the Madagascan blue pigeon, the Comoros blue pigeon, and the Seychelles blue pigeon.[3] The three Mascarene islands were home to a species each, which are all extinct; the Mauritius blue pigeon, the Rodrigues blue pigeon, and the Réunion blue pigeon.[4] Compared to other pigeons, the blue pigeons are medium to large, stocky, have comparatively long wings and tails. They all have distinct mobile hackles on the head and neck. The tibiotarsus is comparatively long and the tarsometatarsus short.[1]
The blue pigeons perhaps colonised the Mascarenes, the Seychelles or a now submerged hot spot island by "island hopping" and evolved into a distinct genus there before reaching Madagascar.[5] Their closest genetic relative is the cloven-feathered dove, Drepanoptila holosericea, of New Caledonia, which they separated from 8–9 million years ago.[6] Their ancestral group appears to be the fruit doves, Ptilinopus, of Southeast Asia and Oceania.[7]
The Rodrigues pigeon (Nesoenas rodericana), now extinct, was once assigned to the genus Alectroenas, but this was erroneous. In reality, it probably belongs to an undescribed genus, as the sternum's shape is very dissimilar in its details to that of Alectroenas or Columba, and indeed to any other living genus of pigeons and doves. It is most similar to that of the Gallicolumba ground doves or to a miniature version of the sternum of a Ducula imperial pigeon.
References
- ^ a b Hume, J.P. 2011: Systematics, morphology, and ecology of pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with three new species. ISSN 1175-5326 Zootaxa, 3124: 1-62. Preview ISBN 978-1-86977-825-5
- ^ Goodwin, D. 1983, Pigeons and Doves of the World, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
- ^ Shelley, G. E. (1883). "On the Columbidae of the Ethiopian Region". Ibis. 25 (3): 258–331. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1883.tb07172.x.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help); Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Hume, J. P.; Walters, M. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: A & C Black. pp. 134–136. ISBN 978-1-4081-5725-1.
- ^ Cheke, A. S.; Hume, J. P. (2008). Lost Land of the Dodo: an Ecological History of Mauritius, Réunion & Rodrigues. New Haven and London: T. & A. D. Poyser. pp. 22–115. ISBN 978-0-7136-6544-4.
- ^ Pereira, S. L.; Johnson, K. P.; Clayton, D. H.; Baker, A. J. (2007). "Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences support a Cretaceous origin of Columbiformes and a dispersal-driven radiation in the Paleogene". Systematic Biology. 56 (4): 656–672. doi:10.1080/10635150701549672. PMID 17661233.
- ^ Shapiro, B.; Sibthorpe, D.; Rambaut, A.; Austin, J.; Wragg, G. M.; Bininda-Emonds, O. R. P.; Lee, P. L. M.; Cooper, A. (2002). "Flight of the Dodo" (PDF). Science. 295 (5560): 1683. doi:10.1126/science.295.5560.1683. PMID 11872833. Supplementary information (HTML abstract) Free PDF Supplementary information