Mauritian Shelduck

Mauritian Shelduck
Conservation status
Extinct (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Subclass:	Neornithes
Infraclass:	Galloanserae
Order:	Anseriformes
Family:	Anatidae
Subfamily:	Tadorninae
Genus:	Alopochen
Species:	A. mauritianus
Binomial name
Alopochen mauritianus (Newton & Gadow, 1893)
Synonyms
Sarcidiontis mauritiana (lapsus) Sarcidiornis mauritiana Newton & Gadow, 1893

The Mauritian Shelduck (Alopochen mauritianus) is an extinct species of goose from Mauritius. It was a close relative of the Egyptian Goose. Known from one or two subfossil carpometacarpus bones and a few descriptions, this bird was about the size of a Brent Goose. Its appearance is unknown, except that its wings showed the typical color pattern of shelducks. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Malagasy Shelduck; in this case it would become the nominate subspecies, as Alopochen mauritianus mauritianus.

Sometimes even in scholarly sources^[1] one can find references to a supposed "Mauritius Swan" or "Mauritius Comb Goose". These refer to the initial misidentification of the Alopochen mauritianus bones as belonging to the genus Sarkidiornis, but as early as 1897 the true nature of this bird was realized.^[2]

Extinction

Like its Réunion relative, the Mauritian Shelduck was rapidly hunted to extinction. Still reasonably plentiful in 1681, the population collapsed soon afterwards, and Leguat found "wild geese" to be "already rare" in 1693^[3]. In 1698, governor Deodati declared them to be extinct.

Footnotes

1. ^ E.g. here
2. ^ Andrews (1897)
3. ^ Leguat (1708)

References

• Andrews, C.W. (1897): On some fossil remains of Carinate birds from central Madagascar. Ibis 7(3): 343-359.
• BirdLife International (2004). Alopochen mauritianus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 23 Jun 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is extinct.
• Leguat, François (1708): Voyages et Avantures de François Leguat & de ses Compagnons, en Deux Isles Desertes des Indes Orientales, etc. 2: 71. Jean Louis de Lorme, Amsterdam. PDF fulltext
• Newton, Alfred & Gadow, Hans Friedrich (1893): On additional bones of the Dodo and other extinct birds of Mauritius obtained by Mr. Théodore Sauzier. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 13: 281-302, plate 34: figures 9-10.