The Rodrigues pigeon or Rodrigues dove (''Nesoenas rodericanus'') is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species of

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

formerly

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Mascarene The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

island of

Rodrigues Rodrigues ( ; Mauritian Creole, Creole: ) is a Autonomous administrative division, autonomous Outer islands of Mauritius, outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Isl ...

. It is known from a

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

sternum The sternum (: sternums or sterna) or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major bl ...

and some other bones, and the descriptions of Leguat (1708) and Julien Tafforet (1726).

Taxonomy

This bird was assigned to the genus ''

Alectroenas The blue pigeons are a genus, ''Alectroenas'', of birds in the dove and pigeon family Columbidae. They are native to islands in the western Indian Ocean. Taxonomy and evolution The genus ''Alectroenas'' was first described in 1840 by the English ...

'', but this was erroneous. It is most similar to that of the ground doves (''

Gallicolumba ''Gallicolumba'' is a mid-sized genus of ground-dwelling doves (family (biology), family Columbidae), most of which occur in rainforests on the Philippines. Local name 'punay' which is a general term for pigeons and doves. They are not closely re ...

'') or to a miniature version of the sternum of an imperial pigeon (''

Ducula ''Ducula'' is a genus of the pigeon family Columbidae, collectively known as imperial pigeons. They are large to very large pigeons with a heavy build and medium to long tails. They are arboreal, feed mainly on fruit and are closely related to t ...

''). If this similarity is not based on

convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...

, considering the evolutionary relationships of the

dodo The dodo (''Raphus cucullatus'') is an extinction, extinct flightless bird that was endemism, endemic to the island of Mauritius, which is east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The dodo's closest relative was the also-extinct and flightles ...

and the

Rodrigues solitaire The Rodrigues solitaire (''Pezophaps solitaria'') is an extinct flightless bird that was endemism, endemic to the island of Rodrigues, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Genetically within the family of Columbidae, pigeons and doves, it wa ...

, the Rodrigues pigeon is quite possibly the closest relative of the Raphidae that was still alive in historic times. This does not mean that there is any close relationship between this bird and the didine pigeons, only that both derived, independently, from the same Indo-Asiatic lineage, which became extinct millions of years ago. Two

tarsometatarsi The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bird bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) an ...

were attributed to this species. Today, they are believed to represent another

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

, closer to the Malagasy turtle dove (''Nesoenas picturata''), and thus the name Rodrigues turtle dove also refers to the present species.

Description

It was a bird the size of a tambourine dove and colored slate grey. Leguat and his companions took a fancy to these tame and confiding birds and had several dozen birds attending their outdoor table at mealtime to wait for scraps; they were especially fond of melon seeds. In 1693, the bird was found foraging on the island, but nested only on offshore islets which the rats that had been introduced at some time in the 17th century had not yet reached.Hume, J.P. 2011: Systematics, morphology, and ecology of pigeons and doves (Aves: Columbidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with three new species. ''Zootaxa'', 3124: 1-62
Preview
(paperback) (online edition)

Behaviour

Leguat described its behaviour as follows: Tafforet described its behaviour as follows:

Extinction

Tafforet's report is the last record of this species. It can be assumed to have gone extinct in the mid-18th century, when rats finally overran its nesting sites.

References

* Milne-Edwards, Alphonse (1873): Recherches sur la faune ancienne des Îles Mascareignes. ''Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. (Paris)'' 5(19), Article 3, plate 12: figures 1, 1a, 1b, 1c. rticle in French''Note:'' Usually, the year of publication is given as 1874. However, although the volume was nominally of that year, it was already released in 1873. Extinct birds of Indian Ocean islands Nesoenas Bird extinctions since 1500 Fauna of Rodrigues Birds described in 1873 Extinct animals of Africa

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

{{Columbiformes-stub