Long feared extinct, rare bird rediscovered

RIGHT: Corvus unicolor, the long-lost Banggai Crow, was rediscovered on Indonesia's Peleng Island. Photo by Philippe Verbelen

13-Oct-2009
Michigan State University ornithologist confirms species

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Known to science only by two specimens described in 1900, a critically endangered crow has re-emerged on a remote, mountainous Indonesian island thanks in part to a Michigan State University scientist.

The Banggai Crow was believed by many to be extinct until Indonesian biologists finally secured two new specimens on Peleng Island in 2007. Pamela Rasmussen, an MSU assistant professor of zoology and renowned species sleuth, provided conclusive verification.

An ornithologist who specializes on the birds of southern Asia, Rasmussen studied the two century-old specimens known as Corvus unicolor in New York's American Museum of Natural History. She compared them to the new crow specimens in Indonesia's national museum, to lay to rest speculation that they were merely a subspecies of a different crow. The more common Slender-billed Crow, or Corvus enca, also is found in the Banggai Islands, and likewise is all black.

"The morphometric analysis I did shows that all four unicolor specimens are very similar to each other, and distinctly different from enca specimens. We also showed that the two taxa differ in eye color -- an important feature in Corvus," Rasmussen said. "Not only did this confirm the identity of the new specimens but also the specific distinctness of Corvus unicolor, which has long been in doubt."

The rediscovery was spearheaded by professor Mochamad Indrawan of the University of Indonesia, chairperson of the Indonesian Ornithologists' Union, who conducted ecological field studies. He was assisted by collaborator Yunus Masala and by the Celebes Bird Club, members of which secured the new specimens that are now catalogued at the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense in Java.

Before Indrawan and collaborators could publish their findings confirming the crow's identity, other birdwatchers in the mountains of Peleng photographed and recorded Banggai Crows, which Rasmussen said confirms the distinctiveness of the species.

Indrawan and Masala now have turned their efforts toward protecting the rare species, which is hunted by local residents. That includes making recommendations for protection of its forest habitat through sustainable agriculture methods and, perhaps, eco-tourism, to address the residents' livelihood needs.

A photo of the Banggai Crow debuts this week in volume 14 of the influential Handbook of the Birds of the World. In the meantime, Rasmussen, Indrawan and colleagues have submitted the detailed paper confirming the species' rediscovery for publication.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/msu-lfe100909.php

(Submitted by Chad Arment)

Extinct Seabird Rediscovered In Laboratory

Wednesday, 12 August, 2009 - 13:06

Three University of Canterbury academics have helped rediscover a seabird thought to have been driven to extinction by hungry European sailors in the late 18th century.

Dr Tammy Steeves, Dr Marie Hale and Adjunct Professor Richard Holdaway (Biological Sciences) are part of a team of scientists from across New Zealand and Australia who have used an innovative multidisciplinary approach to resolve the taxonomic status of the "extinct" Tasman booby (Sula tasmani).

It is the first study of its kind to report the rediscovery of an extinct bird using classical palaeontological data combined with ancient and modern DNA data.

"Many rediscoveries of 'extinct' birds are the result of an intensive search in the field, but ours is a little different - we rediscovered our bird in the laboratory," said Dr Steeves.

"What was once considered to be an extinct species, the Tasman booby (Sula tasmani), turns out be a subspecies of a living species, the masked booby (Sula dactylatra fullagari). And now these charismatic seabirds have a new name - Sula dactylatra tasmani."

Masked boobies are large colonial seabirds that breed on oceanic islands throughout the tropics and subtropics. In addition to having longer wings than birds elsewhere, the masked boobies breeding on three remote island groups in the North Tasman Sea have sepia, not yellow, eyes.

The findings have just been published online in the journal Biology Letters.

Dr Steeves, who is the article's lead author, said the researchers approached the task in two stages. First, they compared standard morphometric measurements of fossil material collected from Norfolk Island to modern specimens collected in the North Tasman Sea. In the second stage, the scientists used ancient and modern DNA methods to compare mitochondrial control region sequences from Norfolk Island fossils to those in a global sample of modern birds.

"Despite limited sampling, we found an overlap in skeletal size between fossil and modern boobies in the North Tasman Sea and show that fossil birds have mitochondrial control region sequences that are identical to those found in modern North Tasman Sea birds."

"In addition to reporting the rediscovery of an 'extinct' seabird taxon, our study highlights the need for a multidisciplinary approach when classifying both past and present diversity."

Future research will explore how these long-winged, sepia-eyed birds came to be so different from their short-winged, yellow-eyed counterparts.

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/extinct-seabird-rediscovered-laboratory/5/20789

See also: Merging ancient and modern DNA: extinct seabird taxon rediscovered in the North Tasman Sea

'Extinct' tiny shrew rediscovered

16 July 2009 11:09 UK

Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

A tiny species of shrew has been rediscovered in the wild, more than a century after first being described.

In 1894, a handful of specimens of the Nelson's small-eared shrew were collected in southern Mexico.

But the shrew was never seen again, and was considered by many experts to already be extinct.

That was until two researchers found three shrews in a small patch of forest, a find that is reported in the journal Mammalian Biology.

The Nelson's small-eared shrew (Cryptotis nelsoni) is named after the man who first discovered it.

In 1894, Edward Nelson and Edward Goldman collected 12 specimens some 4,800 feet up the slopes of the San Martín Tuxtla volcano in Veracruz, Mexico.

A year later, the creature was formally described for science, and the specimens were stored away in the drawers of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, US.

That was the last time the shrew was seen alive for 109 years.

The biology of the shrew has remained a mystery. It was even believed to have become extinct because it had gone unrecorded so so long.

That changed when two mammalogists based in Mexico decided to look for it.

Fernando Cervantes of the National Autonomous University of Mexico teamed up with Lazaro Guevara of the University of Veracruz in Mexico.

In 2004, they set off for the forest slopes of the San Martín Tuxtla volcano to search for the long-lost shrew.

Setting 100 pitfall traps a night for four nights, they eventually caught three shrews - one adult male, one juvenile male and an adult female.

Since then, the researchers have been validating their find.

"We have reviewed [all the] papers about Cryptotis. We visited several biological collections and museums," says Guevara.

"A recent study on the mammalian diversity of Sierra de Santa Martha, Veracruz, did not record the presence of C. nelsoni. Therefore, we believe that no more specimens exist."

The shrews are tiny, measuring less than 10cm from nose to tail. They have sooty brown fur, which is darker than a related shrew species C. mexicana. It also has a larger and heavier, but flatter skull than its relative.

The researchers found the animals scurrying around a patch of cloud forest, that local people know as "dwarf forest" due to its small trees.

"We know very little about its behaviour," says Guevara.

He says that after 100 years or more, it was acceptable to think that the Nelson's small-eared shrew had gone extinct, especially as shrews tend to be overlooked by many scientists.

The surviving shrews are still so scarce that they must be considered critically endangered, say the researchers.

The volcano upon which they live erupted in 1793, destroying all the vegetation around the crater. Despite this eruption, the shrew managed to survive.

But so few now exist that any small change to their habitat could prove disastrous, says Guevara.

"A small habitat alteration may cause changes in the population that may lead to their extinction," he says.

Subsistence crops and livestock are reared in the region, "and any conservation plan needs to involve communities, government and schools to promote the dissemination of the importance of this species," says Guevara.

"In Mexico, the shrews are very poorly known, even by the people who coexist with these beautiful animals."

Guevara explains that, when they started their search they knew that the last record of the species was from 1894. "We thought it was very important research," he says. "We thought that was risky but high value for wildlife conservation. So, we travelled to find it. When we found it, we (were) very pleased."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8152000/8152862.stm

Beetles found after going missing for 100 years

12:10pm Wednesday 1st April 2009

SEVEN species of beetle have been rediscovered at Dunham Massey Park after last being recorded there more than 100 years ago.

John Hooson, a National Trust nature conservation adviser, said: “Dunham is one of the most studied parklands in the UK, making this a very special discovery.

“These beetles are small and finding so many that haven’t been seen since Queen Victoria was on the throne is remarkable and confirms that this is a special place for wildlife.”

The rare flat bark beetle Pediacus depressus, last recorded here in 1889, is normally found south of the line between the River Severn and the Wash, and the nationally scarce false darkling beetle Abdera quadrifasciata was last reported at Dunham in 1867 and is at the northern limit of its range.

Other major discoveries included the darkling beetle Pseudocistela ceramboides, the furthest north it’s ever been found, and the hister beetle Aeletes atomarius, which had not previously been recorded in the north west.

Dunham Massey Park is one of the top sites in the UK for veteran trees – an old tree that has had time to develop a variety of features such as fungi and sap runs.

The continuity of such trees has made the park an ideal location for wood-decay beetles.

Results from this latest survey of the parkland, by expert zoologist Dr Keith Alexander, have confirmed that the park is the fifth richest site for such specialist beetles in the British Isles, supporting national and international rarities.

Famed for its diverse variety of wood-decay beetles, searching for them at Dunham Massey Park became popular in the 1860s and the site has been visited by countless experts ever since.

Entomologist Joseph Chappell was the first person who published notes on the rarities found in the parkland.

John Hooson added: “All species go through periods of relative scarcity or abundance due to a range of factors, such as a sudden abundance of habitat or lack of predators or parasites.

"It's possible that this latest survey coincided with a population peak for these species at Dunham – they’ve been here all of the time but just hiding away from the countless entomologists that have been looking for them.”

Seven endangered species of fly were also found during the survey, including a Fungus gnat, Scythropochroa quercicola, which is only found at two other sites in Britain, a milichiid and Madiza britannica, previously recorded at three sites in Somerset and Cambridgeshire.

http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/4251918.Beetles_found_after_going_missing_for_100_years/