10,000 Birds
SEPTEMBER 18, 2018
There is a virtual flock of new and interesting bird science news all of the sudden, including the rediscovery of an extinct Bahama Nuthatch. But here I want to note, and for now, dismiss, a find from Madagascar. It was always thought that humans first inhabited the island of Madagascar about four or five thousand years ago or so.
10,000 Birds
JUNE 17, 2014
Later the continents broke up into smaller regions such as South America, Africa, Asia and such, an a few smaller pieces like Madagascar and New Zealand as well. To be more specific, the Kiwi descends from a bird that FLEW there from Africa or Madagascar and then became the kiwi. Like nothing had happened. Hoping to not be noticed.
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10,000 Birds
APRIL 21, 2016
And the missed Alaotra Grebe of Madagascar. Darren Naish, in his great blog at Scientific American (Which, if you’re not ready, why aren’t you reading it?) recently catalogued their woes. The Atitlan Grebe is sadly extinct. So is the Columbian Grebe. And the Junin Grebe of Peru?
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 6, 2012
Origins and classification describes the evolution of frogs from lobe-finned fishes; there are some gaps in the stages from fish to frog, but scientists have identified the earliest frog-like fossil as Triadobatrachus massinoti, a creature which lived in the area we know as Madagascar about 230 million years ago.
10,000 Birds
AUGUST 22, 2013
I would never have believed it, but if the science says so who am I to argue otherwise? Genetic studies have shed some light on grebe’s place in the avian family tree of late, with a recent study suggesting that the closest relatives for this mostly small and subtly colored family are the gaudy flamingos.
10,000 Birds
JULY 14, 2011
This clade, Mayr says, is “most likely the sister taxon&# of Madagascar’s terrestrial mesites (!). Mayr takes the position that doves and sandgrouse are sister taxa because morphological evidence is good even though genetic evidence is murky.
10,000 Birds
JUNE 26, 2018
A bit of background: Pink Pigeons are medium-sized, pink/gray/ brown birds found on the island of Mauritius, Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. Pink pigeon near Le Pétrin, Mauritius by Michael Hanselmann, used under Creative Commons license. Mauritius may sound familiar, it was also the home of one of our most famous extinct birds—the Dodo.
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