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Information about Reunion Solitaire

Réunion Sacred Ibis
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Ciconiiformes
Family:Threskiornithidae
Genus:Threskiornis
Species:T. solitarius
Binomial name
Threskiornis solitarius
Sélys, 1848
Synonyms
Raphus solitarius
Victoriornis imperialis
Borbonibis latipes


The Réunion Sacred Ibis or Réunion Flightless Ibis (see below) (Threskiornis solitarius), is an extinct bird species that was native to the island of Réunion. It is probably the same bird discovered by Portuguese sailors there in 1613 and until recently assumed by biologists to be a member of the solitaire family and called the "Réunion Solitaire" (Raphus solitarius), classified as a relative of the Dodo.

That bird was at various times classified as Victoriornis imperialis (the "Réunion Solitaire" or "White Dodo" of descriptions and paintings - the latter obviously show an albino dodo from Mauritius) and Borbonibis latipes (from the first ibis bones found, before a connection to the solitaire reports had been made). The epithet solitarius derives from the Raphus solitarius description of Baron Edmund de Sélys-Longchamps in 1848, but the species' existence was not confirmed until the discovery of bones on Réunion in the late 20th century. The discovery that it actually was an ibis perfectly fits what the early travellers said about its plumage and habits. The confusion can be explained by the fact that solitaire was used by the writers of the descriptions as a descriptive term regarding to a birds' solitary habits, which the ibis happened to share with the Rodrigues Solitaire, but was interpreted by the scientists as an indication of a taxonomic relationship.

The Réunion Sacred Ibis lived solitarily in deep forests near freshwater, where it fed on invertebrates like worms and crustaceans which it caught or dug out of the soil with its long beak. If threatened, it tried to get away mainly by running, using its wings for assistance and to glide short distances, especially downhill.
It had a white plumage, with black wingtips and tail, and a dark, naked head. Bill and legs were long, the former slim and slightly downcurved. All in all, it looked much like a small Sacred Ibis with short wings.

The last account of the "Réunion Solitaire" was recorded in 1705, indicating that the species probably became extinct sometime early in that century.

The vernacular name "Réunion Flightless Ibis" is misleading, since travellers' reports as well as bone measurements indicate that it was well on its way to flightlessness, but could still fly some distance after a running take-off.

References

conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point).
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The 18th Century lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar.

Historians sometimes specifically define the 18th Century otherwise for the purposes of their work.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Ciconiiformes
Bonaparte, 1854

Families
  • Ardeidae
  • Cochlearidae (the Boat-billed Heron)
  • Balaenicipitidae (the Shoebill)
  • Scopidae (the Hammerkop)
  • Ciconiidae
  • Threskiornithidae
  • Cathartidae
Traditionally, the order
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Threskiornithidae
Richmond, 1917

Subfamilies
  • Threskionithinae (ibises)
  • Plateinae (spoonbills)


The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large terrestrial and wading birds, falling into two subfamilies, the
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Threskiornis
J E Gray, 1842

Species

Th. aethiopicus
Th. bernieri
Th. melanocephalus
Th. molucca
Th.
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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Baron Michel Edmond de Sélys Longchamps (May 25, 1813 - December 11, 1900) was a Belgian politician and scientist.

Selys-Longchamps was regarded as the world's greatest authority on dragonflies and damselflies.
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In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. Usage and terminology are different for zoology and botany.

Zoology

In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example
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birds have become extinct, and this rate of extinction seems to be increasing. The situation is exemplified by Hawai‘i, where 30% of all known recently extinct species originally lived.
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Région Réunion

(Region flag) (Region logo)

Location

Administration
Capital Saint-Denis
Regional President Paul Vergès
(PCR) (since 1998)
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Anthem
"A Portuguesa"


Capital
(and largest city) Lisbon5

Official languages Portuguese1
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16th century - 17th century - 18th century
1580s  1590s  1600s  - 1610s -  1620s  1630s  1640s
1610 1611 1612 - 1613 - 1614 1615 1616

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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Solitaires are medium-sized mostly insectivorous birds in the genera Myadestes, Cichlopsis and Entomodestes of the thrush family Turdidae.
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Raphus
Brisson, 1760

Species: R. cucullatus

Binomial name
Raphus cucullatus
(Linnaeus, 1758)


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Albinism
Classification & external resources

Albinistic boy
ICD-10 E 70.3
ICD-9 270.2

OMIM 203100 103470 , 203200 , 203280 ,
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Baron Michel Edmond de Sélys Longchamps (May 25, 1813 - December 11, 1900) was a Belgian politician and scientist.

Selys-Longchamps was regarded as the world's greatest authority on dragonflies and damselflies.
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twentieth century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar. Some historians consider the era from about 1914 to 1991 to be the Short Twentieth Century.
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For the science of classifying living things, see .


Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek τάξις, taxis, 'order' +
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Invertebrate is an English word that describes any animal without a spinal column. The group includes 97% of all animal species — all animals except those in the Chordate subphylum Vertebrata (fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals).
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crustaceans (Crustacea) are a large group of arthropods, comprising approximately 52,000 described species [1], and are usually treated as a subphylum [2].
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T. aethiopicus

Binomial name
Threskiornis aethiopicus
(Latham, 1790)

The Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus
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IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List), created in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
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IUCN

International Organization
Founded October 1948, Fontainebleau, France
Headquarters Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland

Key people Mr Valli Moosa
Ms Julia Marton-Lefèvre
Industry Natural resource conservation
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This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
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