Biology:Malagasy shelduck
| Malagasy shelduck Temporal range: Holocene
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|---|---|
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| Skull and limb fossils | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Family: | Anatidae |
| Genus: | Alopochen |
| Species: | A. sirabensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Alopochen sirabensis (Andrews, 1897)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Malagasy shelduck (Alopochen sirabensis), also known as the Sirabe shelduck, is an extinct species of waterfowl in the shelduck subfamily, described from Late Pleistocene fossils found at Antsirabe in central Madagascar.[1] It was related to the extant Egyptian goose, which is widespread in mainland Africa, and to the extinct Réunion and Mauritius shelducks from the Mascarene Islands.
The reason for the extinction of the Malagasy shelduck is unknown. Further findings in the Pleistocene sites of Ampasambazimba and Ampoza, and also in the Holocene site of Beloha (where remains were carbon dated to only 1380 ± 90 years BP, AD 480-660), show that the species was once widespread in Madagascar, inhabiting different biomes, and that it survived the arrival of humans to the island[2][3] by about 500 years.
References
- ↑ Andrews, C. W. (2008). "On some Fossil Remains of Carinate Birds from Central Madagascar". Ibis 39 (3): 343. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1897.tb03281.x. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54800#page/397/mode/1up.
- ↑ Goodman, SM (1999). Holocene bird subfossils from the sites of Ampasambazimba, Antsirabe and Ampoza, Madagascar: Changes in the avifauna of south central Madagascar over the past few millennia. In: Adams, N.J. & Slotow, R.H. (eds) Proc. 22 Int. Ornithol. Congr., Durban. Johannesburg: BirdLife South Africa. pp. 3071–3083. http://www.int-ornith-union.org/files/proceedings/durban/Symposium/S50/S50.4.htm.
- ↑ Turvey, Samuel T (2009). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780191579981.
Wikidata ☰ Q1883106 entry
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