Tag Archives: Hervey Islands

Did the Cook Islands sandpiper survive into the 19th century?

I just found an interesting little side note in ‘Aves polynesiae: a catalog of the birds of the Polynesian subregion (not including the Sandwich Islands)’ from the 19th century in which the South Sea Sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata Peale / parvirostris J. F. Gmelin) under the name Phegornis cancellatus is listed for an island called Hervey Island (now the Manuae Atoll in the north of the Cook Islands). [1]  

Is that just a mistake or does this little side note refer to a last surviving population of the unnamed Prosobonia species known only from subfossil remains, the remains of which have been found on Mangaia Island in the south of the Cook Islands?  

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I wish I had more time for all this research, but unfortunately, I have to work to live (… actually more work than life at the moment …).

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References:

[1] Lionel K. Wiglesworth: Aves polynesiae: a catalogue of the birds of the Polynesian subregion (not including the Sandwich Islands). Berlin: R. Friedlaender & Sohn 1891 In: Abhandlungen und Berichte des Königl. Zoologischen und Anthropologisch-Etnographischen Museums zu Dresden Bd. 3: 1-84. 1890/91. herausgegeben von Hofrath Dr. A. B. Meyer, Director des Museums

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edited: 10.10.2018