Gallinula chloropus pyrrhorrhoa A. Newton, 1861b

Hume, Julian Pender, 2019, Systematics, morphology and ecology of rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with one new species, Zootaxa 4626 (1), pp. 1-107 : 60-61

Madagascan Moorhen Gallinula chloropus pyrrhorrhoa A. Newton, 1861b

Haretac Flacourt, 1661, p.164

Fulica chloropus: Linnaeus, 1758, p. 152, 1766 , p. 258; Desjardins, 1831, p.45; Hartlaub, 1848, p. 392, 1860, p.173

Gallinula chloropus: Sganzin, 1840 [in 1831–32], p.45; Hartlaub, 1861, p.81; Pollen, 1863, p.325; Coquerel, 1864, p.23; Schlegel, 1865, p.47, 1866b, p.425; Schlegel & Pollen, 1868, p.136; Vinson, 1868, p.628; Gray, 1871, p.66; Sharpe, 1894, p.169; Meinertzhagen, 1912, p.99

Gallinule or Moor-hen: Clark, 1859, p.lxxxv

Gallinula A. Newton, 1861a , p.116

Gallinula pyrrhorrhoa : A. Newton, 1861b, p.19 ( Mauritius); E. Newton, 1861, p.275, 1863, p.458; Sclater, 1863, p.165; Roch & Newton, 1863, p.174; Verreaux, 1865, p.4; Bartlett, 1875, p.68; Hartlaub, 1877, p.348; E. Newton, 1888, p.552; Guérin, 1950, p.2(1)

Gallinula chloropus, var. pyrrhorrhoa Grandidier, 1868, p.5 ; Finsch & Hartlaub, 1870, p.787; Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1882, p.594, pls.240, 241,241a; Oustalet, 1897, p.96; Carié, 1916, p.47

Gallinula chloropus pyrrhorrhoa Oustalet, 1897, p.96 ; Sclater, 1924, p.108; Rand, 1936, p.361; Guérin, 1939, p.187; Berlioz, 1946, p.37; Staub, 1973b, p.31; Rountree et al. 1952, p.181; Safford & Hawkins, 2013, 372; Dickinson & Remsen, 2013, p.161; del Hoyo & Collar, 2014, pp.352

Remarks: The Madagascan race of the Eurasian Moorhen Gallinula chloropus ( Linnaeus, 1758) is found throughout Madagascar and on the Comoro Islands, and is also a resident breeder on Mauritius and Réunion (A. Newton 1861a; Cheke & Hume 2008; Safford & Hawkins 2013). The holotype of G. c. pyrrhorrhoa was collected in 1861 on Mauritius, when Alfred Newton received the skin from his brother, Edward (A. Newton 1861a, b). Another specimen had been previously been collected in 1831 ( Desjardins 1831), at the same time that the eggs were probably recorded ( Cari 1904). Cossigny (Charpentier de Cossigny 1799) first observed them on Mauritius during the 1790s, and it appears that they were by then well established ( Cheke & Hume 2008). Michel (1992) thought that it had been introduced by the French, but provides no evidence to support this claim and it appears unlikely. It was also first observed on Réunion in 1831 and was also considered common there at that time ( Sganzin 1840). The lack of records from the 17th century, plus its absence from the fossil-rich Mare aux Songes deposits, suggests that G. c. pyrrhorrhoa is a recent colonist that may well have populated the niche of Fulica newtonii after it had become extinct ( Cheke & Hume 2008; Hume 2013).

The Madagascan Moorhen occurs in most remaining wetland areas of Mauritius today, especially in the north where it is abundant (pers. obs) ( Fig. 38 ), and is well established on the Étang St. Paul and other wetland areas up to an altitude of 1,000 m on Réunion ( Milon 1951; Safford & Hawkins 2013).

Figures

FIGURE 38. The last surviving Mascarene rail, Madagascan Moorhen Gallinula chloropus pyrrhorrhoa (centre on rock), at the coastal Anse la Raie wetlands on the northern tip of Mauritius. This was once the habitat of Fulica newtonii. Photograph by the author.