The Mascarene teal (Anas theodori), also known as Sauzier's teal and Mauritian duck, is an extinctdabbling duck that formerly occurred on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion.
Illustration from 1670, which may show two Mascarene teals towards the top middle of the small stream to the right of the shelter.
The reports of Bernardin and (1710) Boucher are puzzling insofar as that they mention both geese, sarcelles (teals, or ducks, which is this species) as well as canards (ducks, larger than sarcelles) as occurring or having occurred on Réunion. It is possible that a carpometacarpus bone apparently of an Aythya diving duck is referrable to these canards. If so, these birds were probably related to the Madagascar pochard, of which only small numbers are known to remain.
Earlier, it was proposed that Meller's duck, also from Madagascar, is the closest living relative of A. theodori, but as more remains of the latter were unearthed this appears far less likely. Apart from a few, brief descriptions, not much is known about the bird in life, but its habits probably did not differ significantly from those of its close relatives. Bones have been found in the Mare aux Songes swamp on Mauritius and more recently on Réunion also. The scientific name honours Théodore Sauzier [de], who made many bones of extinct birds found on Mauritius available to science.
Descriptionedit
It was a small teal of the Anas gibberifronssuperspecies of the AnassubgenusNettion. Its closest relative is probably Bernier's teal from Madagascar and, apart from having stronger wings and being considerably bigger (between a Sunda teal and a mallard in size), it seems to have looked very similar to that species.
The bird became extinct on both islands almost simultaneously and for the same reason: overhunting. On Mauritius, the "grey teals" were found in "great numbers" in 1681, but in 1693, Leguat (1708) found "wild ducks" to be already rare. In 1696, governor Deodati mentioned the species for the last time to be extant. On Réunion, the species is last mentioned to occur "in quantity" in de la Merveille's 1709 listing of the island's wildlife, but as Jean Feuilley had not listed waterfowl in his 1705 report, de la Merveille's record is obviously based on obsolete hearsay information. The last reliable Réunion record of the species appears to be the report of Père Bernardin in 1687; thus, the date of extinction can be assumed to be the late 1690s on Mauritius, and a few years earlier on Réunion.
Leguat, François (1708): Voyages et Avantures de François Leguat & de ses Compagnons, en Deux Isles Desertes des Indes Orientales, etc.2: 71. Jean Louis de Lorme, Amsterdam. PDF fulltext available at Gallica: search for "Leguat"
Newton, Edward & Gadow, Hans Friedrich (1893): "On additional bones of the Dodo and other extinct birds of Mauritius obtained by Mr. Théodore Sauzier". Transactions of the Zoological Society. 13: 281–302, plate 34: figures 11–17.
April 11, 2024
mascarene, teal, anas, theodori, also, known, sauzier, teal, mauritian, duck, extinct, dabbling, duck, that, formerly, occurred, islands, mauritius, réunion, mauritius, ducksubfossilsconservation, statusextinct, 1696, iucn, scientific, classificationdomain, eu. The Mascarene teal Anas theodori also known as Sauzier s teal and Mauritian duck is an extinct dabbling duck that formerly occurred on the islands of Mauritius and Reunion Mascarene tealMauritius duckSubfossilsConservation statusExtinct 1696 IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass AvesOrder AnseriformesFamily AnatidaeGenus AnasSpecies A theodoriBinomial name Anas theodoriNewton amp Gadow 1893Location of the Mascarene Islands where it was found Contents 1 Taxonomy 2 Description 3 Extinction 4 ReferencesTaxonomy edit nbsp Illustration from 1670 which may show two Mascarene teals towards the top middle of the small stream to the right of the shelter The reports of Bernardin and 1710 Boucher are puzzling insofar as that they mention both geese sarcelles teals or ducks which is this species as well as canards ducks larger than sarcelles as occurring or having occurred on Reunion It is possible that a carpometacarpus bone apparently of an Aythya diving duck is referrable to these canards If so these birds were probably related to the Madagascar pochard of which only small numbers are known to remain Earlier it was proposed that Meller s duck also from Madagascar is the closest living relative of A theodori but as more remains of the latter were unearthed this appears far less likely Apart from a few brief descriptions not much is known about the bird in life but its habits probably did not differ significantly from those of its close relatives Bones have been found in the Mare aux Songes swamp on Mauritius and more recently on Reunion also The scientific name honours Theodore Sauzier de who made many bones of extinct birds found on Mauritius available to science Description editIt was a small teal of the Anas gibberifrons superspecies of the Anas subgenus Nettion Its closest relative is probably Bernier s teal from Madagascar and apart from having stronger wings and being considerably bigger between a Sunda teal and a mallard in size it seems to have looked very similar to that species Extinction edit nbsp Life restoration of the Reunion shelduck large left and Mauritian ducks right by Julian P HumeThe bird became extinct on both islands almost simultaneously and for the same reason overhunting On Mauritius the grey teals were found in great numbers in 1681 but in 1693 Leguat 1708 found wild ducks to be already rare In 1696 governor Deodati mentioned the species for the last time to be extant On Reunion the species is last mentioned to occur in quantity in de la Merveille s 1709 listing of the island s wildlife but as Jean Feuilley had not listed waterfowl in his 1705 report de la Merveille s record is obviously based on obsolete hearsay information The last reliable Reunion record of the species appears to be the report of Pere Bernardin in 1687 thus the date of extinction can be assumed to be the late 1690s on Mauritius and a few years earlier on Reunion References edit BirdLife International 2022 Anas theodori IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022 e T22728662A208157102 Leguat Francois 1708 Voyages et Avantures de Francois Leguat amp de ses Compagnons en Deux Isles Desertes des Indes Orientales etc 2 71 Jean Louis de Lorme Amsterdam PDF fulltext available at Gallica search for Leguat Newton Edward amp Gadow Hans Friedrich 1893 On additional bones of the Dodo and other extinct birds of Mauritius obtained by Mr Theodore Sauzier Transactions of the Zoological Society 13 281 302 plate 34 figures 11 17 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mascarene teal amp oldid 1209570095, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
