Alectroenas nitidissima
Range and population
Alectroenas nitidissima is known only from three skins1 and a number of
descriptions and paintings1,3, from Mauritius2.
It was first described by Harmansz in 1602, and persisted for more than two
centuries thereafter1. Milbert, writing in 1812, noted that he
ate many in 1801, and Desjardins reported in 1832 that birds were found towards
the centre of the island in the middle of those fine forests which by their
remoteness, have escaped the devestating axe1. The last
specimen was collected in 1826, however, and hunting and habitat loss presumably
caused the species's extinction in the 1830s1.
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