Gallicolumba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gallicolumba
Luzon Bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba luzonica
Luzon Bleeding-heart, Gallicolumba luzonica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbiformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Gallicolumba
Heck, 1849
Species

see article text

Synonyms
  • Phlegoenas
    Reichenbach, 1852

Gallicolumba is a genus of ground-dwelling doves which occur in rainforests on the Philippines, Indonesia, and in the Pacific region. This include the Ground-doves from the Pacific islands and the Bleeding-hearts known from the Philippines. The latter are named thus for a vivid-red patch on the breast which looks startlingly like a bleeding wound in some species; it reminded naturalists of a dagger stab. The diet of doves of this genus consists of fruits and seed.

[edit] Systematics

Currently about 20 species are extant. Of the larger genera of Columbidae, Gallicolumba is the one most affected by extinction. 3-4 species have disappeared since the 18th century, and most of the remaining are decreasing in numbers, threatened with extinction or have lost subspecies due to habitat destruction, invasive species, or overhunting. In addition, there are several species never studied alive but known from subfossil bones. These became extinct during the human settlement of the Southern Pacific region (c. 3000 BC - 1400).

The bones of Gallicolumba are distinct enough to usually recognize this genus with ease. Still, the evolutionary affiliation of extinct species is often uncertain. Especially, most extinct Polynesian taxa occur in the area where the white-headed (G. jobiensis, G. erythroptera) lineage and the Melanesian expansion that brought about G. sanctaecrucis and G. stairi, and possibly G. rubescens, would have met.

[edit] Further reading