Alopecoenas

Alopecoenas
White-breasted ground dove, Alopecoenas jobiensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Columbiformes
Family:	Columbidae
Genus:	Alopecoenas Sharpe, 1899
Diversity
10 living species

Alopecoenas is a mid-sized genus of ground-dwelling doves (family Columbidae) which occur in rainforests in the Pacific region. They are not closely related to the American ground doves (genus Columbina).

Systematics and extinctions

Alopecoenas might be ranked as a (very small) subfamily, but the available data suggests that they are better considered part of a quite basal radiation of Columbidae which consists of many small and often bizarre lineages (e.g. Goura and Otidiphaps which are ecologically convergent to Galliformes, and maybe even the famous didines (Raphinae). Currently about 10 species of Alopecoenas are extant. Of the larger genera of Columbidae, Alopecoenas 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 Alopecoenas are distinct enough to usually recognize this genus with ease. Still, the evolutionary affiliation of extinct species is often uncertain. A considerable number of recognizably distinct now-extinct Polynesian taxa used to inhabit the area where the white-headed lineage (A. jobiensis, A. erythroptera) and the Melanesian expansion that brought about A. sanctaecrucis and A. stairi (and possibly A. rubescens) would have met.

Ground-doves were removed from Gallicolumba (which was non-monophyletic) and reassigned here.^[1]

• White-breasted ground dove, Alopecoenas jobiensis
  • Vella Lavella ground dove, Alopecoenas jobiensis chalconota - possibly extinct (late 20th century?)
• Norfolk ground dove, Alopecoenas norfolkensis - extinct (c.1800)
• White-throated ground dove, Alopecoenas xanthonura
• Rota ground dove, Gallicolumba sp. - prehistoric
• White-fronted ground dove, Alopecoenas kubaryi
• Polynesian ground dove, Alopecoenas erythroptera
  • White-headed Polynesian ground dove, Alopecoenas erythroptera albicollis - probably extinct (20th century); taxonomic status unresolved
• Great ground dove, Alopecoenas nui - prehistoric
• Henderson ground dove, Alopecoenas leonpascoi - prehistoric
• New Caledonian ground dove, Alopecoenas longitarsus - prehistoric
• Tongan ground dove, Alopecoenas stairi
• Santa Cruz ground dove, Alopecoenas sanctaecrucis
• Tanna ground dove, Alopecoenas ferruginea - extinct (late 18th-19th century)
• Thick-billed ground dove, Alopecoenas salamonis - extinct (mid-20th century)
• Marquesan ground dove, Alopecoenas rubescens
• Bronze ground dove, Alopecoenas beccarii
• Palau ground dove, Alopecoenas canifrons
• Wetar ground dove, Alopecoenas hoedtii

Notes

References

• Gibbs, David; Barnes, Eustace & Cox, John (2001): Pigeons and Doves. Pica Press, The Banks, ISBN 1-873403-60-7
• Steadman, David William (2006): Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-77142-3
• del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors). (1997). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 4: Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-87334-22-9

External links

Media related to Alopecoenas at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Alopecoenas at Wikispecies