Acrocephalus astrolabii Holyoak & Thibault, 1978
Astrolabe nightingale reed warbler, Mangareva reed-warbler, Gambier reed warbler
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Acrocephalus atyphus astrolabii Holyoak & Thibault, 1978; Acrocephalus luscinia astrolabii Holyoak & Thibault, 1978
Conservation Status
Extinct
Last record: c.1835; 1839 (Kittelberger et al., 2024)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
Distribution
Unknown (Yap Island, Caroline Islands, Micronesia?)
Apparently only known from 2 specimens collected during the early 19th century. The type locality is not known for certain, however the broad geographic area is believed to be the Marianas Islands. However, the Gambier Islands have been recently proposed as the type locality (Cibois et al. 2011).
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Two specimens may exist.
Holotype: MNHN E 8681 (sex unknown)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Holyoak, D. T. and Thibault, J. C. (1978). Undescribed Acrocephalus Warblers from Pacific Ocean Islands. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 98(4): 122-127.
Other references:
BirdLife International. 2016. Acrocephalus astrolabii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T103780156A104320657. Downloaded on 16 December 2016.
BirdLife International. 2018. Acrocephalus astrolabii (amended version of 2017 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T103780156A128263979. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T103780156A128263979.en. Accessed on 30 June 2022.
Brewer, David. (2018). Birds New to Science: Fifty Years of Avian Discoveries (Helm Photographic Guide Series). Christopher Helm. 416 pp.
Cibois, A., J.S. Beadel, G.R. Graves, , E. Pasquet, B. Slikas, S.A. Sonsthagen, J.-C. Thibault, and R.C. Fleischer. (2011). Charting the course of reed-warblers across the Pacific islands. Journal of Biogeography 38: 1963-1975.
Cibois & Thibault Birds of Eastern Polynesa, 2017, p 339-340
Cibois, A., Thibault, J. C. and Pasquet, E. (2011). Molecular and morphological analysis of Pacific reed warbler specimens of dubious origin, including Acrocephalus luscinius astrolabii. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 131(1): 32-40.
Courtney-Haines, Lawrence M. (1991). A Cabinet of Reed-Warblers: A Monograph Dealing with the Acrocephaline Warblers of the World, and Embracing All Known Species ans Sub-species. Chipping Norton, NSW: Surrey Beatty & Sons. xvii + 95 pp. ["...it is speculated that the specimens were collected on Yap, a high volcanic island, and from which, hitherto, no warbler is known" (p. 51)]
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
del Hoyo, J., et al. (2020) Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA
Kennerley, P.; Pearson, D. 2010. Reed and bush warblers. Christopher Helm, London.
Kittelberger, Kyle D., Tanner, Colby J., Buxton, Amy N., Prewett, Amira and Şekercioğlu, Çağan Hakkı. (2024). Correlates of avian extinction timing around the world since 1500 CE. Avian Research 15: 100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100213 [Supplementary data (List of 216 taxa)]
Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M., Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]
Thibault, Jean-Claude and Cibios, Alice. (2012). From Early Polynesian Settlements to the Present: Bird Extinctions in the Gambier Islands. Pacific Science 66(3): 271-281. [Abstract]