Palaeornis wardi E. Newton, 1867:335 (p. 346?)
Seychelles parakeet, Seychelles parrot, Seychelles alexandrine parrot
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Psittacula wardi E. Newton, 1867:335; Psittacula eupatria wardi E. Newton, 1867:335
Conservation Status
Extinct (WCMC, 1992:211)
Last record: 1870 (WCMC, 1992:211); 1893 (Skerrett et al., 2001; Kittelberger et al., 2024); 1907 (Tyrberg, 2009:90)
IUCN RedList status: Extinct
Distribution & Habitat
Mahé & Silhouette (& Praslin?), Seychelles
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
10 museum specimens exist (Hume, 2007:29)
BMNH1890.10.10.5
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Newton, E. (1867). Descriptions of some new species of birds from the Seychelles Islands. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London [1867]: 344-347.
Other references:
BirdLife International. (2012). Psittacula wardi. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 16 July 2013.
BirdLife International. 2016. Psittacula wardi. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22685437A93073309. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22685437A93073309.en. Accessed on 30 June 2022.
Braun, Michael P. et al. (2019). A molecular phylogeny of the genus Psittacula sensu lato (Aves: Psittaciformes: Psittacidae: Psittacula, Psittinus, Tanygnathus, †Mascarinus) with taxonomic implications. Zootaxa 4563(3): 547-562. [Abstract]
Brooks, T. 2000. Extinct species. In: BirdLife International (ed.), Threatened Birds of the World, pp. 701-708. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona and Cambridge, U.K.
Cheke, Anthony S. (2013). Animals depicted by Marianne North in her Seychelles paintings. Phelsuma 21: 47-57.
Day, David. (1981). The Doomsday Book of Animals: A Natural History of Vanished Species. New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press.
Diamond, A.W. (1984) Biogeography of Seychelles land birds. In: Stoddart, D.R. (Ed.), Biogeography and Ecology of the Seychelles Islands. Monographiae Biologicae 55 Dr. W.Junk Publishers, 487–511.
Faurby, Søren, Matthews, Tom J., Triantis, Kostas A. and Sayol, Ferran. (2026). Quantifying the unrecorded loss of avian phylogenetic diversity. Ecography 2026: e08267. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecog.08267
Forshaw, J.M. (1989) Parrots of the world. Melbourne Landsdowne Editions, 672 pp.
Forshaw, J. M.; Cooper, W. T. 1989. Parrots of the world. Blandford Press, London.
Forshaw, Joseph M. and Knight, Frank. (2017). Vanished and Vanishing Parrots: Profiling Extinct and Endangered Species. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.
Gerlach, Justin. (2012). Red Listing reveals the true state of biodiversity: a comprehensive assessment of Seychelles biodiversity. Phelsuma 20: 9-22.
Greenway, J. C. (1967). Extinct and vanishing birds of the world. 2nd edn. New York Dover, 520 pp.
Hume, Julian Pender. (2007). Reappraisal of the parrots (Aves: Psittacidae) from the Mascarene Islands, with comments on their ecology, morphology, and affinities. Zootaxa 1513: 1-76.
Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.
Jackson, Hazel et al. (In Press, 2015). Micro-evolutionary diversification among Indian Ocean parrots: temporal and spatial changes in phylogenetic diversity as a consequence of extinction and invasion. Ibis. DOI: 10.1111/ibi.12275 [Abstract]
Jouanin, Christian. (1962). Inventaire des oiseaux éteints ou en voie d’extinction conservés au Muséum de Paris. Terre et Vie 109: 275-301.
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)]
Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292. [p. 152]
Lionnet, G. (1984). Extinct birds of the Seychelles. Monographiae Biologicae 55: 505-511.
Matthews, Thomas J., Triantis, Kostas A., Wayman, Joseph P., Martin, Thomas E., Hume, Julian P., Cardoso, Pedro, Faurby, Søren, Mendenhall, Chase D., Dufour, Paul, Rigal, François, Cooke, Rob, Whittaker, Robert J., Pigot, Alex L., Thébaud, Christophe, Jørgensen, Maria Wagner, Benavides, Eva, Soares, Filipa C., Ulrich, Werner, Kubota, Yasuhiro, Sadler, Jon P., Tobias, Joseph A. and Sayol, Ferran. (2024). The global loss of avian functional and phylogenetic diversity from anthropogenic extinctions. Science 386(6717): 55-60. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adk7898 [Supplementary Materials; Dryad dataset; Zenodo codeset]
Matthews, Thomas J., Wayman, Joseph P., Cardoso, Pedro, Sayol, Ferran, Hume, Julian P., Ulrich, Werner, Tobias, Joseph A., Soares, Filipa C., Thébaud, Christophe, Martin, Thomas E. and Triantis, Kostas A. (2022). Threatened and extinct island endemic birds of the world: Distribution, threats and functional diversity. Journal of Biogeography 49(11): 1920-1940. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14474 [Appendix S1 (.docx); Appendix S2 (.pdf)]
Newton, A. and Newton, E. (1876). On the Psittaci of the Mascarene Islands. Ibis, ser. 3, 6: 281-289.
Nicoll, M. J. (1908). Three voyages of a naturalist, being an account of many little-known islands in three oceans visited by the Valhalla, R.Y.S. London: Witherby. [did not record the species in 1906]
North, Marianne. (1894). Recollections of a happy life being the autobiography of Marianne North. Volume 2. London & New York: Macmillan and Co.
Peters, J. L. (1937). Check-list of the Birds of the World (III). Cambridge Masschusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. 311 pp. [notes the species as "Possibly extinct."]
Rothschild, W. (1907a [for 1905]) On extinct and vanishing birds. Ornis 14 (Proceedings of the 4th International Ornithological Congress, London), 191-217.
Rothschild, Lionel Walter. (1907b). Extinct birds: an attempt to write in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times, that is within the last six or seven hundred years: to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction. London: Hutchinson & Co. XXIX + 243 pp. [p. 66, pl. 20]
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)]
Skerrett, A., Bullock, I. and Disley, T. (2001). Birds of Seychelles. London: A.& C. Black (Croom Helm). 320 pp.
Tyrberg, Tommy. (2009). Holocene avian extinctions, pp. 63-106. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.
Vesey-Fitzgerald, D. (1940). Birds of the Seychelles. 1. The endemic birds. Ibis 14(5): 480-504. [did not record the species]
Vesey-Fitzgerald, D. (1941). Further contributions to the ornithology of the Seychelles Islands. Ibis 14(5): 518-531. [did not record the species]
WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre). (1992). Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's living resources. London: Chapman & Hall. xx + 594 pp.
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