3200 pt.2

Traits of extinct island birds?

• Flightless

• Ground nests

• No natural predators

• Friendly/Curious = Overhunted by humans

Where is the Moa bird from? When did it go extinct?

• From New Zealand

• ~1500 - 1600 ya

Where was the dodo bird from? When did it go extinct?

• Mauritius Island

• ~1680

Dodo bird scientific name?

Raphus cucullatus

When did dodo bird go extinct?

~1680

What family was the Dodo bird a member of?

Pigeon (Columbidae)

What is the area and population of Mauritius? Where is it?

Area - 2040 km²

Population ~1.1 million

East of Madagascar

3 factors causing extinction of Dodo bird?

1. Hunted - Portuguese and Dutch sailors

2. Destroyed eggs - introduced pigs + rats + dogs

3. Habitat destruction - deforestation by agriculture + human settlements

Closest relative to dodo bird? Where is it from?

Nicobar pigeon from S.E. Asia (Caloenas nicobarica)

Another close relative of dodo bird? Where is it from?

Victoria crowned pigeon from New Guinea

Where did dodo ancestors come from?

The East of Mauritius

Scientific names for Mauritius tree spp.

Calvaria major | Sideroxylon grandiflorum

Who made a study on Mauritius tree spp.? When? Which Journal?

Stanley Temple + 1977 + Science

by 1973 how many Calvaria major trees were on Mauritius island?

13 trees left - each more than 300 years old

What was the Hypothesis by Stanley Temple (1977)?

• Seeds needed to pass through gizzards of dodo birds to germinate

• Turkeys were tried of 17 seeds 7 got crushed + 10 left + 3 successfully germinated

• Suggests dodo extinction led to Calvaria major extinction

Gizzard

A muscular organ which is part of the digestive system of birds. The gizzard is used for grinding food.

The relationship between Calvaria major and Raphus cucullatus is…

obligatory mutualism

Why was the Hypothesis by Stanley Temple (1977) disputed?

• Younger trees existed

• Several other large fruit eating spp. existed on the island

How many spp. of birds went extinct after European arrival?

~50% became extinct

Scientific name of large Mauritius parrot?

Lophopsittacus mauritianus

Scientific name of Echo parakeet?

Psittacula eques

How many spp. of parrots and bats existed before and now?

BEFORE - 4 spp. of parrots + 2 spp. of vegetarian bats

NOW - 1 sp. of parrot and 1 sp. of bat exist

When did Mauritius blue pigeon go extinct? Why? What did it feed from?

1826 - hunted - fruit + freshwater molluscs

Mauritius blue pigeon scientific name?

Alectroenas nitidissima

When did Mauritian flying fox go extinct? Why? What did it feed from?

1800s - deforestation + hunting - fruit

Mauritian flying fox scientific name?

Pteropus subniger

When did 2 giant tortoise spp. go extinct? What role did they have?

~ 1730 - seed dispersal + herbivores

smaller domed tortoise scientific name?

Cylindraspis inepta

giant saddle-back tortoise scientific name?

Cylindraspis triserrata

What is it called when a new spp. is introduced to replace an ecological role?

ecological replacement or

taxon substitution.

Aldabra giant tortoise scientific name?

Aldabrachelys gigantea

Aldabra giant tortoise function?

Aldabrachelys gigantea was introduced to restore the ecological role once played by endemic giant tortoises

mutualistic relationship with plants + seed dispersal

What other factors caused the decline of Calvaria major?

1. seeds eaten by introduced rats + pigs

2. Competition from introduced plants

3. Fungal infestation

4. Deforestation

What happened to native pop numbers of spp on Mauritius

765 —> 685
730 introduced spp. now established = increased species richness

Passenger pigeon scientific name?

Ectopistes migratorius

The passenger pigeon distribution and habitat?

• Distribution: Eastern North America

• Habitat: Mainly deciduous forests

How many passenger pigeons lived in NA? How much of NA birds did they make up?

~ 5 billion

30% - 40% of all North American birds.

How many individuals would be in a flock? Whats the reproductive rate?

~2 million birds

1 egg/year —> egg hatched after 12-13 days —> fed by parents for ~ 2 weeks

Flying speed of passenger pigeon?

~100 km/hr

passenger pigeon predators?

humans, bobcats, hawks, etc.

When did Passenger pigeons become popular to hunt commercially?

1850s

When did were millions of Passenger pigeons killed each year?

1860-1870

When did a few thousands of Passenger pigeons exist?

1880s

When was the last wild flock of passenger pigeons seen?

1890s

When was the last wild passenger pigeon shot? Where?

1900 Ohio

When did the last captive passenger pigeon on Earth die? Where?

1914 Cincinnati Zoo

What did Ectopistes migratorius feed on?

Acorns + chestnuts + beechnuts + caterpillars

What was the only parrot spp. native to NA?

Carolina parakeet

Conuropsis carolinensis

why did Conuropsis carolinensis go extinct?

hunting + habitat destruction

Why was Conuropsis carolinensis considered an agricultural pest?

It was attracted to orchards + cultivated fields

They would also gather around injured conspecifics

When was the Carolina parakeet still common?

1880

When was the last wild Carolina parakeet found in Florida?

1913

When did the last Carolina parakeet die in captivity?

1918

What are the three types of fishing fleets?

1. Trawler fishing

2. Long line fishing

3. Drift-net fishing

Explain Trawler fishing?

ships dragging huge funnel-shaped nets (open at the mouth) along the bottom of the ocean.

One such net is large enough to “swallow” 12 jumbo jets.

Explain Long line fishing?

fishing vessels put out fishing lines up to 130 km.-long, with thousands of baited hooks, to catch open ocean fish spp. such as tuna, swordfish, and sharks.

Explain Drift-net fishing?

fish are caught by huge drifting nets (15 m. below the water surface and up to 55 km.-long).

what 2 effects can Drift-net have?

1. lead to overfishing

2. Trap and kill large # of unwanted fish

Bycatch?

species which are caught and killed accidentally during fishing operations.

When did the UN ban drift nets longer than 2.5 km in international waters?

1992

What was accidentally caught after use of long lines?

Albatrosses and petrels

When is a sp. considered overfished?

A harvest of a sp. that exceeds its sustainable yield.

What is annual sustainable yield?

the size of the annual catch that could be harvested indefinitely without a decline in the

population of the sp.

What did the UN food and Agriculture Organization do in 2001?

75% of the world’s 200 commercially valuable marine fish spp. are overfished.

What happened in 1992 Newfoundland?

• cod fishery → ~ 40,000 fishermen and fish processing plant workers were out of work.

• a decade later (by 2002) this fishery did not recover.

How much did Atlantic bluefin tuna populations decline? Since when?

94% since 1970

Atlantic bluefin tuna scientific name?

Thunnus thynnus

Atlantic bluefin tuna family?

Scombridae

Largest and average weight of Atlantic bluefin tuna

Maximum = 679 kg. - coast of Nova Scotia, Canada (1979)

Average = ~ 450 kg

Max length of Atlantic bluefin tuna?

~ 4.5 meters.

What does Atlantic bluefin tuna feed from?

top predator.

variety of smaller fishes (such as sardines, herring, and mackerel) as well as invertebrates such as squid and crustaceans.

How long was Atlantic bluefin tuna fished? Where?

more than 4,000 years.

Mediterranean Sea,

Difference in 20 and 21 century Atlantic bluefin tuna

20 - fed to dogs

21 - one of the most valuable fish in the world

Atlantic or northern bluefin scientific name?

Thunnus thynnus

Pacific northern bluefin scientific name?

Thunnus orientalis

southern bluefin scientific name? Where?

Thunnus maccoyii

Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

yellowfin tuna scientific name?

Thunnus albacares

bigeye tuna scientific name?

Thunnus obesus

albacore scientific name?

Thunnus alalunga

How fast can tuna fish spp. swim?

65-75 km/hr

Tuna muscles are adapted for what 2 features?

endurance + bursts of speed

How much higher is the temperature of the tuna fish than ambient water?

10⁰C higher