Keywords
Egg
Karnataka
Aberdeen University.
How to Cite
Abstract
The Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus (Blyth 1848) was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1986. The species is poorly known despite a number of studies and, until now, its egg has not been seen by any ornithologist. We report here the discovery of a Jerdon’s Courser egg at Aberdeen University in Scotland, the identification of which was confirmed by DNA analysis. The egg was collected by Ernest Gilbert Meaton, a veterinary surgeon at the Kolar Gold Fields in Karnataka (India), probably in 1917, most likely within 100 km of the Gold Fields. Meaton’s collection was purchased by George Falconer Rose, given to Aberdeen Grammar School in 1919, and transferred to Aberdeen University in the 1970s. It is hoped the discovery will assist in the conservation of this Critically Endangered species.References
Anon. (2010): A Species Recovery Plan for Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus. Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, Government ofAndhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. 30 pp.
Baker, E.C.S. (1929): The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. 2nd edit. Vol. VI. Taylor & Francis, London.
Baker, H.R. & C.M. Inglis (1930): The Birds of Southern India, including Madras, Malabar, Travancore, Cochin, Coorg and Mysore. Madras.
Bhushan, B. (1986a): Rediscovery of the Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 83(1): 1-14.
Bhushan, B. (1986b): Rediscovery of Jerdon’s or Double-handed Courser. Hombill(l) 1986: 3-8.
BkdLife International (2010): Rhinoptilus bitorquatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. www.iucnredlist.org, accessed 02 April 2012.
Blanford, W.T. (1898): The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Vol. IV. Taylor & Francis, London.
Chblton, G. & M.D. Sorensen (2007): Genetic identification of eggs purportedly from the extinct Labrador Duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius). Auk 124: 962-968.
Fuller, E. (1987): Extinct Birds. Viking/Rainbird, London.
Harrison, C. (1975): AField Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of European Birds. Collins, London.
Jeganathan, P. & S.R. Wotton (2004): The first recordings of call of the Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 101(1): 26-28.
Jeganathan, P., R.E. Green, C.G.R. Bowden, K. Norris, D. Pain & A.R. Rahmanx (2002): Use of tracking strips and automatic cameras for detecting critically endangered Jerdon’s Coursers Rhinoptilus bitorquatus in scrub jungle in Andhra Pradesh. Oryx 36: 182-188.
Knox, A.G. (accepted): The first egg of Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus and a review of the early records of this species. Archives ofNatural History.
Lee, P.L.M. & R.R Prys-Jones (2008): Extracting DNAffom museum bird eggs, and whole genome amplification of archive DNA. Molecular Ecology Resources 8: 551-560.
Maclean, GL. (1996): Family Glareolidae. Pp. 364-383. In: del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott and J. Sargatal (Eds): Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Oates, E.W. (1902): Catalogue of the Collection of Birds’ Eggs in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. II. British Museum (Natural History), London.
Piertney, S.B., C. Hudelot, F.G. Hochberg & M.A. Collins (2003): Phylogenetic relationships among cirrate octopods (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) resolved using mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 27:348-353.
Samant, J.S. & V. Elangovan (1997): Avifauna of the Eastern Ghats with special reference to the Jerdon’s Courser Cursorius bitorquatus. Final Report. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.
Schonwetter, M. (1963): Handbuch der Oologie. In: Meise, W. (Ed.): Volume 1, Lieferung 7. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin.