The Alaotra grebe (''Tachybaptus rufolavatus''), also known as Delacour's little grebe or rusty grebe, is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Some flightless species exist as well, most notably ...

that was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Lake Alaotra Lake Alaotra ( mg, farihin' Alaotra, ; french: Lac Alaotra) is the largest lake in Madagascar, located in Alaotra-Mangoro, Alaotra-Mangoro Region and on the island's northern central plateau. Its basin is composed of shallow freshwater lakes and m ...

and its surrounding lakes in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Description

The grebe was about long. Its ability to fly long distances was restricted because of its small wings.

Ecology and behavior

The Alaotra grebe fed mostly on fish, although insects were found in the stomachs of a few specimens.Safford 2013, p. 111 Its hefty bill was considered typical of a piscivorous grebe. The breeding behavior of the Alaotra grebe was largely undocumented. Because

little Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

and Alaotra grebes were able to successfully pair off, it is suspected that courtship and pair formation took place in December, while most breeding activity took place between January and March. However, based off some observations of older juveniles with their mothers in late May and early June 1929, it is suspected that some egg laying must have occurred in April to June. Otherwise, the behavior of this grebe is undescribed, although it is suspected to have behaved similarly to the closely related little grebe.

History

The species declined in the course of the 20th century, mainly because of

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, entanglement with monofilament gillnets and predation by the introduced

blotched snakehead The blotched snakehead (''Channa maculata'') is a species of Channidae, snakehead. It is one of four species of the genus ''Channa'' native to China. It is also to native northern Vietnam and Taiwan, but has been widely introduced to other countr ...

(''Channa maculata''). Also, the few remaining birds increasingly hybridized with

little grebe The little grebe (''Tachybaptus ruficollis''), also known as dabchick, is a member of the grebe family of water birds. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''takhus'' "fast" and ''bapto'' "to sink under". The specific ''ruficollis'' is from Latin ...

s; as the species differed in several key aspects, the hybrid birds may have suffered from decreased fitness, to the detriment of the ''rufolavatus''

gene pool The gene pool is the set of all genes, or genetic information, in any population, usually of a particular species. Description A large gene pool indicates extensive genetic diversity, which is associated with robust populations that can surv ...

.Madagascar: Environment Profile
/ref> The

Madagascar pochard The Madagascar pochard or Madagascan pochard (''Aythya innotata''; mg, Fotsy maso, Onjo) is an extremely rare diving duck of the genus ''Aythya''. Thought to be extinct in the late 1990s, specimens of the species were rediscovered at Lake Matsa ...

, which also lived on Lake Alaotra, was thought to be extinct but was rediscovered in 2006. Unlike this species, however, the grebe had poor powers of dispersal and was never found elsewhere. The last sighting (which may have been a hybrid with the

) was in 1985 and the species was declared

in 2010.BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet: Tachybaptus rufolavatus. Downloaded from on 26 May 2010BirdLife International (2010)
Wetland aliens cause bird extinction
Only one photograph of the species is known to exist. Although some species have been classified as extinct and later have been found to still exist, Leon Bennun, the director of the conservation organization

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

has stated that "no hope remains for this species" and blames the "unforeseen consequences" of human action. This extinction brought the number of confirmed bird extinctions since 1600 AD to 162. The previous declaration of a bird species as extinct was that of the

Liverpool pigeon The spotted green pigeon or Liverpool pigeon (''Caloenas maculata'') is a species of pigeon which is most likely extinct. It was first mentioned and described in 1783 by John Latham, who had seen two specimens of unknown provenance and a draw ...

(''Caloenas maculata'') in 2008. However, that was more a problem of recognition as that species was last recorded alive in the late 18th or early 19th century.

Gallery

Image:Alaotra Grebe photograph by Paul Thompson.jpg, The only known photograph of an Alaotra grebe in the wild

References

Cited texts

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q575699

Alaotra grebe The Alaotra grebe (''Tachybaptus rufolavatus''), also known as Delacour's little grebe or rusty grebe, is an extinct grebe that was endemic to Lake Alaotra and its surrounding lakes in Madagascar. Description The grebe was about long. Its abili ...