Martinique amazon

The Martinique amazon (Amazona martinicana) is a hypothetical extinct species of Caribbean parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is not known from any material remains, but was said to be similar to the red-necked amazon (A. arausiaca) from Dominica, the next major island to the north of Martinique. Natives are known to have traded extensively in parrots between the Antilles, and it seems that the Martinique population was in some way related to or even descended from A. arausiaca.[2]

Martinique amazon
Somewhat speculative restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Amazona
Species:
A. martinicana
Binomial name
Amazona martinicana
A.H. Clark, 1905
Location of Martinique

Jean-Baptiste Labat described them as follows in 1742:

Those of Dominica have some red feathers on the wings, under the throat, and in the tail; all the rest is green (Amazona bouqueti, w.r.). Those of Martinique have the same plumage as the last mentioned, but the top of the head is slate colour with a small amount of red.[3]

Assuming it was a genuine and distinct taxon, it was endemic to Martinique and became extinct due to habitat loss as Martinique was cleared for agriculture.[4] It has not been recorded since 1722.[4]

The Guadeloupe amazon ("A. violacea"), a similarly speculative "species", was said to inhabit the island of Guadeloupe. It is sometimes considered to be the same as "A. martinicana".[4] However, it is more widely held to be related or identical to the imperial amazon (A. imperialis), the second Amazona species of Dominica.[2]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Amazona martinicana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Olson, S. L.; E. J. Máiz López (2008). "New evidence of Ara autochthones from an archeological site in Puerto Rico: a valid species of West Indian macaw of unknown geographical origin (Aves: Psittacidae)" (pdf). Caribbean Journal of Science. 44 (2): 215–222.
  3. Rothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild (15 April 2018). "Extinct birds : an attempt to unite 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 – via Internet Archive.
  4. Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species. New York: Harper Perennial. pp. 168. ISBN 0-06-055804-0.

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