Lost Land of the Dodo : The Ecological History of Mauritius, Reunion, and Rodrigues

by Anthony Cheke and Julian Hume

• ISBN13: 9780300141863
• ISBN10: 0300141866
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2008-09-23
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Uninhabited by humans, the Mascarene Islands of the Indian Ocean were once home to an extraordinary range of birds and reptiles: giant tortoises, parrots, skinks, geckos, burrowing boas, flightless rails and herons, and, most famously, dodos. But the discovery of the three isolated islands in the 1500s, and their colonization in the 1600s, led to dramatic ecological changes. The dodo became extinct on its home island of Mauritius within several decades, and over the next 150 years most native vertebrates suffered the same fate. This fascinating book provides the first full ecological history of the Mascarene Islands as well as the specific story of each extinct vertebrate, accompanied by Julian Hume's superb color illustrations.

Author Biography

Anthony Cheke, an expert in the chronology and interactions of introduced animals and plants with the extinction process of native species, led the British Ornithological Union expedition to the Mascarene Islands in 1973 and has returned many times since. He lives in Oxford, England. Julian Hume, renowned for artistic re-creations of extinct species in their natural habitats, has published extensively on the paleontology of the Mascarene Islands. He is a research fellow at the University of Portsmouth and the Natural History Museum in London. He lives in Portsmouth, England.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 6
Acknowledgements	p. 8
Introduction	p. 10
Geography of the Mascarenes	p. 13
First contact	p. 21
The pristine islands	p. 32
Where did the Dodo come from?	p. 53
Early settlement	p. 75
United under France	p. 90
A century of sugar	p. 116
The limits to growth	p. 155
A miraculous survival	p. 203
Practical conservation on Mauritius and Rodrigues	p. 226
Reflections	p. 260
Tailpiece: La Ravine Saint-Gilles	p. 274
Notes on Chapters 1-11	p. 276
Land vertebrates introduced to the Mascarenes	p. 368
Native fauna in Mauritius	p. 371
Native fauna in Reunion	p. 374
Native fauna in Rodrigues	p. 376
Introduced fauna in Mauritius	p. 378
Introduced fauna in Reunion	p. 381
Introduced fauna in Rodrigues	p. 383
Faunal observations on the northern islets of Mauritius	p. 384
Sources for appendices 2-8	p. 388
Notes for Appendices 2-9	p. 390
Contributions of travellers, collectors and fossils to knowledge of the Mauritius land vertebrate fauna	p. 395
Contributions of travellers, collectors and fossils to knowledge of the Reunion land verrebrate fauna	p. 396
Contributions of travellers, collectors and fossils to knowledge of the Rodrigues land vertebrate fauna	p. 397
Excavations in 2005 and 2006	p. 398
Species lists for artwork in the colour section	p. 400
Local names of Mascarene vertebrates	p. 402
Bibliography	p. 405
Index	p. 453
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.