Interesting if speculative news from Rod Gardner via John Young's Cape
York tour. My question now is has the much vaunted and controversial
new species of fig-parrot morphed into Coxen's Fig-Parrot? I would
have scant trouble in accepting such records if so, as that's a far
cry from a new species.......
By nest , does that means eggs or just the nest? I'd be worried if a
critically endangered taxon was being collected, raising shades of the
infamous Po'ouli scandal from Hawaii some years back, where a newly
discovered and obviously very rare species was duly collected by
museum scientists, with several specimens from the tiny population
taken. It's now extinct by the way, the last known one vanished a
couple of years back.. Before the griping starts yes I do know about
the value of specimens etc, but with modern DNA techniques and photos
so much more can be done than was feasible then.
Dare we ask what family the new mystery taxon is allied to, or must us
mortals wait patiently for enlightenment? Curiously enough, I was
regaled with a lengthy tale about a new taxon from somewhere up here
by a well-known loquacious local guide a few days ago, but sadly not
deemed worthy to be able to know what was being discussed in front of
our respective clients. Clues are it is 1500 km north of known range-
place your bets here!
Phil Gregory
He showed us several photos of Coxen's Fig-Parrot including images of
a new nest found in 2008 which has been collected under licence for
scientific
analysis.
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