琉球列島の鳥相とその起源

概要

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At least 42 species of land birds have been known to breed in the Ryukyu Islands excluding the Daito group. Of these, six are endemic species. The remaining 36 species can be classified into 11 non-endemic subspecies (Table 1) and 25 endemic ones (Tables 2 and 3). Their distribution and subspecific differentiation are analyzed. Except for two very significant endemic species (i.e., Sapheopipo noguchii and Garrulus lidthi), the present land bird fauna of the Ryukyus consists mainly of Palearctic species (80 %) The rest (20%) is southern elements that have invaded the islands via Taiwan irrespective of their origins. Both the Palearctic species and southern elements are considered to be relatively recent in origin, possibly colonyzing the Ryukyu Islands after the present conformation of the islands was established. The old Ryukyus may have had a distinct avifauna (SHORT, 1973b), but it appears that the old Ryukyu avifanua has been replaced by recent invaders from Japan and Taiwan on a large scale. The geologic history of the islands probably played an important part in the extinction of the old avifauna, although it seems to have had little significance on the establishment of the present one.
国立科学博物館の論文
1974-00-00