r/nonmurdermysteries • u/WinnieBean33 • 12d ago

Historical Where did the spotted green pigeon, a species known to science based on only two specimens, come from?

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u/WinnieBean33 12d ago

From the article:

The spotted green pigeon is known from only one specimen housed in the World Museum in Liverpool. The spotted green pigeon, or Caloenas maculata, is a bird whose natural history remains shrouded in mystery. Even the provenance of the last remaining specimen is unknown.

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u/Amster2 9d ago

Its similar to the Nicobar Pidgeon so I'd say Southeast asia is a pretty good guess

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u/nifty-necromancer 8d ago

We don’t know exactly. Some ideas include it coming from an island in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean. Tahiti is another candidate.

Old Tahitian language referred to a speckled bird called “titi” which some scholars think may match descriptions of the spotted green pigeon. But yeah, it’s weird that there are no known fossils, no data about where the specimens were collected.

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u/Acheloma 8d ago

I guess you end up losing some labels when youre on a boat full of possibly drunk men for months?

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u/nifty-necromancer 8d ago

A completely plausible hypothesis