Tooth-billed Pigeon
Conservation status
Endangered
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae Genus: Didunculus Peale, 1848 Species: D. strigirostris
Binomial name
Didunculus strigirostris Jardine, 1845

The Tooth-billed Pigeon, Didunculus strigirostris also known as Samoan Pigeon is a medium-sized, up to 34cm long, dark green pigeon with red bare skin around eye, chestnut wings, dark red feet and dark brown upperparts plumage. It has a large, curved and hooked orange bill with tooth-like projections on lower mandible. Both sexes are similar. The young is duller with dark bill. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... The critically endangered Amur Tiger, a rare subspecies of tiger. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Aves redirects here. ... Families Raphidae Columbidae The order Columbiformes includes two families of birds: the Raphidae, to which the extinct Dodo and Rodrigues Solitaires belonged, and the Columbidae, which includes the very widespread and successful doves and pigeons. ... Subfamilies see article text Feral Rock Pigeon beside Weiming Lake, Peking University Pigeons (which are also known as rock doves) and doves comprise the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, including some 300 species of near passerine birds. ... Titian Ramsay Peale Titian Ramsay Peale (born November 2, 1799; died March 13, 1885) was a noted American artist, naturalist, entomologist and photographer. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Sir William Jardine, seventh baronet of Applegirth (February 23, 1800 - November 21, 1874) was a Scottish naturalist. ... Subfamilies see article text Feral Rock Pigeon beside Weiming Lake, Peking University Pigeons (which are also known as rock doves) and doves comprise the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, including some 300 species of near passerine birds. ... The beak—otherwise known as the bill or rostrum—is an external anatomical structure which serves as the mouth in some animals. ...

The only extant member in the monotypic genus Didunculus, the Tooth-billed Pigeon is confined to undisturbed forests of Samoa in the Pacific. It feeds almost exclusively on fruits of Dysoxylum tree in the Mahogany family. Pacific redirects here. ... species See text. ... Genera See text The Meliaceae, or the Mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly tropical trees and shrubs in the order Sapindales, characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules and by syncarpous, usually bisexual flowers borne in panicles, cymes, spikes, or clusters. ...

The Tooth-billed Pigeon has no close living relative, and may represent a link between the pigeons and the extinct Dodo (Didunculus means "little Dodo"). The jaw and tongue structure, and the superficially parrot-like bill have suggested a relationship to the parrots, but these features have arisen from its specialised diet rather than any real relationship. Binomial name Raphus cucullatus Linnaeus, 1758 Former range (in red) Synonyms Didus ineptus The Mauritius Dodo (Raphus cucullatus), more commonly just dodo, was a metre-high (three-foot) flightless bird related to the pigeons that lived on the islands of Mauritius. ... Families Cacatuidae Psittacidae Parrots or Psittacines (pronounced [1],[2]) is an order (namely Psittaciformes) of birds that includes about 353 species. ...

Due to ongoing habitat lost, small population size and occasional natural disasters, the Tooth-billed Pigeon is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. An endangered species is a species whose population is so small that it is in danger of becoming extinct. ... The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ...

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Didunculus strigirostris. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 1 November 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is endangered
• Gibbs, Barnes and Cox, Pigeons and Doves (Pica Press 2001) ISBN 1-873403-60-7

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• IUCN Red List