- Thread starter
- #121
Until very recently there were very few if any actual Javanese peafowl in the United States. There were however, many Malaysian peafowl from the Pahang.
The Javanese form loaned its name to green peafowl in general during the Dutch colonial period of Java. The Dutch referred to the Green Peafowl as the Javanese peafowl while the British referred to it as the Burmese peafowl. There were so many resources being exploited from the region at this period in history- so many wars being fought. Treasures to seized and claimed by westerners but so many perhaps it was impossible to catalog properly...
Like the Javanese, the Malaysian is an incredibly striking bird , unusual in the vivid clarity of hues, the contrast between gold and blue for example. They are far from identical but this is not an issue of contention -just zoogeographic fact.
In the 1950's, eteemed author, aviculturist and international bird dealer, Jean Delacour opined that the birds of Java and Malaysia belonged to the same subspecific form, which he named "muticus muticus" . Delacour adored Green Peafowl. He considered them one of the most beautiful birds on earth. They were exceedingly uncommon in aviculture anywhere. Green Peafowl were as they are today treasures of aviculture.
The one fault I have with his description is the definition based on aesthetic prettiness. By stating that the most beautiful birds came from Malaysia, a British colony at the time, he was at least partially responsible for their extirpation. The wild Pahang peafowl became extinct for a number of reasons but poaching for aviculture loomed very large.
Mortality of green peafowl in captivity was exceedingly high. Replacement birds fetched a pretty penny and bird dealers in ports throughout south east Asia kept plenty on hand. They were sending poachers out to meet the demand for the species. When Delacour was educated by a Hong Kong bird dealer that there were different forms of the green peafowl, he was open minded enough to explore the issue for himself. He wasn't waving a magic wand. As Delacour was the first western naturalist to identify different subspecies of Green Peafowl to begin with, his assertions didn't lead to further investigation from scientific circles. They trusted that Delacour knew what he was talking about. He had after all trapped the first of a number of hitherto unknown silver pheasants from the Annamite Mountain Range about that time. And Delacour wasn't entirely confidant with his preliminary classification of green peafowl. He was intellectually honest and made it clear in published notes that he believed that it was likely in the future, when more is known about the range and natural history of green peafowl, that additional forms may well be identified. He was confidant that there was a great deal to be learned about green peafowl.
When people refer to the real estate broker heirloom stock as "muticus muticus" it still make me wince because of the willful ignorance of the collectors that went along with the fad and yet remained clueless- without curiosity about the state of the so-called wild caught stock. A casual search in any public library on the subject would have informed them that the species had been extinct in Malaysia for more than thirty years before they were supposedly imported into Florida from Malaysia. The birds were clearly not Javanese -at least not purely. So where had they come from? It's just a tragedy. Where are those birds now? What happened to their bloodlines? If they were coveted for being the prettiest of prettiest and were wild caught, why didn't the people that purchased the stock hold on to them? The better question would be, where are the records? Where is the documentation? Where are the stewards?
Getting back on track, there are actually at least two different subspecific races of the Javanese peafowl endemic to Java. Regardless of which region they are from within Java, they are remarkable in that every single feather on the neck of both sexes forms an ocelli- an abbreviated version of those we appreciate in the train of the male. The depth and clarity of colour in the species is astounding. If you look carefully at the photo above, you'll find a single bright golden ringed plume at the bottom right of the photograph. That's the hueand colour spectrum of the Malaysian peafowl's neck scales. The Javanese is so rich and dark in colour they appear heavy and dull in colouration.
The females of this species are unique unto themselves as they are every bit equal with the male in colouration and gloss. This is far more the case in western and southern western Java than the east where the females are dramatically barred. Those in the west less so.
In the coming days we'll discuss the island of Java and its fossil record. We'll explore the unique fauna of the island and discuss the significance of the only Asiatic peafowl species native to a region south of the equator (the Congo Peafowl is also only native to latitudes south of the equator as well) .
-In the short term:
The problem that we will often have to return to is the confusion of phenotype and genotype.
Every organism is
the outward physical manifestation of
internally coded, inheritable, information.
Phenotype is defined as the "outward, physical manifestation" of the organism. These are the physical parts, the sum of anything that is part of the observable structure, function or behavior of a living organism.
Phenetic Classification The grouping of biological organisms on the basis of observed physical similarities.
Genotype is defined as the "internally coded, inheritable information" carried by all living organisms. This stored information is used as a "blueprint" or set of instructions for building and maintaining a living creature. These instructions are found within almost all cells (the "internal" part), they are written in a coded language (the genetic code), they are copied at the time of cell division or reproduction and are passed from one generation to the next ("inheritable"). These instructions are intimately involved with all aspects of the life of a cell or an organism. They control everything from the formation of protein macromolecules, to the regulation of metabolism and synthesis.
We observe certain physical characteristics of an organism that are very similar with another organism and this may suggest relationship.
Let's examine Leopards for a moment. There is not one place on earth where peafowl are native that leopards do not exist. Moreover, Leopards are one of the primary predators of peafowl.
Anyone can recognize a leopard by its phenotype. It's a large cat native to Africa and Asia, which is covered in spots.
The Javanese form loaned its name to green peafowl in general during the Dutch colonial period of Java. The Dutch referred to the Green Peafowl as the Javanese peafowl while the British referred to it as the Burmese peafowl. There were so many resources being exploited from the region at this period in history- so many wars being fought. Treasures to seized and claimed by westerners but so many perhaps it was impossible to catalog properly...
Like the Javanese, the Malaysian is an incredibly striking bird , unusual in the vivid clarity of hues, the contrast between gold and blue for example. They are far from identical but this is not an issue of contention -just zoogeographic fact.
In the 1950's, eteemed author, aviculturist and international bird dealer, Jean Delacour opined that the birds of Java and Malaysia belonged to the same subspecific form, which he named "muticus muticus" . Delacour adored Green Peafowl. He considered them one of the most beautiful birds on earth. They were exceedingly uncommon in aviculture anywhere. Green Peafowl were as they are today treasures of aviculture.
The one fault I have with his description is the definition based on aesthetic prettiness. By stating that the most beautiful birds came from Malaysia, a British colony at the time, he was at least partially responsible for their extirpation. The wild Pahang peafowl became extinct for a number of reasons but poaching for aviculture loomed very large.
Mortality of green peafowl in captivity was exceedingly high. Replacement birds fetched a pretty penny and bird dealers in ports throughout south east Asia kept plenty on hand. They were sending poachers out to meet the demand for the species. When Delacour was educated by a Hong Kong bird dealer that there were different forms of the green peafowl, he was open minded enough to explore the issue for himself. He wasn't waving a magic wand. As Delacour was the first western naturalist to identify different subspecies of Green Peafowl to begin with, his assertions didn't lead to further investigation from scientific circles. They trusted that Delacour knew what he was talking about. He had after all trapped the first of a number of hitherto unknown silver pheasants from the Annamite Mountain Range about that time. And Delacour wasn't entirely confidant with his preliminary classification of green peafowl. He was intellectually honest and made it clear in published notes that he believed that it was likely in the future, when more is known about the range and natural history of green peafowl, that additional forms may well be identified. He was confidant that there was a great deal to be learned about green peafowl.
When people refer to the real estate broker heirloom stock as "muticus muticus" it still make me wince because of the willful ignorance of the collectors that went along with the fad and yet remained clueless- without curiosity about the state of the so-called wild caught stock. A casual search in any public library on the subject would have informed them that the species had been extinct in Malaysia for more than thirty years before they were supposedly imported into Florida from Malaysia. The birds were clearly not Javanese -at least not purely. So where had they come from? It's just a tragedy. Where are those birds now? What happened to their bloodlines? If they were coveted for being the prettiest of prettiest and were wild caught, why didn't the people that purchased the stock hold on to them? The better question would be, where are the records? Where is the documentation? Where are the stewards?
Getting back on track, there are actually at least two different subspecific races of the Javanese peafowl endemic to Java. Regardless of which region they are from within Java, they are remarkable in that every single feather on the neck of both sexes forms an ocelli- an abbreviated version of those we appreciate in the train of the male. The depth and clarity of colour in the species is astounding. If you look carefully at the photo above, you'll find a single bright golden ringed plume at the bottom right of the photograph. That's the hueand colour spectrum of the Malaysian peafowl's neck scales. The Javanese is so rich and dark in colour they appear heavy and dull in colouration.
The females of this species are unique unto themselves as they are every bit equal with the male in colouration and gloss. This is far more the case in western and southern western Java than the east where the females are dramatically barred. Those in the west less so.
In the coming days we'll discuss the island of Java and its fossil record. We'll explore the unique fauna of the island and discuss the significance of the only Asiatic peafowl species native to a region south of the equator (the Congo Peafowl is also only native to latitudes south of the equator as well) .
-In the short term:
The problem that we will often have to return to is the confusion of phenotype and genotype.
Every organism is
the outward physical manifestation of
internally coded, inheritable, information.
Phenotype is defined as the "outward, physical manifestation" of the organism. These are the physical parts, the sum of anything that is part of the observable structure, function or behavior of a living organism.
Phenetic Classification The grouping of biological organisms on the basis of observed physical similarities.
Genotype is defined as the "internally coded, inheritable information" carried by all living organisms. This stored information is used as a "blueprint" or set of instructions for building and maintaining a living creature. These instructions are found within almost all cells (the "internal" part), they are written in a coded language (the genetic code), they are copied at the time of cell division or reproduction and are passed from one generation to the next ("inheritable"). These instructions are intimately involved with all aspects of the life of a cell or an organism. They control everything from the formation of protein macromolecules, to the regulation of metabolism and synthesis.
We observe certain physical characteristics of an organism that are very similar with another organism and this may suggest relationship.
Let's examine Leopards for a moment. There is not one place on earth where peafowl are native that leopards do not exist. Moreover, Leopards are one of the primary predators of peafowl.
Anyone can recognize a leopard by its phenotype. It's a large cat native to Africa and Asia, which is covered in spots.
In the old taxonomy, the leopard is divided into 27 subspecies primarily based on geographic locations. More recent research based on DNA analysis shows that some subspecies have almost identical DNA structures or sequences and should be combined. The following nine subspecies of leopards have been identified mainly based on geographical location and DNA analysis:
African Leopard in Africa
North Chinese Leopard in China
Indo-Chinese Leopard Southeast Asia
Indian Leopard In India, southeastern Nepal, and northern Bangladesh
Sri Lankan Leopard in Sri Lanka
Javan Leopard in Java
Amur Leopard in the Russian Far East, northern China, and Korea
Arabian Leopard on the Arabian Peninsula
Persian Leopard in Southwest Asia
We should preface this digression with an important factoid. Major rivers, flood basins, deserts, treeless plains, mountain ranges, conifer forests and steppes present major barriers for terrestrial birds like peafowl. This is not the case for leopards, which can and do radiate over wide ranges spanning diverse food zones. The peafowl will not as a rule venture far from its preferred habitat.
Leopards do. Where all these leopards are considered but subspecific forms of a single species, because there has been more or less continual genetic exchange between populations
African Leopard in Africa
North Chinese Leopard in China
Indo-Chinese Leopard Southeast Asia
Indian Leopard In India, southeastern Nepal, and northern Bangladesh
Sri Lankan Leopard in Sri Lanka
Javan Leopard in Java
Amur Leopard in the Russian Far East, northern China, and Korea
Arabian Leopard on the Arabian Peninsula
Persian Leopard in Southwest Asia
We should preface this digression with an important factoid. Major rivers, flood basins, deserts, treeless plains, mountain ranges, conifer forests and steppes present major barriers for terrestrial birds like peafowl. This is not the case for leopards, which can and do radiate over wide ranges spanning diverse food zones. The peafowl will not as a rule venture far from its preferred habitat.
Leopards do. Where all these leopards are considered but subspecific forms of a single species, because there has been more or less continual genetic exchange between populations
Fossils of early leopard ancestors have been found in East Africa and South Asia from the Pleistocene of 2 to 3.5 Ma. The modern leopard is suggested to have evolved in Africa 470,000825,000 years ago and radiated across Asia 170,000300,000 years ago.
Fossils of early peafowl ancestors are from the Miocene more than 20 Ma. In other words, the leopard is very new on the scene. Regardless, the genotype of the leopards distinguishes nine geographic forms.
Fossils of early peafowl ancestors are from the Miocene more than 20 Ma. In other words, the leopard is very new on the scene. Regardless, the genotype of the leopards distinguishes nine geographic forms.
Molecular research has suggested that Javan leopards are craniometrically distinct from leopards from the rest of Asia, and are a distinct taxon that split off from other Asian leopards hundreds of thousands of years ago. In the Middle Pleistocene, they may have migrated to Java from South Asia across a land bridge that bypassed Sumatra and Borneo.
So here we have an example of a leopard that is difficult to distinguish from its cousins in South East Asia that is genetically and osteologically distinctive. Its geographic isolation from populations of other leopards has likely contributed to its evolutionary novelty as well.
Something interesting to think about is that the Javan leopard split away from the primary lineage of leopards fairly early on in the development of the species.
So here we have an example of a leopard that is difficult to distinguish from its cousins in South East Asia that is genetically and osteologically distinctive. Its geographic isolation from populations of other leopards has likely contributed to its evolutionary novelty as well.
Something interesting to think about is that the Javan leopard split away from the primary lineage of leopards fairly early on in the development of the species.
Last edited:
