Pampusana

Alopecoenas Sharpe, 1899 Pampusana is a mid-sized genus of ground-dwelling doves (family Columbidae) which occur in rainforests in the Pacific region.

[1][2] Pampusana might be ranked as a (very small) subfamily, but the available data suggests that they are better considered as part of a basal radiation of Columbidae which consists of many small and often bizarre lineages; for example, Goura and Otidiphaps which are ecologically convergent to Galliformes, and maybe even the famous didines (Raphinae).

Of the larger genera of Columbidae, Pampusana is the one most affected by extinction: 3–4 species have disappeared since the 18th century, and most of the remaining are decreasing in numbers, threatened with extinction or have lost subspecies due to habitat destruction, invasive species, or overhunting.

A considerable number of recognizably distinct now-extinct Polynesian taxa used to inhabit the area where the white-headed lineage (P. jobiensis, P. erythroptera) and the Melanesian expansion that brought about P. sanctaecrucis and P. stairi (and possibly P. rubescens) would have met.

[2][3][4] The genus contains 13 species of which 3 became extinct in historical times:[2] A further 4 species became extinct in prehistoric times: Media related to Pampusana at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Pampusana at Wikispecies