Caribbean Emerald (Riccordia elegans)

Year Last Seen:

1860

Comments:

This taxon is known from one specimen, probably from Jamaica, taken in 1860. It is now Extinct, likely due to deforestation or predation by introduced species.

Habitat:

Nothing is known, though it is likely to be typical for the genus.

Causes:

Reasons for its extinction are difficult to infer, though the extinction of its preferred food plants or habitat through deforestation, or predation by introduced mammals may be responsible.

Distribution:

Chlorostilbon elegans, described from a single specimen in the Natural History Museum at Tring by Gould in 1860, was recently shown by Weller (1999) to be a valid species. It is extinct, but is inferred to possibly have occurred in Jamaica or the north Bahamas.

References:

IUCN Redbook Data