# Mare aux Songes

The Mare aux Songes (English: "sea of taro"; French:) swamp is a lagerstätte located close to the sea in south eastern Mauritius. Many subfossils of recently extinct animals have accumulated in the swamp, which was once a lake, and some of the first subfossil remains of dodos were found there.

## History

In 1865, a British railway engineer working in south-east Mauritius noticed bones that had been disturbed by workers digging peat. He showed his findings to the government schoolmaster at Mahébourg, George Clark, who subsequently uncovered an abundance of subfossil dodo bones in the swamp. Clark had been searching for thirty years, having been inspired by Strickland & Melville's monograph about the bird. In 1866, Clark explained his procedure to The Ibis, an ornithology journal:
   After many fruitless visits to the spot... I resolved by sending some men into the centre of the marsh, where the water was about three feet deep and there, by feeling in the mud with their naked feet, they met with one entire tibia, a portion of another, and a tarso-metatarsus. The Dodo bones were imbedded only in the mud at the bottom of the water in the deepest part of the marsh... Encouraged by success, I employed several hands to search in the manner described, but I met with but few specimens of dodo bones till I thought of cutting away a mass of floating herbage nearly two feet in thickness, which covered the deepest part of the marsh. In the mud under this, I was rewarded by finding bones of many dodos.
Remains of over 300 dodos were found in the swamp, but only very few skull and wing bones among them, which may be explained by the upper bodies having been washed away or scavenged while the lower body was trapped, which is similar to the way many moa remains have been found in New Zealand marshes. In 1889, Théodor Sauzier was commissioned to find more dodo remains in the Mare aux Songes. He was successful, and also found remains of other extinct species. Twenty-six museums worldwide have significant holdings of dodo material, almost all found in the Mare aux Songes.
In October 2005, after a hundred years of neglect, a part of the Mare aux Songes swamp was excavated by an international team of researchers. To prevent Malaria, the British had covered the swamp in hard core during their rule over Mauritius, which had to be removed. Many remains were found, including bones of dodos in various stages of maturity, and several bones obviously from the skeleton of one individual dodo, which have been preserved in their natural position. These findings were made public in December 2005 in the Naturalis museum in Leiden. Of the fossils found in the swamp, 63% belonged to turtles of the extinct genus Cylindraspis, and 7.1% belonged to dodos, which had been deposited within several centuries, 4000 years ago. Subsequent excavations suggested that dodos, along with other animals, became mired in the Mare aux Songes while trying to reach water during a long period of severe drought about 4,200 years ago.

## Paleofauna

The following animals have been identified from fossils in the Mare aux Songes.

### Birds

Birds reported from the Mare aux Songes :
| Species | Authority | Common name | Family | Material | IUCN status | Images |
| Aphanapteryx bonasia | Selys, 1848 | Red rail | Rallidae | Mandibles, tibiotarsi | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Fulica newtoni | Milne-Edwards, 1867 | Mascarene coot | Rallidae | Hip and leg bones | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Circus maillardi | J. Verreaux, 1862 | Réunion harrier | Accipitridae | Tarsometatarsi, tibiae and metacarpals | Locally extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Lophopsittacus mauritianus | Owen, 1866 | Broad-billed parrot | Psittaculidae | Skulls, mandibles, sternum, furcula, coracoids, humeri, ulnae, femora, tibiotarsi, carpometacarpus | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Psittacula bensoni | Holyoak, 1973 | Mascarene grey parakeet | Psittaculidae | Palatines | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Raphus cucullatus | Linnaeus, 1758 | Dodo | Columbidae | All skeletal elements known from the swamp | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Alectroenas nitidissima | Scopoli, 1786 | Mauritius blue pigeon | Columbidae | Tarsometatarsus | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Nesoenas mayeri | Prévost, 1843 | Pink pigeon | Columbidae | Tarsometatarsus | Endangered | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Mascarenotus sauzieri | Newton & Gadow, 1893 | Mauritius owl | Strigidae | Humerus, tibia, tarsus, unguals | Extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |
| Phoenicopterus roseus | Pallas, 1811 | Greater flamingo | Phoenicopteridae | Tarsometatarsus | Locally extinct | Red rail fossils Broad-billed parrot fossils Mauritius owl fossils |

### Reptiles

Reptiles reported from the Mare aux Songes :
| Species | Authority | Common name | Family | Material | IUCN status | Images |
| Cylindraspis inepta | Günther, 1873 | Saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoise | Testudinidae | Skulls, carapaces | Extinct | Skull of Cylindraspis sp. (8), Cylindraspis inepta (7), Cylindraspis triserrata (8) Mauritian giant skink fossils |
| Cylindraspis triserrata | Günther, 1873 | Domed Mauritius giant tortoise | Testudinidae | Skulls, carapaces | Extinct | Skull of Cylindraspis sp. (8), Cylindraspis inepta (7), Cylindraspis triserrata (8) Mauritian giant skink fossils |
| Phelsuma cf guimbeaui | Mertens, 1963 | Orange-spotted day gecko | Geckoniidae | Humerus | Endangered | Skull of Cylindraspis sp. (8), Cylindraspis inepta (7), Cylindraspis triserrata (8) Mauritian giant skink fossils |
| Leiolopisma mauritiana | Günther, 1877 | Mauritian giant skink | Scincidae | Mandibles, vertebrae | Extinct | Skull of Cylindraspis sp. (8), Cylindraspis inepta (7), Cylindraspis triserrata (8) Mauritian giant skink fossils |
| Leiolopisma telfairii | Desjardins, 1831 | Round Island skink | Scincidae | Humerus | Vulnerable | Skull of Cylindraspis sp. (8), Cylindraspis inepta (7), Cylindraspis triserrata (8) Mauritian giant skink fossils |
| Typhlops cariei | Hoffstetter, 1946 | Hoffstetter's worm snake | Typhlopidae | Seven trunk vertebrae | Extinct | Skull of Cylindraspis sp. (8), Cylindraspis inepta (7), Cylindraspis triserrata (8) Mauritian giant skink fossils |

### Mammals

Mammals reported from the Mare aux Songes :
| Species | Authority | Common name | Family | Material | IUCN status | Images |
| Pteropus niger | Kerr, 1792 | Mauritian flying fox | Megachiroptera | Mandible | Endangered | Small Mauritian flying fox specimen Natal free-tailed bat type illustration |
| Pteropus subniger | Kerr, 1792 | Small Mauritian flying fox | Megachiroptera | Mandible | Extinct | Small Mauritian flying fox specimen Natal free-tailed bat type illustration |
| Mormopterus acetabulosus | Hermann, 1804 | Natal free-tailed bat | Microchiroptera | Phalanges | Vulnerable | Small Mauritian flying fox specimen Natal free-tailed bat type illustration |
| Taphozous mauritianus | Geoffroy, 1818 | Mauritian tomb bat | Microchiroptera | Phalanges | Least concern | Small Mauritian flying fox specimen Natal free-tailed bat type illustration |