Assessing 'Meidum Geese' species identification with the ‘Tobias criteria’

The ‘Meidum geese’ revisited: Early historical art is not a suitable basis for taxonomic speculation

“…As further evidence of the challenges involved, Romilio (2021) reported uncertainty over the species identification of the 'grey geese' in the Chapel of Itet illustration, which may have been either greylag geese (Anser anser) or bean geese sp. (Anser fabalis/serrirostris), although their features as depicted provide no more than an imperfect match for either.…”

“…However, the system was designed to be applied to samples of individuals, typically museum specimens, with a minimum of 10 individuals recommended for calculating morphological differences in plumage, body parts and vocal traits. There is nothing to prevent an author from using a pared-down version of the Tobias et al ( 2010) criteria, based on scores of visual differences, as attempted by Romilio (2021). Such an approach could provide a useful 'litmus test' of morphological divergence between related taxa, to assess whether the divergence is likely to reflect species status.…”

“…Although Romilio (2021) accepted the potential validity of these three different interpretations, his paper clearly suggests that the initial option, an undescribed but extinct species, was the favoured hypothesis. This eye-catching conclusion attracted considerable international media attention (Hurrell 2021), often of the more sensationalist clickbait variety ("Extinct species of goose discovered in ancient Egyptian pyramid": www.express.co.uk/news/science).…”

“…One of the most widely known examples of Ancient Egyptian art depicting three species of geese (Anseriformes) was found in the Chapel of Itet and now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, Cairo. Recently, in this journal, Romilio (2021) re-examined the taxonomic assignment of these species, including two strikingly patterned birds that have usually been identified as a well-known extant species, the red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis) (Nicoll 1919, Raven 1947, Houlihan 1986, Goodman & Meininger 1989, Wyatt 2013, although this was not universally accepted (Weesie 1988). Analysing the depictions using the Tobias et al (2010) criteria for species delimitation, Romilio (2021) concluded that these two birds represent "an extinct taxon that has no modern counterpart, or a partially accurate extant but locally extinct species, or a fabricated bird that includes elements of goose morphologies.…”

Pigeons and papyrus at Amarna: the birds of the Green Room revisited

“…Guagnin et al 2016), the taxonomic identification of species in artwork is not a precise science ( Kirwan et al 2022). A recent study of Fourth Dynasty depictions of geese from the Chapel of Itet at Meidum employed a quantitative taxonomic method and postulated the possible discovery of an unknown, extinct species (Romilio 2021). Kirwan and colleagues (2022), however, question the application of the technique and argue for intraspecific variation (variation among individuals of the same species) in the case of the red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis).…”