Editing Rodrigues solitaire (section)

{{short description|Extinct, flightless bird that was endemic to Rodrigues}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2012}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Rodrigues solitaire
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Holocene}}
| image = Pezophaps solitaria - 2.jpg
| image_upright =
| image_caption = Skeletons of a female and a male, [[Hunterian Museum]]
| status = EX
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Pezophaps solitaria'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T22690062A93259685 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22690062A93259685.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>
| extinct = mid-18th century
| display_parents = 2
| genus = Pezophaps
| parent_authority = [[Hugh Edwin Strickland|Strickland]], 1848
| species = solitaria
| authority = ([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1789)
| synonyms = {{collapsible list|bullets=true|title=<small>List</small>
| ''Didus solitarius'' <small>Gmelin, 1789</small>
| ''Pezophaps solitarius'' <small>Strickland, 1848</small>
| ''Didus nazarenus'' <small>[[Abraham Dee Bartlett|Bartlett]], 1851</small>
| ''Pezophaps minor'' <small>Strickland, 1852</small>
}}
| range_map = LocationRodrigues.PNG
| range_map_upright =
| range_map_alt = Map showing former range of the Rodrigues solitaire
| range_map_caption = Location of [[Rodrigues]]
}}

The '''Rodrigues solitaire''' ('''''Pezophaps solitaria''''') is an [[extinct]] [[flightless bird]] that was [[endemism|endemic]] to the island of [[Rodrigues]], east of [[Madagascar]] in the Indian Ocean. Genetically within the family of [[Columbidae|pigeons and doves]], it was most closely related to the also extinct [[dodo]] of the nearby island [[Mauritius#Mauritius Island|Mauritius]], the two forming the subfamily [[Raphinae]]. The [[Nicobar pigeon]] is their closest living genetic relative.

Rodrigues solitaires grew to the size of [[swan]]s, and demonstrated pronounced [[sexual dimorphism]]. Males were much larger than females and measured up to {{convert|75.7|-|90|cm|0|abbr=off}} in height and {{convert|28|kg|abbr=off}} in weight, contrasting with {{convert|63.8|-|70|cm|0}} and {{convert|17|kg}} for females. Its [[plumage]] was grey and brown; the female was paler than the male. It had a black band at the base of its slightly hooked beak, and its neck and legs were long. Both sexes were highly [[Territory (animal)|territorial]], with large bony knobs on their wings that were used in combat. The Rodrigues solitaire laid a single egg that was incubated in turn by both sexes. [[Gizzard stone]]s helped digest its food, which included fruit and seeds.

First mentioned during the 17th century, the Rodrigues solitaire was described in detail by [[François Leguat]], the leader of a group of [[French Huguenot]] refugees who were [[marooning|marooned]] on Rodrigues in 1691–1693. It was hunted by humans and [[introduced animals]], and was extinct by the late 18th century. Apart from Leguat's account and drawing, and a few other contemporary descriptions, nothing was known about the bird until a few [[subfossil]] bones were found in a cave in 1786. Thousands of bones have subsequently been excavated. It is the only extinct bird with a [[Former constellations|former constellation]] named after it, [[Turdus Solitarius]].