ON THE ORIGINS AND HISTORY OF THE RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE (ALECTORIS RUFA) FROM ELBA ISLAND (TUSCAN ARCHIPELAGO, ITALY)

The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa, Galliformes) is one of the few avian species endemic to south-western Europe, where its native range extends from the Iberian Peninsula across central and southern France to north-western and central Italy, with the Balearics, Corsica, and the Tuscan Archipelago included. Game species heavily hunted since the ancient times and intentionally translocated by man onto several Mediterranean islands, the red-legged partridge can also thrive in anthropogenically modified landscapes. Noteworthy, in the western society, partridges can be found along with humans in the writings by some of the most distinguished ancient Greek and Latin authors as well as portrayed in many frescos, paintings, and mosaics. Partridges played different roles in the thousands of years between the Bronze Age and the XVI century (c.), ranging from resources for hunting, farming, eating, and medicine to pets, presents or even mythological characters. In this study, the scenarios traditionally hypothesized about the origin of the red-legged partridge from Elba Island, such as a population expansion following the late Pleistocene marine regres sions and/or a historic introduction by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, are revised in detail. Besides, an entirely new hypothesis advocating a human-mediated translocation starting by the end of the Middle Ages (XIV-XV c.) and linked to trading routes between the island of Corsica and the Italian mainland is offered along with novel and more recent (XIX and first half of XX c.) records on the history of the species on Elba Island. Ancient texts dating back to the early XVI c. and stretching at least until the end of XVIII c. along with the results of a recent genomic investigation of modern representatives from both Corsican and Elban A. rufa population, indeed, pointed to the former as a possible contributor to the origin of the latter. Finally, new information about the historic occurrence of A. rufa on the islands of Capraia and Gorgona is provided as well.