Mango Racket Anthracothorax maxi By Max Gotts

The Mango Racket (Anthracothorax maxi) is an Evolutionary step down from the Racket-Tail, but a step up from the Green-Breasted Mango. It exists between the two, previously said, humminxgbirds as a bridge, the missing link. I hope to explain how Anthracothorax maxi, and many others, may exist.

Because it would have been the relative The main reason that of the Green-Breasted Mango, this the Mango Racket picture will be a bit off. Hummingbird is the bridge is because of its rackets. The rackets on the A. maxi are closer to the tail feather than that of the Racket-Tails’ or Spatuletails’. The paddle-like feathers would have been irritating and detrimental to the flight if they were higher, thus the sub-sub- would die out, but longer would have been a Racket-Tail species. Booted Racket-Tail perched, giving us a perfect view of its namesake boots and tail. The blue on the racket matches with the blue on the Green-Breasted Mango’s tail, telling us that the distant relative of the Mango could have been the turned into the Mango Racket and the Green-Breasted Mango. This connection continues with the Spatuletail and the Racket-Tail too.

Both the Racket-Tail and the Spatuletail have a brown line on their back with two lines of green either side (so, logically, the Mango Racket will too). This resemblance supports the theory A Marvelous Spatuletail showing off its iridescent spatuletail. that they came from a common ancestor, Anthracothorax maxi. The rackets on both species are the same too: black on one side, violet and turquoise on the other. This web of connections means that tracking a single ’s place in the Tree of Life so interesting.

The main reason that I looked into the relation from the Marvelous Spatelutail to the Green-Breasted Mango is this: the Loddigesia mirabilis has a stripe down its front that is found on the females and juviniles of the Ocreatus underwoodii Anthracothorax prevostii. Also, Ocreatus underwoodii has the green breast on a feeder. that is the namesake of Anthracothorax prevostii.

Due to tectonic movements, the location of the Mango Racket will be tricky to pinpoint, but an estimate is possible. The Marvelous Spatuletail is a Peruvian endemic [1], but the Booted Racket-Tail is found in Bolivia, Colubia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela [2]. The logical approach is that Anthracothorax maxi was (and maybe is) found in those places. Although, the fact that Ocreatus underwoodii and Loddigesia mirabilis are far down the line in the ‘family tree’ from Anthracothorax maxi means that the could have moved, so it is not definite that the Mango Racket would have been in the same place as the Marvelous Spatuletail and the Booted Racket-Tail.

This ancient species of hummingbird may very well be dead by now, so only a fossil will remain, and we may never find it. Or if we do find it, it could be totally different! But the connection should be true, nonetheless. Or else this would be an essay of possibilities…

Bibliography 1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvellous_spatuletail 2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booted_racket-tail 3. Pictures: a) Marvelous Spatuletail showing off: m6.i.pbase.com b) Booted Racket-Tail and namesake tail and boots: birdingforlife.files.wordpress.com c) Booted Racket-Tail on feeder: delargy.com d) Mango Racket feeding; edited by me: Rackets: glennbartley.com General Picture: grguy.smugmug.com