Dow's puffin
| Dow's puffin | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Alcidae |
| Genus: | Fratercula |
| Species: | †F. dowi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Fratercula dowi Guthrie, Thomas & Kennedy, 2000[1]
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Dow's puffin (Fratercula dowi) is an
History and naming
The first remains of Fratercula dowi were discovered in late 1986 by G. L. Kennedy and D. R. Muhs. The subfossil, an articulated bird skeleton, was found in a Late Pleistocene
The species is named after Ronald J. Dow, who had assisted Kennedy and Muhs to their trips to the Channel Islands.[1]
Description
Dow's Puffin is clearly distinguishable from all other extant and extinct puffins of the American west coast by the morphology of the beak, specifically how far it extends dorsally and ventrally. The beak shape is not as narrow as in the modern rhinoceros auklet, but lacking the pronounced expansion seen in the horned puffin.[1] As this character may be variable among members of a single species, the diagnosis for Fratercula dowi was later amended in a Ph. D. dissertation. Neil Adam Smith described several anatomical traits of the humerus that more clearly distinguish the Channel Islands species from its modern relatives. The distal margin of the humeral head for instance is rounded, something otherwise observed in other auks, while in puffins this region is pointed. The olecranon projects in a fashion similar to Synthliboramphus while the ulna shows characters otherwise seen in the whiskered auklet and the extinct Cerorhinca aurorensis.[2]
Fratercula dowi is smaller than the tufted puffin, but indistinguishable in size from the rhinoceros auklet or the horned puffin. However Fratercula dowi appears to have undergone an overall decrease in size throughout its temporal range, with the youngest remains having been found to be smaller than its oldest.[1]
Phylogeny
Phylogenetic analysis of the
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Paleobiology
During the Late Pleistocene Fratercula dowi coexisted with at least one other species of puffin on San Miguel Island, the tufted puffin which is known from three subfossil bones. Other Pleistocene puffin remains were initially assigned to the rhinoceros auklet, but later found to have either belonged to Dow's puffin or at least to the Fratercula genus. Besides the tufted puffin, other seabirds found on the Channel Islands include the
Although modern puffins are generally restricted to more northern latitudes, only occasionally coming as far south as California in the winter, water temperatures during the Pleistocene were notably cooler than they are today. This would explain the presence of a breeding population of Fratercula dowi on the Channel Islands.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Guthrie, David A.; Thomas, Howell W.; Kennedy, George L. (2000). "An extinct Late Pleistocene Puffin from the Southern California Channel Islands. (Aves: Alcidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of a Fifth California Islands Symposium: 525–530. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-27. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
- ^ a b Smith, N.A. (2011). Systematics and evolution of extinct and extant Pan-Alcidae (Aves, Charadriiformes): combined phylogenetic analyses, divergence estimation, and paleoclimatic interactions (PhD). University of Texas.
- ^ a b Guthrie, D.A. (2005). "Distribution and provenance of fossil avifauna on San Miguel Island" (PDF). Proceedings of the Sixth California Islands Symposium. National Park Service Technical Publication CHIS-05-01. Institute for Wildlife Studies, Arcata.