Synthliboramphus
Synthliboramphus | |
---|---|
Ancient murrelet (Synthliboramphus antiquus) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Alcidae |
Genus: | Synthliboramphus Brandt, JF, 1837 |
Type species | |
Alca antiqua Gmelin, JF, 1789
| |
Species | |
S. hypoleucus | |
Synonyms | |
Endomychura |
Synthliboramphus is a small
Taxonomy
The genus Synthliboramphus was introduced in 1837 by the German born naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt.[3] The type genus was subsequently designated by George Robert Gray as the ancient murrelet.[4][5] The genus name combines Ancient Greek sunthlibō meaning "to compress" with rhamphos meaning "bill".[6]
The genus contains five species:[7]
Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Synthliboramphus hypoleucus | Guadalupe murrelet | the California Current system in the Pacific Ocean. | |
Synthliboramphus scrippsi | Scripps's murrelet | California Current system in the Pacific Ocean | |
Synthliboramphus craveri | Craveri's murrelet | the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California off the Baja peninsula of Mexico | |
Synthliboramphus antiquus | Ancient murrelet | northeast Asia, Aleutian Islands to western Canada, Commander Islands (eastern Russia). | |
Synthliboramphus wumizusume | Japanese murrelet | Japan and southern Korea. |
The first two species were formally considered
These birds breed in colonies, their eggs being laid directly amongst tree roots or in rock crevices. They are nocturnal on the breeding grounds, presumably to reduce predation, and for the same reason the
Synthliboramphus species disperse out to sea after breeding, with northern species migrating further south.
Synthliboramphus auks are small, with mainly black upper parts and white the short wings. These birds forage for food like other auks, by swimming underwater. They mainly eat fish, also some crustaceans and other small invertebrates.
References
- ^ "Murrelet". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Murre". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ von Brandt, Johann Friedrich (1837). "Rapport sur une monographie de la famille des Alcadées". Bulletin Scientifique publié par L'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint Pétersbourg (in French). 2 (22). cols. 344-349 [347].
- ^ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 77.
- ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 356.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Noddies, gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, auks". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- .