A new shearwater from the pleistocene of the canary islands and its bearing on the evolution of certain puffinus shearwaters

Two sibling species sympatrically breeding: a new conservation concern for the critically endangered Balearic shearwater

“…Between Yelkouan and Balearic shearwaters we found more than 10 diagnostic nucleotide changes in the cytochrome b fragment, indicating a clear genetic differentiation between both lineages. It is recommended the combination of both traditional characters (as phenotypic or behavioural traits) and DNA techniques in taxonomical arrangements (Proudlove and Wood 2003) and in our case, other phenotypic and behavioural characters support the separation between the two Mediterranean taxa (Sibley and Monroe 1990;Walker et al 1990;Palma et al 1997;Ye´sou and Paterson 1999).…”

“…Both taxa were later separated from the Atlantic form, the Manx shearwater, due to their clear differences in size, morphology, vocalizations, feeding habits, phenology and migratory behaviour (Bourne 1988;Sibley and Monroe 1990;Ye´sou et al 1990;Hamer 2003). Later on, osteological (Walker et al 1990), parasitical (Palma et al 1997) and molecular analyses (Wink et al 1993;Heidrich et al 1998), all supported a further distinction between the two Mediterranean forms. As both taxa were separated by 2.2-2.9% nucleotide substitutions in the mitochondrial DNA and also they showed different morphological, behavioural and ecological traits, they were finally considered as two distinct species: the Balearic shearwater, Puffinus mauretanicus, and the Yelkouan shearwater, Puffinus yelkouan (Heidrich et al 1998).…”

On the extinction of the Dune Shearwater (Puffinus holeae) from the Canary Islands

“…1; McMinn et al 1990;Walker et al 1990) and had very different breeding behaviours. Bones of the Lava Shearwater are abundant in caves located in lava fields (known locally as 'malpaíses') (McMinn et al 1990), whereas remains of the Dune Shearwater, including egg shells and bones of young individuals, are frequently found in several dune fields (known locally as 'jables') (Walker et al 1990;Michaux et al 1991;Sánchez Marco 2003).…”

“…1; McMinn et al 1990;Walker et al 1990) and had very different breeding behaviours. Bones of the Lava Shearwater are abundant in caves located in lava fields (known locally as 'malpaíses') (McMinn et al 1990), whereas remains of the Dune Shearwater, including egg shells and bones of young individuals, are frequently found in several dune fields (known locally as 'jables') (Walker et al 1990;Michaux et al 1991;Sánchez Marco 2003). Material of the Dune Shearwater (13 bones) has also been recorded at the Mousterian levels (levels 2-4) and at an as yet undated upper level (level 1, yielding mixed materials belonging to different periods) of Figueira Brava, a cave located on the west coast of the Iberian Peninsula (Mourer-Chauviré and Antunes 2000).…”

“…The overlap of the temporal interval for the last occurrence of this species (thirteenth to fifteenth century) and the first European presence at the archipelago suggests an association between these events . Walker et al (1990) and Mourer-Chauviré and Antunes (2000) propose that the extinction of the Dune Shearwater could have been human mediated, but until now no bones of this species were known from the Canarian Holocene, not even in archaeological contexts (see also Sánchez Marco 2003). The aim of our study was to explore the chronology and more probable causes of extinction of the Dune Shearwater.…”