The plasma proteins of some albatrosses and petrels as an index of relationship in the Procellariiformes

Abstract

The plasma proteins of 29 species of albatrosses and petrels were electrophoretically separated in acrylamide gels to clarify relationships at the species-group to family-group levels. Little in the resulting data from 472 birds seriously contests the present classification of the Procellariiformes; much of the biochemical evidence supports, confirms, and clarifies the proposals of conventional taxonomic methodology. The biochemical data give fresh insights into the interrelationships of procellariiform taxa, and highlight intriguing new problems. Sex, season, age, and other sources of non-genetic protein variation are insignificant for taxonomic purposes. Proteins of value for comparison include the transferrins, some a and f3 globulins, albumins, prealbumins, and non-specific esterases. Genetic variations in the mobility of these proteins are useful at the genus-group level and below. Other proteins are monomorphic at genus and family level, and three are monomorphic in both number and mobility throughout the Procellariiformes; these are useful reference points for calibrating samples on different gels. One conspicuous a protein is absent in the Hydrobatidae but present in all other families; the implications of this are discussed. Polymorphic proteins at the population or species level were not detected; this conspicuous phylogenetic conservatism is discussed with regard to its possible evolutionary significance. Following a summary of the protein data, three categories of defined probability statements, based on the biochemical and other evidence, allow speculative comment on the evolutionary relationships and history of the taxa within the Procellariiformes. The value of further biochemical research into the marine birds is emphasised.

Climate change, heightened hurricane activity, and extinction risk for an endangered tropical seabird, the black-capped petrel Pterodroma hasitata

“…Furthermore, of the 8 intact skulls among the ROM specimens, all showed full ossification (i.e. fusion) of the frontal/prefrontal bones, confirming their ages as after hatch-year (Harper 1978). Two Smithsonian specimens wrecked by Hugo were molting females, but 1 of them had a bursa, indicating that it was greater than 1 yr old but likely of prebreeding age.…”

Towards a panbiogeography of the seas

“…The seabird order Procellariiformes comprises the albatrosses, Diomedeidae, and the petrels and shearwaters, Procellariidae. Harper (1978) suggested that ‘petrels were evolving 80–90 million years ago in the Southern Hemisphere along the shores of a fragmenting Gondwanaland’, and Olson (1978) noted that ‘there appears to have been virtually no significant morphological evolution in the Procellariiformes since the middle Miocene’. The Diomedeidae contain two main clades each with two genera (Nunn et al ., 1996), as follows.…”

Penguins, Petrels, and Parsimony: Does Cladistic Analysis of Behavior Reflect Seabird Phylogeny?

“…Investigations of the phylogenetic relationships within the orders Procellariiformes and Sphenisciformes have been characterized by a lack of agreement among authors. For example, the only consistent relationships reported among the Procellariiformes are that they form a monophyletic group with three or four families: Diomedeidae (albatrosses), Hydrobatidae (storm petrels), Procellariidae (gadfly and Procellaria petrels, prions, shearwaters, and fulmarines), and Pelecanoididae (diving petrels); however, relations among and within these families have yet to be satisfactorily resolved (Alexander et al 1965;Brown and Fisher 1966;Sibley and Ahlquist 1972;Jacob 1976;Harper 1978;Imber 1985;Meredith unpubl. thesis 1985;Sibley and Ahlquist 1990).…”