Pterodroma sp.A

Rando, Juan C., Pieper, Harald, Pereira, Fernando, Torres-Roig, Enric & Alcover, Josep Antoni, 2024, Petrel extinction in Macaronesia (North-East Atlantic Ocean): the case of the genus Pterodroma (Aves: Procellariiformes: Procellariidae), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202 (2), pp. 1-15 : 6-10

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae123
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2E1B731-EFAB-4791-A5F3-C32775EB6AE0
DOI	https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14544835
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D78B03-FFC6-FF82-EE1C-EEABEEA8F887
treatment provided by	Plazi
scientific name	Pterodroma sp.A
status

Treatment

Pterodroma sp.A

The fossil bones included under this name are slightly larger than those of current Pt. madeira , specifically the skull length ( Tables 2 View Table 2 , 4). This fact, together with its breeding habitat in sand dunes close to the coast, which is very different from that of Pt. madeira that breeds inland 1600 m above sea level on Madeira Island ( Carboneras et al. 2020b), suggests that it could be a new species. However, its ascription of these materials to other current species cannot be ruled out due to the close morphology and size that show the species inside this genus ( Figs 3–7 View Figure 3 View Figure 4 View Figure 5 View Figure 6 View Figure 7 ; Tables 2 View Table 2 , 4; Supporting Information, Figs S1–S8).

Material and collection information: See Supporting Information, Table S1.

Horizon: Quaternary–Recent.

Distribution: Sandy sites of Porto Santo (Fonte da Areia and North Dunes) ( Madeira Archipelago ).

Remarks: The 14 C date of the left ulna,radius,and carpometacarpus of one specimen of Pterodroma sp. A from North Dunes (WK-28566, 7113 ± 37 BP) was calibrated with 18 ± 141 (∆ R ± SD) to provide the interval 5739–5115 cal BCE ( Table 1 View Table 1 ). Some of the material overlaps with several extant North Atlantic species of Pterodroma ( Tables 2 View Table 2 , 4) but is closer to those of Pt. madeira than to the other species of bigger size ( Fig. 3 View Figure 3 ). No differences were found between ulna lengths from the current Pt. madeira and from North Dunes (U = –0.645; P =.519) and from Fonte da Areia (U = 0; P = 1) but the carpometacarpus length of the current Pt. madeira is smaller than those of North Dunes (U = –2.021 P =.043) and Fonte da Areia (U = –2.44 P =.015).

Material from Fonte da Areia and North Dunes (humerus, ulna, carpometacarpus, femur, tibiotarsus, and tarsometatarsus) is longer than those of Pt. zinorum from the Azores (Wilk’s Lambda = 0.53; d.f. = 6, 17; P <.001) but many are smaller than those of Pt. deserta and Pt. cahow (Nichols and Mowbray, 1916) (humerus and ulna, Wilk’s Lambda = 0.28; d.f. = 4, 30; P =.001; tibiotarsus, U = –2.102; P =.036 and U = –2.57; P =.01; and tarsometatarsus, U = –2.488; P =.013 in both tests).

The MANOVA performed with the humerus, ulna and carpometacarpus lengths from Porto Santo (Fonte da Areia and North Dunes) and fossil material from Madeira revealed differences (Wilk’s Lambda = 0.455; d.f. = 6, 36; P =.021) with the ulnae from the Madeiran fossils being longer than those from North Dunes (P =.009) and Fonte da Areia (P =.002). However, there were no differences between the humerus (P =.644 and P =.881) and carpometacarpus (P =.571 and P =.276) of fossil material from Madeira and these sites of Porto Santo. The ANOVA performed between the femur length of fossil material from Madeira and Fonte da Areia indicates a longer size of the former (F 1,21 = 6.154; P =.022). The tibiotarsus length of the Madeira fossils is similar to those from Fonte da Areia (F 1,11 = 1.283; P =.281) and North Dunes (U = -1.043; P =.297), whereas the tarsometatarsus is longer in the fossil material from Madeira than Fonte da Areia (F 1,23 = 32.55; P <.001) and North Dunes (U = –2.413; P =.016).

The bones from the Porto dos Frades site (Porto Santo) are longer than those from Fonte da Areia and North Dunes. The MANOVA performed with the humerus, ulna, and carpometacarpus lengths from North Dunes , Fonte da Areia , and Porto dos Frades (all sites from Porto Santo) show differences (Wilk’s Lambda = 0.194; d.f. = 6, 34; P <.001) between the material from Porto dos Frades and Fonte da Areia (P <.001) and between Porto dos Frades and North Dunes (P <.001). The femurs from Porto dos Frades are longer than those of Fonte da Areia (F 1,17 = 14.63; P =.001). The tibiotarsus from Porto dos Frades are longer than both from North dunes (U = –2,49; P =.013) and Fonte da Areia (F 1,15 = 23.25; P <.001), like the tarsometarsus (U = –2211; P =.027, and F 1, 30 = 10.12; P <.003, respectively).

The material from Fonte da Areia and North Dunes is smaller than those from the Azores (excluding those of Pt. zinorum n. sp.) (see Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 6 View Figure 6 , 7 View Figure 7 ; Tables 2–4 View Table 2 View Table 3 ). In addition, the Pterodroma bones from El Hierro (Canary Islands) are larger than those from Fonte da Areia (U = –2727; P =.006) and North Dunes (U = –2598; P =.009) (test performed with carpometacarpus lengths).