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).