Puffinus olsoni McMinn, Jaume & Alcover, 1990:65

Lava shearwater, Olson's shearwater

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Conservation Status

Extinct (Fernández-Palacios et al., 2025)

Last record: 1265 ± 25 years BP; 1270-1475 CE (Fernández-Palacios et al., 2025)

Distribution & Habitat

Fuerteventura, Lanzarote & Lobos Islet, Canary Islands

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Media

References

Original scientific description:

McMinn, M., Jaume, D. and Alcover, J. A. (1990). Puffinus olsoni n. sp.: nova espècie de baldritja recentment extinguida provinent de depòsits espeleològics de Fuerteventura i Lanzarote (Illes Canàries, Atlàntic Oriental). Endins 16: 63-71.

Other references:

Alcover, J. A. and McMinn, M. (1995). Fossil birds from the Canary Islands. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 181: 207-213.

Fernández-Palacios, José María, Fructuoso, Melania, Illera, Juan Carlos, Rando, Juan Carlos, de Nascimento, Lea, Fernández-Palacios, Enrique, Patiño, Jairo, Otto, Rüdiger, Castilla-Beltrán, Álvaro, González, Esther Martín, Orihuela-Rivero, Raúl, Alcover, Josep Antoni, Whittaker, Robert J. (2025). A synthesis of terrestrial species extinctions in the Macaronesian Islands and their correspondence with human occupancy. PNAS Nexus 4(8): pgaf215. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf215 [Supplementary data (.docx)]

Hume, Julian Pender and Walters, Michael. (2012). Extinct Birds. London: T & AD Poyser. 544 pp.

Ramirez O, Illera JC, Rando JC, Gonzalez-Solis J, Alcover JA, Lalueza-Fox C. (2010). Ancient DNA of the Extinct Lava Shearwater (Puffinus olsoni) from the Canary Islands Reveals Incipient Differentiation within the P. puffinus Complex. PLoS ONE 5(12): e16072.

Rando JC and Alcover JA (2007) Evidence for a second western Palaearctic seabird extinction during the last Millennium: the lava shearwater Puffinus olsoni. Ibis 150, 188–192.

Rando, J. C. and Perera, M. A. (1994). Primeros datos de ornitofagia entre los aborígenes de Fuerteventura (Islas Canarias). Archaeofauna 3: 13-19.

Rando, J. C. and Alcover, J. A. (2008). Evidence for a second western Palaearctic seabird extinction during the last Millennium: the Lava Shearwater Puffinus olsoni. Ibis 150: 188-192.

Sánchez Marco, A. (2010). New data and an overview of the past avifaunas from the Canary Islands. Ardeola 57(1): 13-40.

Sayol, Ferran, Steinbauer, Manuel J., Blackburn, Tim M., Antonelli, Alexandre and Faurby, Søren. (2020). Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. Science Advances 6(49): eabb6095. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6095 [Supplementary Material (Data File S1)]

Tyrberg, Tommy. (2009). Holocene avian extinctions, pp. 63-106. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.

https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/7831/puffinus-olsoni-olsons-shearwater

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