Puffinus spelaeus Holdaway & Worthy, 1994:203

Scarlett’s shearwater, Ōiruki (Māori)

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Puffinus sp. cf. gavia Worthy & Holdaway, 1993:204; Puffinus n.sp. cf. gavia Worthy & Holdaway, 1994:372,376,380

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: c. 1400 AD

Distribution

South Island, New Zealand

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Holotype: NMNZ S.28002 ("39 bones of one individual")

Paratypes:

NMNZ S.27958 ("61 bones of two individuals")

NMNZ S.27964 ("17 bones of one individual")

NMNZ S.28018 ("80 bones")

NMNZ S.27956–28015

NMNZ S.28196

Media

The holotype can be seen [url=http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3195/object/1330/Scarletts_Shearwater_Puffinus_spelaeus]here[/url].

Above: Scarlett's Shearwater. Puffinus spelaeus. From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand., 2005, Masterton, by Paul Martinson. Purchased 2006. © Te Papa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (2006-0010-1/25)

References

Original scientific description:

Holdaway, Richard N. and Worthy, Trevor H. (1994). A new fossil species of shearwater Puffinus from the late Quartenary of the South Island, New Zealand, and notes on the biogeography and evolution of the Puffinus gravis superspecies. Emu 94(3): 201-215.

Other references:

Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica (4th ed.). Ornithological Society of New Zealand & Te Papa Press, Wellington. [p. 121]

Checklist Committee (OSNZ). (2022). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand (5th edition). Ornithological Society of New Zealand Occasional Publication No. 1. Wellington: Ornithological Society of New Zealand. [p. 157]

Holdaway, Richard N., Worthy, Trevor H. and Tennyson, Alan J. D. (2001). A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 28: 119-187.

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

Robertson, H. A., Baird, K. A., Elliott, G. P., Hitchmough, R. A., McArthur, N. J., Makan, T. D., Miskelly, Colin M., O’Donnell, C. F. J., Sagar, P. M., Scofield, R. P., Taylor, G. A. and Michel, P. (2021). Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36. Department of Conservation, Wellington. 43 pp.

Hugh Robertson, John Dowding, Graeme Elliott, Rod Hitchmough, Colin Miskelly, Colin O’Donnell, Ralph Powlesland, Paul Sagar, Paul Scofield, Graeme Taylor. (2013). Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 4. 22 pp.

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)]

Tennyson, Alan J. D. and Bartle, J. A. (2008). Catalogue of type specimens of birds in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Tuhinga 19: 185-207.

Tennyson, Alan J. D. and Shepherd, L. D. (2016). DNA reveals the relationships of the extinct Scarlett’s Shearwater Puffinus spelaeus (Procellariiformes: Procellariidae). J. Ornithol. doi:10.1007/s10336-016-1416-5

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.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Holdaway, Richard N. (1993). Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in the Punakaiki area, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 23(3): 147-254.

Worthy, T. H. and Holdaway, R. N. (1994). Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in Takaka Valley and on Takaka Hill, northwest Nelson, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand 24(3): 297-391.

Worthy, Trevor H. and Zhao, J. X. (2006). A late Pleistocene predator-accumulated avifauna from Kids Cave, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand. Alcheringa Special Issue 1: 389-408.

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