Scarlett's Shearwater
Encyclopedia
Scarlett's Shearwater was a species of seabird
in the petrel
family
Procellariidae
. Its common name commemorates New Zealand palaeontologist Ron Scarlett
.
This bird became known from fossil bones found in caves in the west and north-west of South Island
, New Zealand
in 1991.. It is likely to have been driven to extinction by the Kiore Rattus exulans, which was introduced by Polynesians
to New Zealand less than 1000 years ago.
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
in the petrel
Petrel
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Procellariidae
Procellariidae
The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes , which also includes the albatrosses, the storm-petrels, and the diving petrels.The procellariids are...
. Its common name commemorates New Zealand palaeontologist Ron Scarlett
Ron Scarlett
Ronald Jack Scarlett MBE better known as Ron Scarlett was a paleozoologist from New Zealand.Scarlett was born at Stoke, near Nelson on March 22, 1911 to Walter Andrew Scarlett and Lilian Elsie . He was the oldest child of four brothers and four sisters...
.
This bird became known from fossil bones found in caves in the west and north-west of South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1991.. It is likely to have been driven to extinction by the Kiore Rattus exulans, which was introduced by Polynesians
Polynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
to New Zealand less than 1000 years ago.
External links
- Scarlett's Shearwater. Puffinus spelaeus. by Paul Martinson. Artwork produced for the book Extinct Birds of New Zealand, by Alan Tennyson, Te Papa Press, Wellington, 2006