A new fossil species of Procellaria (Aves: Procellariiformes) from the Pliocene of New Zealand

Alan James Drummond Tennyson,Barbara Mizumo Tomotani

doi:10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.16

Alan James Drummond Tennyson, Barbara Mizumo Tomotani

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https://doi.org/10.11606/1807-0205/2021.61.16

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Abstract

We describe a new Procellaria petrel species from the late Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zealand. The new species is most similar morphologically to the White-Chinned Petrel (P. aequinoctialis), Spectacled Petrel (P. conspicillata) and the Westland Petrel (P. westlandica). Compared with those taxa, the new species has a deeper and shorter premaxilla, longer coracoid and shorter wings, while its legs are a similar size. Today, New Zealand is the centre of global diversity of the genus, with four breeding species. This is the first fossil species of Procellaria to be described from New Zealand, attesting to a reasonably long history of this genus in the region.

Highlights

New Zealand is a global centre of diversity for seabirds today, this contrasts with its sparse pre-Pleistocene fossil record – while penguins are well represented, other seabirds are not (Gill et al, 2010) – so the history of seabirds in the region is poorly understood
We describe a new Procellaria petrel species from the late Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zealand
New Zealand is a global centre of diversity for seabirds today, this contrasts with its sparse pre-Pleistocene fossil record – while penguins are well represented, other seabirds are not (Gill et al, 2010) – so the history of seabirds in the region is poorly understood

Summary

Introduction

New Zealand is a global centre of diversity for seabirds today, this contrasts with its sparse pre-Pleistocene fossil record – while penguins are well represented, other seabirds are not (Gill et al, 2010) – so the history of seabirds in the region is poorly understood. Procellariiformes are presently the most diverse group of seabirds in New Zealand (Gill et al, 2010), but only three fossil pre-Pleistocene taxa are described: a Pliocene albatross (Mayr & Tennyson, 2020) and a shearwater (Tennyson & Mannering, 2018), both from Taranaki, and a Miocene diving petrel from St Bathans (Worthy et al, 2007). The Pliocene outcrops in the Taranaki region continue to produce a rich and globally significant fauna of marine vertebrates, including cetaceans, seals, fishes and other birds, the latest being a new species of penguin (McKee, 1994; Thomas et al, 2020). We describe the latest discovery from Taranaki: a new procellariiform species

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