Spectacled cormorant
| Spectacled cormorant | |
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| Illustration byJoseph Wolf | |
Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | Urile |
| Species: | †U. perspicillatus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Urile perspicillatus (Pallas,1811)
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| Synonyms | |
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Thespectacled cormorantorPallas's cormorant(Urile perspicillatus)[2]is anextinctmarinebirdof thecormorantfamily ofseabirdsthat inhabitedBering Islandand possibly other places in theCommander Islandsand the nearby coast ofKamchatkain the far northeast ofRussia.[1]The modern distribution was shown to be a relic of a wider prehistoric distribution in 2018 when fossils of the species from 120,000 years ago were found inJapan.It is the largest species ofcormorantknown to have existed.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]It was formerly classified in the genusPhalacrocorax,but in 2021, theIOCreclassified it and several other Pacific cormorant species into the genusUrile,based on a 2014 study that supported reclassifying theBrandt's,red-faced,andpelagiccormorants into that genus. Although the spectacled cormorant was not mentioned in the 2014 study and its current taxonomic position is unresolvable by the current phylogenies, it was also reclassified intoUrilebased on its perceived relatedness to those species.[4][5]
Description
[edit]The species was first identified byGeorg Stellerin 1741 onVitus Bering's disastrous secondKamchatkaexpedition. He described the bird as large, clumsy and almost flightless – though it was probably reluctant to fly rather than physically unable – and wrote "they weighed 12–14 pounds, so that one single bird was sufficient for three starving men." Though cormorants are normally notoriously bad-tasting, Steller says that this bird tasted delicious, particularly when it was cooked in the way of the nativeKamchadals,who encased the whole bird in clay, buried it, and baked it in a heated pit.[6]
With a body mass estimated to be from 3.5 to 6.8 kg (7.7 to 15.0 lb) and a length up to around 100 cm (39 in), the spectacled cormorant was rather larger than all other known cormorants.[7][8]In a similar fashion to the extantflightless cormorant,which may have rivaled it in length but not weight, the spectacled cormorant is thought to have at least largely lost the power of flight which is borne out by the reduced sternum and wing chord of museum specimens.[9][10]This species was largely glossy black in color with a reported greenish gloss that may have been fairly vivid in bright light.
A contrasting large white patch could be seen on its lower flanks just above the legs. Like other cormorants, they had small patches of bare skin about the face including a small gular patch and a small amount of bare skin around the eyes; these areas usually appeared to have been dull-yellow or grayish in hue, but during breeding stages, they may have changed to a bright orangey-reddish hue.[10]
Extinction
[edit]Apart from the fact that it fed onfish,almost nothing else is known about the life history of this bird. The population declined quickly after further visitors to the area started collecting the birds for food andfeathers.Their reports of profitablewhalinggrounds and large populations ofArctic foxesand other animals with valuable pelts led to a massive influx of whalers and fur traders into the region; the last birds were reported to have lived around 1850 onKamen Ariy(Russian:Арий Камень[11]) islet, off the northwestern tip ofBering Island.
A presumed prehistoric record fromAmchitka Island,Alaska,[12]is based on misidentification ofdouble-crested cormorantremains.[13]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abBirdLife International(2023)."Urile perspicillatus".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2023:e.T22696750A226827998.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T22696750A226827998.en.
- ^ Phalacrocorax,Ancient Greekword for cormorants (literally "bald raven" ).perspicillatus,Latinfor "spectacled", in allusion of the birds' large size.
- ^Watanabe, Junya; Matsuoka, Hiroshige; Hasegawa, Yoshikazu (October 2018)."Pleistocene fossils from Japan show that the recently extinct Spectacled Cormorant (Phalacrocorax perspicillatus) was a relict ".The Auk.135(4): 895–907.doi:10.1642/AUK-18-54.1.hdl:2433/233910.S2CID91465582.
- ^Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G. (1 October 2014)."Classification of the cormorants of the world".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.79:249–257.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.06.020.ISSN1055-7903.PMID24994028.
- ^"Taxonomic Updates – IOC World Bird List".Retrieved28 July2021.
- ^Ellis, Richard(2004).No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species.New York: Harper Perennial. p.135.ISBN0-06-055804-0.
- ^Hume, J. P., & Walters, M. (2012).Extinct birds (Vol. 217).A&C Black.
- ^Grzimek, B. (1972).Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Birds I-III.Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
- ^Roots, C. (2006).Flightless birds.Greenwood Publishing Group.
- ^abKing, R. J. (2013).The Devil's Cormorant: a Natural History.University of New Hampshire Press.
- ^ Ariy Kamen.Often misspelled "Aji Kamen" or even "Aii Kimur".
- ^Siegel-Causey, D.; Lefevre, C. & Savinetskii, A. B. (1991)."Historical diversity of cormorants and shags from Amchitka Island, Alaska"(PDF).Condor.93(4): 840–852.doi:10.2307/3247718.JSTOR3247718.S2CID88017585.
- ^Olson, Storrs L. (2005)."Correction of erroneous records of cormorants from archeological sites in Alaska".Condor.107(4): 930–933.doi:10.1650/7818.1.S2CID84570578.