- Townsend's Shearwater
Taxobox
name = Townsend's Shearwater
status = CR | status_system = IUCN3.1
trend = down
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo =Procellariiformes
familia =Procellariidae
genus = "Puffinus "
species = "P. auricularis"
binomial = "Puffinus auricularis"
binomial_authority = Townsend,1890
synonyms ="Puffinus auricularis auricularis"Townsend's Shearwater, "Puffinus auricularis" is a rare
seabird of thetropic s from the familyProcellariidae .Its relationships are unresolved. Its closest relatives are probably but not certainly the
Hawaiian Shearwater ("Puffinus newelli") and possibly theManx Shearwater ("Puffinus puffinus") (Austin, 1996; Austin "et al", 2004). It formerly contained the former as asubspecies and was long considered a subspecies of the latter. The relationship of the Rapa Shearwater, "P. (newelli) myrtae" in regards to these species are also in need of research; thistaxon was until recently placed in "P.assimilis" (Austin "et al", 2004).This species breeds around Cerro Evermann on
Isla Socorro in theRevillagigedo Islands ,Mexico . The main threat to this species comes from feral cats introduced to Socorro in the early 1970s. Sheep are also destroying breeding habitat. The species bred onIsla Clarión until 1988, where habitat and nesting sites were destroyed by introduced pigs, sheep and rabbits.References
* Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of "Puffinus" Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome "b" Gene Sequences. "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution" 6(1): 77–88. DOI|10.1006/mpev.1996.0060 (HTML abstract)
* Austin, Jeremy J.; Bretagnolle, Vincent & Pasquet, Eric (2004): A global molecular phylogeny of the small "Puffinus" shearwaters and implications for systematics of the Little-Audubon's Shearwater complex. "Auk" 121(3): 847–864. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121 [0847:AGMPOT] 2.0.CO;2 [http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1642%2F0004-8038%282004%29121%5B0847%3AAGMPOT%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]
* Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is critically endangered
External links
* [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3938&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet]
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