Tasman Booby

Taxobox


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name = Tasman Booby
status = EX | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Pelecaniformes
familia = Sulidae
genus = "Sula"
species = "S. dactylatra" (but see text)
subspecies = "S. (d.) tasmani"
trinomial = "Sula (dactylatra) tasmani"
trinomial_authority = van Tets, Meredith, Fullagar & Davidson, 1988

The Tasman Booby ("Sula (dactylatra) tasmani") was a large seabird of the gannet family, Sulidae, described from bones found on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands in the Tasman Sea (van Tets "et al" 1988). It was believed to have become extinct in the late 18th Century or early 19th Century on Lord Howe Island because of predation by visiting sailors, with the last sight record dating from 1788, when it was already extinct on Norfolk Island.

However, this taxon has more recently (Priddel "et al" 2005) been considered to be a subspecies of the Masked Booby, "Sula dactylatra tasmani", still extant as a breeding species on Lord Howe Island. Holdaway & Anderson (2001) attribute subfossil material from Norfolk Island simply to "Sula dactylatra".

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this "species" is extinct ("note that this information is outdated")
* Holdaway, Richard N.; & Anderson, Atholl. (2001). Avifauna from the Emily Bay settlement site, Norfolk Island: a preliminary account. "Records of the Australian Museum", Supplement 27 (2001): 85-100. ISBN 0-7347-2305-9
* Priddel, David; Hutton, Ian; Olson, Samantha; & Wheeler, Robert. (2005). Breeding biology of Masked Boobies ("Sula dactylatra tasmani") on Lord Howe Island, Australia. "Emu" 105(2): 105-113.
* van Tets, G.F.; Meredith, C.W.; Fullagar, P.J.; & Davidson, P.M. (1988). Osteological differences between "Sula" and "Morus", and a description of an extinct new species of "Sula" from Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, Tasman Sea. "Notornis" 35: 35-57.