Abstract
An associated partial skeleton from the Late Pliocene (3.0–2.6 million years) of St. George Island, Pribilofs, Alaska, is identified as the modern Thick-billed Murre (Uria lomvia). This is the oldest occurrence of either modern species of Uria and probably the oldest Cenozoic bird yet known from Alaska. A split between the two modern species of >3 million years is in accordance with divergence times derived from DNA sequences.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ainley, D.G., Nettleship, D.N., Carter, H.R., and Storey, A.E., Common Murre Uria aalge, Birds N. Amer., 2002, no. 666, pp. 1–44.
Barth, T.F.W., Geology and petrology of the Pribilof Islands Alaska, U. S. Geol. Surv. Bull., 1956, vol. 1028-F, pp. 101–160.
Brigham-Grette, J. and Carter, L.D., Pliocene marine transgressions of Northern Alaska: circumarctic correlations and paleoclimatic interpretations, Arctic, 1992, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 74–89.
Bryant, L.J., Hesperornis in Alaska, PaleoBios, 1983, no. 40, pp. 1–8.
Dall, W.H., On some tertiary fossils from the Pribilof Islands, J. Washington Acad. Sci., 1919, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1–3.
Fiorillo, A.R., Hasiotis, S.T., Kobayashi, Y., et al., Bird tracks from the Upper Cretaceous Cantwell Formation of Denali National Park, Alaska, USA: A New perspective on ancient northern polar vertebrate biodiversity, J. Syst. Palaeontol., 2011, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 33–49.
Gaston, A.J. and Hipfner, J.M., Thick-billed Murre Uria lomvia, Birds N. Amer., 2000, no. 497, pp. 1–32.
Howard, H., A new species of murre of the genus Uria from the Late Miocene of California (Aves: Alcidae), Bull. Southern Calif. Acad. Sci., 1981, vol. 80, no. 1, pp. 1–12.
Howard, H., Fossil birds from Tertiary Marine Beds at Oceanside, San Diego County, California, with descriptions of two species of the genera Uria and Cepphus (Aves: Alcidae), Contr. Sci. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angeles County, 1982, no. 341, pp. 1–15.
Miller, R.C., G. Dallas Hanna, Proc. California Acad. Sci., 1962, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 1–40.
Olson, S.L., The fossil record of birds, in Avian Biology, vol. 8, Farner, D.S., King, J.R, and Parkes, K.C., Eds., New York and London: Academic Press, 1985, pp. 79–250.
Olson, S.L. and Rasmussen, P.C., Miocene and Pliocene birds from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, Smithson. Contr. Paleobiol., 2001, vol. 90, pp. 233–365.
Pereira, S.L. and Baker, A.J., DNA evidence for a Paleocene origin of the Alcidae (Aves: Charadriiformes) in the Pacific and Multiple Dispersals Across Northern Oceans, Mol. Phyl. Evol., 2008, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 430–445.
Ripley, S.D. and Steed, J.A., Alexander Wetmore 1886–1978, Biograph. Memoir Nation. Acad. Sci., 1987, pp. 595–626.
Smith, N.A. and Clarke, J.A., An alphataxonomic revision of extinct and extant razorbills (Aves, Alcidae): A combined morphometric and phylogenetic approach, Ornithol. Monogr., 2011, no. 72, pp. 1–61.
Spring, L., A comparison of functional and morphological adaptations in the Common Murre (Uria aalge) and Thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia), Condor, 1971, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 1–27.
Wijnker, E. and Olson, S.L., A revision of the fossil genus Miocepphus and other miocene Alcidae (Aves: Charadriiformes) of the Western North Atlantic Ocean, J. Syst. Palaeontol., 2009, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 471–487.
Woodring, W.P., William Healy Dall 1845–1927, Biograph. Memoir Nation. Acad. Sci., 1958, pp. 90–113.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Olson, S.L. A Late Pliocene occurrence of the Thick-billed Murre (Alcidae: Uria lomvia) on St. George Island, Pribilofs, Alaska. Paleontol. J. 47, 1365–1368 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030113110129
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030113110129