Subantarctic seabird relationships

Discussion about the evolution, relationships, and naming of New Zealand birds
Ian Southey
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Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:45 pm

Subantarctic seabird relationships

Postby Ian Southey » Sat Dec 31, 2016 7:01 am

Having been brought up on the idea that southern ocean seabirds evolve in latitudinal bands seperated by oceanic fronts rather than in sectors it is a surprise to me that this study on Gentoo Penguins suggests the opposite is true - that the apparently less obvious to not noticeable differences between the subantarctic islands are actually genetically bigger than the shift across the Polar Front which is currently recognised by calling those Gentoos a separate subspecies. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 0316304031

Ian
Ian Southey
Posts: 1100
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:45 pm

Re: Subantarctic seabird relationships

Postby Ian Southey » Fri Nov 06, 2020 7:06 am

This has to progressed to a split of Gentoo Penguins into four species https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epd ... /ece3.6973 and https://phys.org/news/2020-11-gentoo-pe ... tists.html.

They are calling the population they sampled from Kerguelen Island Pygoscelis taeniata which has Macquarie Island as a type locality. Actually they say "we suggest" and my quick scan of the paper suggests that they have made no actual effort to link the name properly to those birds. Macquarie Island seabirds are often related to southern Indian Ocean taxa so they may be well be right but this is a bit sloppy I think.

Ian
Colin Miskelly
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Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:31 pm

Re: Subantarctic seabird relationships

Postby Colin Miskelly » Fri Nov 06, 2020 9:43 am

Thanks for posting this Ian

The authors have also erred in proposing the name Pygoscelis poncetii for the South Georgia clade. The name is intended to honour Sally Poncet, and so should be of the female form P. poncetae, rather than being named as if honouring a man.

Ngā mihi
Colin
Last edited by Colin Miskelly on Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Paul Scofield
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Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:39 am

Re: Subantarctic seabird relationships

Postby Paul Scofield » Fri Nov 13, 2020 12:26 pm

The authors have not made an error here. This was recently posted on another website from Dick Schodde:

"The spelling of Poncetii. It is a surname, not a Christian name. Even though it may commemorate a woman, the authors treat the name as Latin, not latinized, e.g. Poncetius, not Ponceta or Poncetus. If it is Poncetius, Latin, then the genitive must be poncetii, in according with the gender of the Latin word Poncetius, not the name of the woman, Sally Poncet. That is how I interpret Art. 31.1.1 and its example – see Nicolaus Poda. Had they used the spelling ponceti, a latinization of Poncet, then it would have had to be poncetae".

It is also worth noting that according to the IUZN code: "32.5.1. If there is in the original publication itself, without recourse to any external source of information, clear evidence of an inadvertent error, such as a lapsus calami or a copyist's or printer's error, it must be corrected. Incorrect transliteration or latinization, or use of an inappropriate connecting vowel, are not to be considered inadvertent errors."

P
Colin Miskelly
Posts: 912
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:31 pm

Re: Subantarctic seabird relationships

Postby Colin Miskelly » Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:23 am

Hmmm...let off on a technicality

The name is misleading at best, and only the authors know whether it was intentional

Ngā mihi
Colin

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