A new fossil species of Procellaria (Aves: Procellariiformes) from the Pliocene of New Zealand

Abstract

We describe a new Procellaria petrel species from the late Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zealand. The new species is most similar morphologically to the White-Chinned Petrel (P. aequinoctialis), Spectacled Petrel (P. conspicillata) and the Westland Petrel (P. westlandica). Compared with those taxa, the new species has a deeper and shorter premaxilla, longer coracoid and shorter wings, while its legs are a similar size. Today, New Zealand is the centre of global diversity of the genus, with four breeding species. This is the first fossil species of Procellaria to be described from New Zealand, attesting to a reasonably long history of this genus in the region.

A New Giant Petrel (Macronectes, Aves: Procellariidae) from the Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zealand

“…The seabird fauna of the Tangahoe Formation is starting to be studied in more depth and is proving to be quite diverse. Besides the penguin, there are fossils of three other Procellariiformes: Pom's shearwater Ardenna davealleni (Tennyson & Mannering, 2018), the deep-billed petrel Procellaria altirostris (Tennyson & Tomotani, 2021), and Alastair's albatross Aldiomedes angustirostris (Mayr & Tennyson, 2020) [32][33][34]. The fossils of all three species were found in the same outcrops as the penguins, seals, and the presently described giant petrel.…”

A New Diving Pliocene Ardenna Shearwater (Aves: Procellariidae) from New Zealand

“…This situation has recently begun to change with the discovery of a globally important Pliocene seabird assemblage from Taranaki, Aotearoa New Zealand [18][19][20][21][22][23]. Procellariiforms from this locality already include Ardenna davealleni, a large gliding shearwater [18].…”