Phylogenetic placement of the critically endangered Townsend’s Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis auricularis): evidence for its conspecific status with Newell’s Shearwater (Puffinus a. newelli) and a mismatch between genetic and phenotypic differentiation

The type of Rapa Shearwater Puffinus (newelli?) myrtae from the Austral Islands, Polynesia, with remarks on the morphological variation of the taxon

“…The most recent molecular hypothesis (Martínez-Gómez et al 2015) for shearwaters in the relevant subclade of Austin et al (2004) recommended that P. auricularis (which nests on Socorro Island, off north-west Mexico) and P. newelli (an endemic breeder to Hawaii) be treated as conspecifics, with the former name having priority for the single species, but that myrtae be separated at species rank. This hypothesis is based solely on genetic data (and only mitochondrial DNA), which indicate that myrtae is sister to a monophyletic clade comprising auricularis and newelli.…”

“…Austin et al (2004) sequenced two of the Paris specimens and reported that myrtae was most closely related to Newell's Shearwater P. newelli, with the result that most subsequent commentators have considered myrtae a subspecies of newelli, with or without Townsend's Shearwater P. auricularis as a third race (e.g., Dickinson & Remsen 2013, del Hoyo & Collar 2014. Recently, however, it has been suggested that myrtae might most appropriately be treated specifically (Martínez-Gómez et al 2015).…”

Challenges and Priorities for Seabird Conservation in Northwestern Mexico

“…Historically, this species bred on Socorro, Clarion, and San Benedicto Islands of the archipelago. The long-term monitoring carried out by INECOL (Mexican National Institute for Ecology) has confirmed that the colonies in Socorro and Clarion remain, but the colony on San Benedicto has not reestablished after the eruption of the Barcena volcano (Martínez- Gómez and Jacobsen 2004;Martínez-Gómez et al 2015). It is therefore of utmost importance to continue high-quality monitoring on these two islands and to continue the exploration on San Benedicto to detect any recolonization attempts.…”

Pelagic birds around Rapa and Marotiri, French Polynesia, October–December 2019, with notes on Rapa Shearwater Puffinus myrtae and Titan Storm Petrel Fregetta [grallaria] titan

“…A genetic study by Austin et al (2004) surprisingly found P. myrtae genotypically close to the phenotypically different Newell's Shearwater P. newelli. More recently, Martínez-Gómez et al (2015) recommended that Rapa Shearwater be ranked at species level. Shirihai et al (2017) confirmed the identity of the P. myrtae holotype.…”