Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E. Lowther ◽  
Antony W. Diamond ◽  
Stephen W. Kress ◽  
Gregory J. Robertson ◽  
Keith Russell
Keyword(s):  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Atlantic Puffin

scholarly journals Size variation in mid-Holocene North Atlantic Puffins indicates a dynamic response to climate change

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0246888
Author(s):  
Samuel James Walker ◽  
Hanneke Johanna Maria Meijer
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Biometric Data ◽  
Climatic Oscillations ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Modern Breeding ◽  
Atlantic Puffin ◽  
Osteological Characters

Seabirds are one of the most at-risk groups, with many species in decline. In Scandinavia, seabirds are at a heightened risk of extinction due to accelerated global warming. Norway is home to significant portion of the European Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) populations, but Norwegian populations have declined significantly during the last decades. In this paper we use biometric data from modern and archaeological F. arctica specimens to investigate patterns in body size variation over time of this iconic species. We aimed to set out a baseline for our archaeological comparison by firstly investigating whether modern subspecies of F. arctica are reflected in the osteological characters and are enough to distinguish subspecies from the bones alone. We then investigated if archaeological remains of F. arctica differ in size from the modern subspecies. Our results show that the subspecies Fratercula arctica naumanni was distinctly larger than the other subspecies. However, Fratercula arctica arctica and Fratercula arctica grabae were difficult to separate based on size. This generally supports ornithological observations. Post-Medieval F. arctica bones from Måsøy were similar to modern F. a. arctica populations. The mid-Holocene remains from Dollsteinhola overlaps with the modern size ranges of F. a. arctica and F. a. grabae but are generally shorter and more robust. Dollsteinhola is located close to the borders of the modern breeding ranges of both F. a. arctica and F. a. grabae. We consider it therefore likely that given the mid-Holocene climatic oscillations, breeding ranges of the two subspecies shifted north or south accordingly. However, this does not explain the different proportions of the Dollsteinhola specimens. Our data provide the first evidence for shifting distributions in ancient Atlantic Puffins and represent the first osteological analysis of Fratercula arctica subspecies.

Energy Metabolism in the Locomotor Muscles of the Common Murre (Uria aalge) and the Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

The Auk ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Benjamin Davis ◽  
Helga Guderley
Keyword(s):  
Krebs Cycle ◽  
Columba Livia ◽  
Oxygen Storage ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Metabolic Systems ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
The Common ◽  
Atlantic Puffin

Abstract To compare the metabolic systems that support the combination of flying and diving with those used to support burst flying and sustained flying, myoglobin concentrations and maximum enzyme activities were determined for selected enzymes of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and amino acid metabolism in the pectoral, supracoracoideus, and sartorius muscles of the Common Murre (Uria aalge), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), Rock Dove (Columba livia; hereafter "pigeon"), and Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Glycolytic enzyme levels in the flight muscles were lower in the murre and the puffin than in the pheasant, while both glycolytic and Krebs-cycle enzyme levels resembled those in the pigeon. We believe puffins and murres do not rely extensively on anaerobic glycolysis during diving. In concordance with a role in oxygen storage for diving, the levels of myoglobin in the flight muscles of murres and puffins were higher than those in pigeons or pheasants. They were lower than published values for penguins, however. In contrast to the trends for pigeon and pheasant muscles, the alcid sartorius muscles had a considerably lower aerobic orientation than the flight muscles.

scholarly journals Uncertainty in experts’ judgments exposes the vulnerability of research reporting anecdotes on animals’ cognitive abilities

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Krisztina Sándor ◽  
Balázs Könnyű ◽  
Ádám Miklósi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Scientific Journal ◽  
Nest Building ◽  
Intentional Stance ◽  
Strict Sense ◽  
Research Reporting ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Individual Consistency ◽  
Atlantic Puffin

AbstractExpertise in science, particularly in animal behaviour, may provide people with the capacity to provide better judgments in contrast to lay people. Here we explore whether experts provide a more objective, accurate and coherent evaluation of a recently reported anecdote on Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) “tool use” (recorded on video) which was published in a major scientific journal but was received with some scepticism. We relied on citizen science and developed a questionnaire to measure whether experts in ethology and ornithology and lay people agree or disagree on (1) the description of the actions that they observe (the bird takes a stick in its beak), (2) the possible goal of the action (nest-building or grooming) and (3) the intentional component of the action (the bird took the stick into its beak in order to scratch itself). We hypothesised that contrary to the lay people, experts are more critical evaluators that is they are more inclined to report alternative actions, like nest building, or are less likely to attributing goal-directedness to the action in the absence of evidence. In contrast, lay people may be more prone to anthropomorphise utilising a teleological and intentional stance. Alternatively, all three groups of subjects may rely on anthropomorphism at similar levels and prior expertise does not play a significant role. We found that no major differences among the evaluators. At the group levels, respondents were relatively uncertain with regard to the action of the bird seen on the video but they showed some individual consistency with regard to the description of the action. Thus, we conclude that paradoxically, with regard to the task our experts are typically not experts in the strict sense of the definition, and suggest that anecdotal reports should not be used to argue about mental processes.

scholarly journals Morphological measurements of Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica naumanni) in High-Arctic Greenland

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt K. Burnham ◽  
Jennifer L. Burnham ◽  
Jeff A. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
High Arctic ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Atlantic Puffin

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) chick diet and reproductive performance at colonies with high and low capelin (Mallotus villosus) abundance

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 1598-1607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shauna M Baillie ◽  
Ian L Jones
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Breeding Performance ◽  
Mallotus Villosus ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Nestling Diet ◽  
Capelin Mallotus Villosus ◽  
Adult Mass ◽  
Atlantic Puffin ◽  
Chick Diet

We compared nestling diet and growth, breeding phenology, breeding success, and adult mass of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) between two seabird colonies adjacent to ocean habitat with presumed high and low capelin (Mallotus villosus) abundance in 1996–1998. We hypothesized that puffins at their colony at Gannet Islands, Labrador, where capelin were scarce, would exhibit lower reproductive performance than at Gull Island, Witless Bay, where capelin were abundant. Historically, capelin comprised approximately 60%–95% of the chick diet biomass at both colonies. In the late 1990s, puffin chicks at the Gannet Islands received 3%–24% capelin (by mass), which was 39%–97% less than was received at Gull Island. Postlarval sandlance (Ammodytes sp.) comprised up to 49% (by mass) of the chick diet at the Gannet Islands. Hatching success and fledge success estimates at the Gannet Islands in 1997–1998 were statistically similar to those at Gull Island in 1998. Fledge mass (expressed as percentage of adult mass) was similar between Gannet Islands (69%) and Gull Island (68%). The high interyear variability in chick diet at both colonies and the low variation in breeding performance during our study suggest that Atlantic Puffins in Labrador are resilient to large-scale prey-base changes.

scholarly journals A Specimen of the High Arctic Subspecies of Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica naumanni, in Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 126 (1) ◽  
pp. 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Gaston ◽  
Jennifer F. Provencher
Keyword(s):  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Breeding Site ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Baffin Island ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Fresh Specimen ◽  
Low Arctic ◽  
Local Hunter ◽  
Atlantic Puffin

A fresh specimen of an adult Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica, was obtained from a local hunter at the Minarets (Akpait) on the east coast of Baffin Island on 3 August 2007. The measurements of this bird exceeded those of Atlantic Puffins from Newfoundland and Labrador (F. a. arctica) but fell within the limits of the High Arctic subspecies (F. a. naumanni). This specimen appears to be the first of the High Arctic subspecies to be collected on a potential breeding site in Canada. This subspecies is highly disjunct from the Low Arctic subspecies and is probably represented in Canada by only a few hundred individuals.

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