We've Moved!
Visit SDSU’s new digital collections website at https://digitalcollections.sdsu.edu
Description
Seabirds have existed since at least the Late Cretaceous Period (99‐65 million years ago). While it might be assumed that they are one descriptive group, they are rather many groups of seabirds that have developed sea adaptations separately from each other. Seabirds are well represented in the fossil record and the highest diversity of seabirds was apparently during the Late Miocene and Pliocene. Warheit (1991) provides an overview of Tertiary evolution of seabirds in the North Pacific and the factors that influence their evolution. Methods: The methods of this research involved library research using scholarly books and peer reviewed articles in professional journals. The data was assembled into an excel sheet formatted using the time scale from Warheit (1991). Data was based on which species was introduced and the area it was found. The information was divided upon using the time markers from Warheit’s paper and adding the Holocene and Anthropocene. After the data was assembled, interpretation of the data was undertaken. Results: From the results it can be seen that aquatic birds did not prosper long in the Miocene. There’s was not that much behavior for them to be found in Isla Cedros LS, Mexico when it comes to the seabird species. Marine Birds appear to be more diverse in California, Washington, Oregon, Columbia, and Britain in the Pleistocene‐Pliocene. The explosion of bird diversity in both areas slightly appears in the late Miocene and upwards on the time scale. Discussion: Based on the compiled data tables, it appears that the species Plopteridae and Pelganothoris existed from the Eocene to the Miocene, making it appear at this time these species were doing very well in these time periods. The data reveals that Phalaocroax was a very successful species from the beginning of the Miocene to today. While marine birds have survived to this day, this data shows how the birds have been affected throughout time.
