Was the extinct Spectacled Cormorant part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna?
- 1Ancient Ecology Lab, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Abstract
The coastal North Pacific kelp ecosystems are highly productive, supporting a rich faunal assemblage. Some historical aspects of this ecosystem remain poorly studied, as exemplified by the extinct Spectacled Cormorant Urile perspicillatus, whose Late Holocene distribution was apparently restricted to Bering Island. This cormorant's taxonomic relationships remain unresolved and little is known about its ecology. We use ancient-DNA to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Spectacled Cormorant. Mitogenomes from five of the six known historical skins form a strongly supported clade within Urile cormorants. The ancestors of Spectacled Cormorant diverged from its closest relatives, the Pelagic (U. pelagicus) and Red-faced (U. urile) cormorants, ~6.98 Mya, and the population subsequently underwent a pronounced bottleneck. This divergence time is co-incident with the establishment of coastal kelp-forests. The Spectacled Cormorant may have been an integral part of the kelp-associated fauna as a large benthic-foraging predator. Similar to the sympatric Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), the historical relict distribution of the Spectacled Cormorant may be the result of trophic collapse of kelp-forest ecosystems and subsistence hunting. Future palaeogenomic and dietary isotopic research, and reassessment of North Pacific archaeological and fossil assemblages, should shed light on the evolution and palaeoecology of this enigmatic seabird.
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BibTeX
@misc{adams2026extinct,
title = {{Was the extinct Spectacled Cormorant part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna?}},
author = {A. L. Adams and P. Lubbe and A. T. Salis and M. Kennedy and R. Boessenecker and A. L. Bond and H. G. Spencer and N. J. Rawlence},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.02.749039},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.749039v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Was the extinct Spectacled Cormorant part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna?
AU - A. L. Adams
AU - P. Lubbe
AU - A. T. Salis
AU - M. Kennedy
AU - R. Boessenecker
AU - A. L. Bond
AU - H. G. Spencer
AU - N. J. Rawlence
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/02
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.02.749039
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.02.749039v1
AB - The coastal North Pacific kelp ecosystems are highly productive, supporting a rich faunal assemblage. Some historical aspects of this ecosystem remain poorly studied, as exemplified by the extinct Spectacled Cormorant Urile perspicillatus, whose Late Holocene distribution was apparently restricted to Bering Island. This cormorant's taxonomic relationships remain unresolved and little is known about its ecology. We use ancient-DNA to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Spectacled Cormorant. Mitogenomes from five of the six known historical skins form a strongly supported clade within Urile cormorants. The ancestors of Spectacled Cormorant diverged from its closest relatives, the Pelagic (U. pelagicus) and Red-faced (U. urile) cormorants, ~6.98 Mya, and the population subsequently underwent a pronounced bottleneck. This divergence time is co-incident with the establishment of coastal kelp-forests. The Spectacled Cormorant may have been an integral part of the kelp-associated fauna as a large benthic-foraging predator. Similar to the sympatric Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), the historical relict distribution of the Spectacled Cormorant may be the result of trophic collapse of kelp-forest ecosystems and subsistence hunting. Future palaeogenomic and dietary isotopic research, and reassessment of North Pacific archaeological and fossil assemblages, should shed light on the evolution and palaeoecology of this enigmatic seabird.
ER -