SUBSPECIFIC IDENTITY OF PREHISTORIC BALTIC CORMORANTS PHALACROCORAX-CARBO

Citation
Pgp. Ericson et Fh. Carrasquilla, SUBSPECIFIC IDENTITY OF PREHISTORIC BALTIC CORMORANTS PHALACROCORAX-CARBO, Ardea, 85(1), 1997, pp. 1-7
Citations number
19
Categorie Soggetti
Ornithology
Journal title
ArdeaACNP
ISSN journal
03732266
Volume
85
Issue
1
Year of publication
1997
Pages
1 - 7
Database
ISI
SICI code
0373-2266(1997)85:1<1:SIOPBC>2.0.ZU;2-O
Abstract
Cormorants of the subspecies Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis breed in lar ge numbers in the Baltic Sea. They migrate to the Mediterranean region to winter and are then replaced in the Baltic by wintering individual s of the Norwegian population of the nominate subspecies carbo. Cormor ants bred in the Baltic during prehistoric times too, but as evident f rom a comparison of skeletal measurements in present-day and prehistor ic Cormorants, these individuals belonged to the nominate subspecies c arbo. The Swedish subfossil record of the Cormorants available for stu dy, does not include any remains small enough to suggest the presence of sinensis. Precisely when the subspecies sinensis immigrated into th e Baltic is unknown, but it must have occurred sometime between 1500 a nd 1800 AD.