SUBSPECIFIC IDENTITY OF PREHISTORIC BALTIC CORMORANTS PHALACROCORAX-CARBO

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.