Birds of the Arctic Codexery

Pomarine jaeger

A seabird with disputed evolutionary origins and piratical feeding habits.

Last updated

The seabird known as the pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) belongs to the family Stercorariidae, which is the skua family.[1] Adult pomarine jaegers measure between 46 and 67 cm in length, have a wingspan of 110 to 138 cm, and weigh from 540 to 920 g.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassAves
  4. OrderCharadriiformes
  5. FamilyStercorariidae
  6. GenusStercorarius
  7. SpeciesStercorarius pomarinus

Named by (Temminck, 1815)

Close relatives

Other species of Stercorarius with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Pomarine jaeger (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 137173 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2018

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Pomarine jaeger and a personA 1.38 m long pomarine jaeger drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.1.38 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 1.38 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Pomarine jaeger

Where the pomarine jaeger has been recorded

Where the pomarine jaeger has been recorded232 mapped locations from 208,602 GBIF occurrence records

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (208,602 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 117 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain)

Biology and range

Behavioural evidence, such as wing-raising displays, links the pomarine jaeger to the larger skuas.[3] Whole genome sequencing later showed this similarity was due to hybrid introgression from the pomarine jaeger into the great skua.[4] The genome data rejected a hybrid origin for the pomarine jaeger itself.[4] The specific name Pomatorhinus refers to the cere covering the nostrils.[5]

The species is unrelated to the Baltic region of Pomerania.[1] GBIF holds 210,345 occurrence records for this taxon.[6] Among the skuas, the pomarine jaeger has its closest evolutionary ties to the larger species, including the great skua and the brown skua.[7] Analyses of mitochondrial DNA revealed that the pomarine jaeger's genetic material most closely resembles that of the great skua.[3]

What the specialist sources record

A 2023 phylogenomics study by Mikkelsen found that mitochondrial capture and nuclear introgression characterize skua species proposed to be of hybrid origin.[7][4] Andersson's 1973 behavioural study described wing-raising displays in both the pomarine jaeger and great skua.[3] Andersson's 1999 phylogeny paper discussed plumage evolution and neoteny in skuas.[7][3][8] Cohen's 1997 paper in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B addressed the enigmatic phylogeny of skuas.[3][8]

Schnell's 1970 phenetic study of the suborder Lari included pomarine jaeger data.[3] DeBenedictis's 1997 article in Birding covered skua taxonomy.[3][8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cocker, "Birds Britannica", Random House, 2005, p. 228 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)", arkive.org, 2011; "Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus", enature.com, 2011; "CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses", CRC Press, 1992 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Andersson, "Behaviour of the Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus Temm. with Comparative Remarks on Stercorariinae", Ornis Scandinavica (Scandinavian Journal of Ornithology), 1973, p. 1–16; Andersson, "Phylogeny, Behaviour, Plumage Evolution and Neoteny in Skuas Stercorariidae", Journal of Avian Biology, 1999, p. 205–215; Andersson, "Behaviour of the Pomarine Skua Stercorarius pomarinus Temm. with Comparative Remarks on Stercorariinae", Ornis Scandinavica (Scandinavian Journal of Ornithology), 1973, p. 1–16; Schnell, "A Phenetic Study o en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mikkelsen, "Phylogenomics Reveals that Mitochondrial Capture and Nuclear Introgression Characterize Skua Species Proposed to be of Hybrid Origin", Systematic Biology, 2023, p. 78–91; Mikkelsen, "Phylogenomics Reveals that Mitochondrial Capture and Nuclear Introgression Characterize Skua Species Proposed to be of Hybrid Origin", Systematic Biology, 2023, p. 78–91 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jobling, "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names", Christopher Helm, 2010, p. 314, 365 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Stercorarius pomarinus (taxon key 2481609). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mikkelsen, "Phylogenomics Reveals that Mitochondrial Capture and Nuclear Introgression Characterize Skua Species Proposed to be of Hybrid Origin", Systematic Biology, 2023, p. 78–91; Andersson, "Phylogeny, Behaviour, Plumage Evolution and Neoteny in Skuas Stercorariidae", Journal of Avian Biology, 1999, p. 205–215; Mikkelsen, "Phylogenomics Reveals that Mitochondrial Capture and Nuclear Introgression Characterize Skua Species Proposed to be of Hybrid Origin", Systematic Biology, 2023, p. 78–91; Andersson, "Phylogeny, Behaviour, Plumage en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Pomarine jaeger" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: DeBenedictis, "Skuas", Birding, 1997, p. 66–69; Furness, "Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds", Firefly Books, 2003, p. 270–273; Andersson, "Phylogeny, Behaviour, Plumage Evolution and Neoteny in Skuas Stercorariidae", Journal of Avian Biology, 1999, p. 205–215; Cohen, "Enigmatic phylogeny of skuas (Aves: Stercorariidae)", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 1997, p. 181–190 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Pomarine jaeger (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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