Does the Short-tailed Albatross <i>Phoebastria albatrus</i> consist of two species!?

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  • 危急種アホウドリ<i>Phoebastria albatrus</i>は2種からなる!?
  • キキュウシュ アホウドリ Phoebastria albatrus ワ 2シュ カラ ナル!?

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Abstract

The Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus is a vulnerable seabird species that breeds in two island groups in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean. In the 2006/07 breeding season, the world population was estimated at around 2,360 individuals: 80% of them breeding on Torishima, and 20% on two islets of the Senkaku Islands. The species is tacitly regarded as a single management unit and international conservation efforts consider its population structure to be of low concern. However, our previous study showed that two populations of the Short-tailed Albatross existed about 1,000 years ago. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the species was exterminated at most breeding colonies, with descendents of each population surviving only on Torishima and the Senkaku Islands. Recently, descendents of the two populations are breeding sympatrically on Torishima. However, it is not known whether they mix or not. Because the mitochondrial DNA haplotype frequencies clearly differ between the Torishima and Senkaku Island birds, each population meets different Management Unit (MU) criteria. These two MUs should be managed as different entities, since the emigration rate from the Senkaku Islands to Torishima may have been reinforced by extensive fowling in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The sequence divergence between the two clades of the Short-tailed Albatross is greater than that recognized between other sister species of albatrosses. Furthermore, ecological and morphological differences between the Torishima and Senkaku Island albatrosses are indicated. A taxonomic re-examination of the Torishima and Senkaku Island albatross taxa is required through comparative studies of ecological and ethological traits.

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