Labrador duck

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Labrador duck
NMNH-USNM77126-01-plain.jpg
Female specimen, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Camptorhynchus labradorius (Labrador duck) (8365390008).jpg
Male, Field Museum of Natural History
Status iucn3.1 EX.svg
Extinct  (~1878)  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Status TNC GX.svg
Presumed Extinct  (~1878)  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Merginae
Genus: Camptorhynchus
Bonaparte, 1838
Species:
C. labradorius
Binomial name
Camptorhynchus labradorius
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)
Camptorhynchus labradorius map.svg

The Labrador duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius) is an extinct North American duck species. It has the distinction of being the first known endemic North American bird species to become extinct after the Columbian Exchange, with the last known sighting occurring in 1878 in Elmira, New York. [3] It was already a rare duck before European settlers arrived, and as a result of its rarity, information on the Labrador duck is not abundant, although some, such as its habitat, characteristics, dietary habits and reasons behind its extinction, are known. There are 55 specimens of the Labrador duck preserved in museum collections worldwide. [4]

Contents

Taxonomy

Diagram of the male Camptorhynchus labradoriusSmithMiscCollecV135N7P0304AA.jpg
Diagram of the male

The Labrador duck is considered a sea duck. A basic difference in the shape of the process of metacarpal I divides the sea ducks into two groups:

  1. Bucephala and the mergansers
  2. The eiders, scoters, Histrionicus , Clangula , and Camptorhynchus

The position of the nutrient foramen of the tarsometatarsus also separates the two groups of sea ducks. In the first group, the foramen is lateral to the long axis of the lateral groove of the hypotarsus; in the second, the foramen is on or medial to the axis of that groove. [5]

The Labrador duck was also known as the pied duck and skunk duck, the former being a vernacular name that it shared with the surf scoter and the common goldeneye (and even the American oystercatcher), a fact that has led to difficulties in interpreting old records of these species. Both names refer to the male's striking white/black piebald colouration. Yet another common name was sand shoal duck, referring to its habit of feeding in shallow water. The closest evolutionary relatives of the Labrador duck are apparently the scoters (Melanitta). [6]

A mitogenomic study of the placement of the Labrador duck found the species to be closely related to the Steller's eider as shown below. [7]

Mergini

Description

Illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans of a female and male Extinctbirds1907 P36 Camptolaemus labradorius0363AA.jpg
Illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans of a female and male

The female plumage was grey. Although weakly patterned, the pattern was scoter-like. The male's plumage was black and white in an eider-like pattern, but the wings were entirely white except for the primaries. The trachea of the male was scoter-like. An expansion of the tracheal tube occurred at the anterior end, and two enlargements (as opposed to one enlargement as seen in scoters) were near the middle of the tube. The bulla was bony and round, puffing out from the left side. This asymmetrical and osseus bulla was unlike that of scoters; this bulla was similar to eiders and harlequin duck's bullae. The Labrador duck has been considered the most enigmatic of all North American birds. [8]

The Labrador duck had an oblong head with small, beady eyes. Its bill was almost as long as its head. The body was short and depressed with short, strong feet that were far behind the body. The feathers were small and the tail was short and rounded. The Labrador duck belongs to a monotypic genus. [9]

Habitat

The Labrador duck migrated annually, wintering off the coasts of New Jersey and New England in the eastern United States, where it favored southern sandy coasts, sheltered bays, harbors, and inlets, and breeding in Labrador and northern Quebec in the summer. [10] [11] John James Audubon's son reported seeing a nest belonging to the species in Labrador. Some believe that it may have laid its eggs on the islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The breeding biology of the Labrador duck is largely unknown.

Diet

Illustration by John James Audubon Camptorhynchus labradoriusAWP332AA.jpg
Illustration by John James Audubon

The Labrador duck fed on small molluscs, and some fishermen reported catching it on fishing lines baited with mussels. [10] The structure of the bill was highly modified from that of most ducks, having a wide, flattened tip with numerous lamellae inside. In this way, it is considered an ecological counterpart of the North Pacific/North Asian Steller's eider. The beak was also particularly soft and may have been used to probe through sediment for food. [10]

Another, completely unrelated, duck with similar (but even more specialized) bill morphology is the Australian pink-eared duck, which feeds largely on plankton, but also mollusks; the condition in the Labrador duck probably resembled that in the blue duck most in outward appearance. Its peculiar bill suggests it ate shellfish and crustaceans from silt and shallow water. The Labrador duck may have survived by eating snails.

Extinction

Turnaround video of a male specimen, Naturalis Biodiversity Center

The Labrador duck is thought to have been always rare, but between 1850 and 1870, populations waned further. [10] Its extinction (sometime after 1878) [12] is still not fully explained. Although hunted for food, this duck was considered to taste bad, rotted quickly, and fetched a low price. Consequently, it was not sought much by hunters. However, the eggs may have been overharvested, and it may have been subject to depredations by the feather trade in its breeding area, as well. Another possible factor in the bird's extinction was the decline in mussels and other shellfish on which they are believed to have fed in their winter quarters, due to growth of population and industry on the Eastern Seaboard. Although all sea ducks readily feed on shallow-water molluscs, no Western Atlantic bird species seems to have been as dependent on such food as the Labrador duck. [13]

Stuffed specimens, American Museum of Natural History Labrador Ducks AMNH.jpg
Stuffed specimens, American Museum of Natural History

Another theory that was said to lead to their extinction was a huge increase of human influence on the coastal ecosystems in North America, causing the birds to flee their niches and find another habitat. [14] [15] These ducks were the only birds whose range was limited to the American coast of the North Atlantic, so changing niches was a difficult task. [16] Whatever the causes may be, the Labrador duck became extinct in the late 19th century.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great auk</span> Extinct flightless seabird from the North Atlantic

The great auk is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus. It is not closely related to the Southern Hemisphere birds now known as penguins, which were discovered later by Europeans and so named by sailors because of their physical resemblance to the great auk, which were called penguins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anatidae</span> Biological family of water birds

The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on the water surface, and in some cases diving in at least shallow water. The family contains around 174 species in 43 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anseriformes</span> Order of water birds

Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae, Anseranatidae, and Anatidae, the largest family, which includes over 170 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. Most modern species in the order are highly adapted for an aquatic existence at the water surface. With the exception of screamers, males have penises, a trait that has been lost in the Neoaves. Due to their aquatic nature, most species are web-footed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mergini</span> Tribe of birds

The sea ducks (Mergini) are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds, the Anatinae. The taxonomy of this group is incomplete. Some authorities separate the group as a subfamily, while others remove some genera. Most species within the group spend their winters near coastal waters. Many species have developed specialized salt glands to allow them to tolerate salt water, but these are poorly developed in juveniles. Some of the species prefer riverine habitats. All but two of the 22 species in this group live in far northern latitudes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diving duck</span> Tribe of birds

The diving ducks, commonly called pochards or scaups, are a category of duck which feed by diving beneath the surface of the water. They are part of Anatidae, the diverse and very large family that includes ducks, geese, and swans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anatinae</span> Subfamily of birds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common eider</span> Species of bird

The common eider, also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions, but winters somewhat farther south in temperate zones, when it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to 113 km/h (70 mph).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black scoter</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surf scoter</span> Species of bird

The surf scoter is a large sea duck native to North America. Adult males are almost entirely black with characteristic white patches on the forehead and the nape and adult females are slightly smaller and browner. Surf scoters breed in Northern Canada and Alaska and winter along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America. Those diving ducks mainly feed on benthic invertebrates, mussels representing an important part of their diet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steller's eider</span> Species of bird

Steller's eider is a migrating Arctic diving duck that breeds along the coastlines of eastern Russia and Alaska. It is the rarest, smallest, and fastest flying of the eider species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink-headed duck</span> Species of bird

The pink-headed duck is a large diving duck that was once found in parts of the Gangetic plains of India, parts of Maharashtra, Bangladesh and in the riverine swamps of Myanmar but has been feared extinct since the 1950s. Numerous searches have failed to provide any proof of continued existence. It has been suggested that it may exist in the inaccessible swamp regions of northern Myanmar and some sight reports from that region have led to its status being declared as "Critically Endangered" rather than extinct. The genus placement has been disputed and while some have suggested that it is close to the red-crested pochard, others have placed it in a separate genus of its own. It is unique in the pink colouration of the head combined with a dark body. A prominent wing patch and the long slender neck are features shared with the common Indian spot-billed duck. The eggs have also been held as particularly peculiar in being nearly spherical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commander Islands</span> Russian islands in the Bering Sea

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References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Camptorhynchus labradorius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22680418A92862623. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680418A92862623.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. "Camptorhynchus labradorius. NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  3. Renko, Amanda. "EXTINCT: Seeking a bird last seen in 1878". Star Gazette. Star Gazette. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  4. Chilton, Glen. The Curse of the Labrador Duck: My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. Print.
  5. Zusi, Richard (1978). "The Appendicular Myology of the Labrador Duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius)". The Condor. 80 (4): 407–418. doi:10.2307/1367191. JSTOR   1367191.
  6. Livezey, Bradley C. (1995). "Phylogeny and Evolutionary Ecology of Modern Seaducks (Anatidae: Mergini)" (PDF). Condor . 97 (1): 233–255. doi:10.2307/1368999. JSTOR   1368999.
  7. Janet C. Buckner; Ryan Ellingson; David A. Gold; Terry L. Jones; David K. Jacobs (2018). "Mitogenomics supports an unexpected taxonomic relationship for the extinct diving duck Chendytes lawi and definitively places the extinct Labrador Duck". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 122: 102–109. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.12.008. PMID   29247849.
  8. Johnsgard, Paul. "Handbook of Waterfowl Behavior: Tribe Mergini (Sea Ducks)". Archived from the original on 8 November 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  9. "Recently Extinct Animals - Species Info - Labrador Duck." Recently Extinct Animals - Species Info - Labrador Duck. N.p., 4 June 2008. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. "Recently Extinct Animals - Species Info - Labrador Duck". Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2014-10-24..
  10. 1 2 3 4 Flannery, Tim (2001). A Gap in Nature. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. pp.  60–61. ISBN   0871137976.
  11. Chilton, Glen; Sorenson, Michael D. (2007). Winker, K. (ed.). "Genetic Identification of Eggs Purportedly From the Extinct Labrador Duck (Camptorhynchus labradorius)". The Auk. 124 (3): 962–968. doi:10.1093/auk/124.3.962. ISSN   1938-4254.
  12. Sibley and Monroe (Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World, 1990, p. 40)
  13. Phillips, John C. (1922–1926): A Natural History of Ducks. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, volume 4, pp. 57–63.
  14. Amadon, Dean (1953). "Migratory Birds of Relict Distribution: Some Inferences". The Auk. 70 (4): 461–469. doi:10.2307/4081357. ISSN   0004-8038.
  15. Reaka-Kudla, Marjorie L.; Wilson, Don E.; Wilson, Edward O. (1996-09-30). Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources. Joseph Henry Press. ISBN   978-0-309-52075-1.
  16. "All About Birds". Labrador Duck. Cornell University, 2007. Web. 22 Oct. 2014. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/conservation/extinctions/labrador_duck/document_view.

Further reading