A new species of shearwater of the genus Calonectris (Aves: Procellariidae) from a middle Pleistocene deposit on Bermuda

Remains of at least 26 individuals of a Calonectris shearwater were recovered from a Pleistocene beach deposit on Bermuda that formed when sea-level was more than 21 in above present level during an interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 11) 400,000 yr ago. Two prefledging juveniles in the sample indicate breeding on the island. This shearwater was the general size of C d. diomedea of the Mediterranean but differs in proportions and in qualitative characters and is described as Calonectris wingatei, new species. The species appears to have become extinct shortly after the time of deposition, when rising sea-level is also thought to have caused the extinction of the Short-tailed Albatross Phoebastria albatrus on Bermuda. The Neogene history of the taxa of Calonectris in the Atlantic basin is examined in the context of major geological and oceanographic events.