Pomarine jaeger
| Pomarine skua | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Stercorariidae |
| Genus: | Stercorarius |
| Species: | S. pomarinus |
| Binomial name | |
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Stercorarius pomarinus Temminck, 1815 |
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| Range of S. pomarinus Summer range Winter range | |
The pomarine skua (Stercorarius pomarinus) or pomatorhine skua, known as pomarine jaeger in the Americas, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migrant, wintering at sea in the tropical oceans.
Its relationships are not fully resolved; its is most similar to the great skua, but from morphology and behavior, it is closer to the lesser skuas (such as the parasitic jaeger). The most likely explanation is extensive hybridization between the great and one species of lesser skuas, which resulted in a hybrid population that eventually evolved into a distinct species, the pomarine skua; or alternatively between the pomarine and a species of Southern Hemisphere skua, with the great skua being the hybrid offspring, perhaps appearing as recently as the 15th century. Judging from characteristics of the skeleton and behavior, the former seems more likely, as the pomarine skua shares several similarities with the "Catharacta" skuas, while the great skua does not seem much different from its Southern Hemisphere relatives.
The mtDNA difference between the pomarine and the great skua is one of the smallest between any two vertebrate species yet analyzed, being less than the variation found between different individuals of widespread species. The apparent capability for hybridization has led to the abolition of the separate genus Catharacta for the Southern Hemisphere and great skuas.
The English word "skua" comes from the Faroese name skúgvur [ˈskɪkvʊər] for the great skua, with the island of Skúvoy renowned for its colony of that bird. The general Faroese term for skuas is kjógvi [ˈtʃɛkvə]. The word "jaeger" is derived from the German word Jäger, meaning "hunter". The genus name Stercorarius is Latin and means "of dung"; the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once thought to be excrement. The specific Pomatorhinus is from Ancient Greek poma, pomatos, "lid" and rhis, rhinos, "nostrils". This refers to the cere, which the pomarine skua shares with the other skuas. The name of this species is unrelated to the Baltic Sea region of Pomerania,
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