ORCID Profile
0000-0001-6374-6924
Current Organisation
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-09-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-11-2023
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 16-12-2019
Abstract: Climate shifts are key drivers of ecosystem change. Despite the critical importance of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for global climate, the extent of climate-driven ecological change in this region remains controversial. In particular, the biological effects of changing sea ice conditions are poorly understood. We hypothesize that rapid postglacial reductions in sea ice drove biological shifts across multiple widespread Southern Ocean species. We test for demographic shifts driven by climate events over recent millennia by analyzing population genomic datasets spanning 3 penguin genera ( Eudyptes , Pygoscelis , and Aptenodytes ). Demographic analyses for multiple species (macaroni/royal, eastern rockhopper, Adélie, gentoo, king, and emperor) currently inhabiting southern coastlines affected by heavy sea ice conditions during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) yielded genetic signatures of near-simultaneous population expansions associated with postglacial warming. Populations of the ice-adapted emperor penguin are inferred to have expanded slightly earlier than those of species requiring ice-free terrain. These concerted high-latitude expansion events contrast with relatively stable or declining demographic histories inferred for 4 penguin species (northern rockhopper, western rockhopper, Fiordland crested, and Snares crested) that apparently persisted throughout the LGM in ice-free habitats. Limited genetic structure detected in all ice-affected species across the vast Southern Ocean may reflect both rapid postglacial colonization of subantarctic and Antarctic shores, in addition to recent genetic exchange among populations. Together, these analyses highlight dramatic, ecosystem-wide responses to past Southern Ocean climate change and suggest potential for further shifts as warming continues.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2023
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 15-02-2019
DOI: 10.3390/D11020024
Abstract: The recently extinct New Zealand adzebills (Aptornithidae, Aptornis spp.) were an enigmatic group of large flightless birds that have long eluded precise taxonomic assignment as they do not closely resemble any extant birds. Adzebills were nearly wingless, weighed approximately 16–19 kg, and possessed massive adze-like reinforced bills whose function remains unknown. Using hybridisation enrichment and high-throughput sequencing of DNA extracted from subfossil bone and eggshell, near-complete mitochondrial genomes were successfully assembled from the two Quaternary adzebill species: the North Island Adzebill (Aptornis otidiformis) and South Island Adzebill (A. defossor). Molecular phylogenetic analyses confirm that adzebills are members of the Ralloidea (rails and allies) and are sister-taxon to the Sarothruridae, which our results suggest comprises the Madagascan wood rails (Mentocrex, two likely sp.) in addition to the tiny ( gram) rail-like Afro-Madagascan flufftails (Sarothrura, 9 spp.). Node age estimates indicate that the split between adzebills and Sarothruridae occurred ~39.6 Ma, suggesting that the ancestors of the adzebills arrived in New Zealand by long-distance dispersal rather than continental vicariance. This newly identified biogeographic link between physically distant New Zealand and Afro-Madagascar, echoed by the relationship between the New Zealand kiwi (Apterygiformes) and Madagascan elephant-birds (Aepyornithiformes), suggests that the adzebill’s near relatives were formerly more widespread. In addition, our estimate for the ergence time between the two Quaternary adzebill species (0.2–2.3 Ma) coincides with the emergence of a land-bridge between the North and South islands of New Zealand (ca. 1.5–2 Ma). This relatively recent ergence suggests that North Island adzebills are the result of a relatively recent dispersal from the South Island, from which the earliest (Miocene) adzebill fossil has been described.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 05-10-2020
DOI: 10.1017/S0959270920000350
Abstract: Cook’s Petrel Pterodroma cookii is an endemic New Zealand seabird that has experienced a large range decline since the arrival of humans and now only breeds on two offshore islands (Te Hauturu-o-Toi/Little Barrier Island and Whenua Hou/Codfish Island) at the extreme ends of its former distribution. Morphological, behavioural, and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (CO1) sequence data led a previous study to recognise the two extant populations as distinct conservation management units. Here, we further examine the genetic relationship between the extant populations using two nuclear introns ( β-fibint7 and PAX ). Using one mitochondrial locus (CO1), we also investigate the past distribution of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) that differentiates the modern populations using bone and museum skins sourced from within its former range across New Zealand’s North and South Islands. We found significant population genetic structure between the two extant Cook’s Petrel populations for one of the two nuclear introns ( β-fibint7 ). The mitochondrial DNA CO1 analysis indicated that the SNP variant found in the Codfish Island population was formerly widely distributed across both the North and South Islands, whereas the Little Barrier Island variant was detected only in North Island s les. We argue that these combined data support the recognition of the extant populations as different subspecies. Previous names for these taxa exist, thus Cook’s Petrel from Little Barrier Island becomes Pterodroma cookii cookii and Cook’s Petrel from Codfish Island becomes P. c. orientalis . Furthermore, we suggest that both genetic and non-genetic data should be taken into consideration when planning future mainland translocations. Namely, any translocations on the South Island should be sourced from Codfish Island and future translocations on the North Island should continue to be sourced from Little Barrier Island only.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-11-2020
Abstract: Living true seals (phocids) are the most widely dispersed semi-aquatic marine mammals, and comprise geographically separate northern (phocine) and southern (monachine) groups. Both are thought to have evolved in the North Atlantic, with only two monachine lineages—elephant seals and lobodontins—subsequently crossing the equator. The third and most basal monachine tribe, the monk seals, have hitherto been interpreted as exclusively northern and (sub)tropical throughout their entire history. Here, we describe a new species of extinct monk seal from the Pliocene of New Zealand, the first of its kind from the Southern Hemisphere, based on one of the best-preserved and richest s les of seal fossils worldwide. This unanticipated discovery reveals that all three monachine tribes once coexisted south of the equator, and forces a profound revision of their evolutionary history: rather than primarily ersifying in the North Atlantic, monachines largely evolved in the Southern Hemisphere, and from this southern cradle later reinvaded the north. Our results suggest that true seals crossed the equator over eight times in their history. Overall, they more than double the age of the north–south dichotomy characterizing living true seals and confirms a surprisingly recent major change in southern phocid ersity.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-03-2022
Abstract: We describe a new species of extinct duck, Miotadorna catrionae sp. nov. (Anatidae, Tadornini, Tadorninae), based on a right humerus from the Miocene lacustrine deposits of St Bathans, Otago, New Zealand. Principal component analysis reveals that the new taxon is distinguished by its large size and relative proportions. This is the eighth and largest species of duck described from the St Bathans fossil assemblage and further underscores the global importance of this site for understanding anatid evolution.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 05-2023
DOI: 10.1017/JPA.2023.30
Abstract: A late Pliocene (3.36–3.06 Ma) exposure of the Tangahoe Formation on the North Island of New Zealand preserves close fossil relatives of many extant seabird clades. Here, we report an extinct member of the little penguin ( Eudyptula Bonaparte, 1856) lineage from the Tangahoe Formation—the smallest extinct crown penguin yet known. Eudyptula wilsonae n. sp. is based on the nearly complete skulls of an adult and a fledged but immature in idual. Both skulls show more slender proportions than modern little penguins and precede genome-derived estimates for the ergence between Eudyptula minor minor Forster, 1781 (endemic to New Zealand) and Eudyptula m . novaehollandiae Stephens, 1826 (native to Australia and recently established in New Zealand). This raises the possibility that the fossil taxon represents a lineage directly ancestral to extant little penguins. Our results support a Zealandian origin for little penguins, with subsequent Pleistocene dispersal to Australia and a more recent Holocene range expansion of Eudyptula m . novaehollandiae back into New Zealand. UUID: 415f70a-e441-4920-85e0-75f6457577ea
No related grants have been discovered for Alan Tennyson.