Abstract The aptly named microcormorants (currently placed in the genus Microcarbo) form a morphologically diminutive and distinct clade sister to all other living cormorants shags. However, relationships within Microcarbo are largely speculative. Sequence data resolve these unambiguously, with our phylogeny suggesting that separated from ~16 Mya showing two African species [the reed (or long-t...

Livers of birds collected from Japan and Korea (n = 83) were analyzed to determine the concentrations of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanesulfonamide (FOSA), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHS). PFOS was found in the livers of 95% of the birds analyzed at concentrations greater than the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 10 ng/g, wet weight. The greatest...

About forty years ago the Great Auk (Plautus impennis) of the Northern Atlantic became exterminated. -A vigorous search has been made for it and its remains; fabulous sums have been paid for skins and eggs; and monographers, among whom some of the most prominent ornithologists, have collected together the most minute facts bearing upon its history, and discussed in extreme detail the number of ...

Previous research has documented the bioaccumulation of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) in apex predators in remote locations but few studies have evaluated urban estuaries. To assess the importance of PFCs in San Francisco Bay, two apex predators in the San Francisco Bay, double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) and Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardii), were sampled. Prey f...

--Nasal glands in Pelecaniformes are situated within the orbit in closely fitting depressions. Generally, the depressions are bilobed and small, but in Phalacrocoracidae they are more diverse in shape and size. Cormorants (Phalacrocoracinae) have small depressions typical of the order; shags (Leucocarboninae) have large, single-lobed depressions that extend almost the entire length of the front...