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Age and taphonomy of abandoned penguin rookeries in the Antarctic Peninsula region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Steven D. Emslie
Steven D. Emslie
Affiliation:
Department of Sciences, Western State College, Gunnison, CO 81231, USA
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Abstract

Investigations on the age and taphonomy of modern and abandoned penguin rookeries were completed in the Antarctic Peninsula region, 1992–1994. Systematic collection and identification of bones from modern rookeries of Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap (P. antarctica), and gentoo (P. papua) penguins indicate a bias in element preservation for humeri, furcula, femora, and tibiotarsi. More than 73% of the individuals represented by these elements are juveniles. Bones from abandoned rookeries show similar patterns that can help identify old breeding sites and the species that occupied them. Radiocarbon dates completed on 13 chinstrap and Adélie penguin bones, feathers, and eggshell fragments from five abandoned rookeries suggest that occupation of these sites occurred only during warm intervals of the Little Ice Age (AD 1500–1850). These data also provide information on the paleoecology and paleobiogeography of penguins in the Antarctic Peninsula region, which help explain modern distribution patterns and demography.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 31 , Issue 179 , October 1995 , pp. 409 - 418
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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