August
29, 2017 by Sarah Nightingale
Two
species of songbirds that once made a home in the Bahamas likely became extinct
on the islands because of rising sea levels and a warmer, wetter climate, according
to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside and
the University of Florida, Gainesville. The study, which was published today in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, presents a historical
view of how climate change and the resulting habitat loss can affect Earth's
biodiversity.
Titled
"Origin, Paleoecology and Extirpation of Bluebirds and Crossbills in the
Bahamas Across the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition," the authors are
Janet Franklin, distinguished professor of biogeography in UCR's College of
Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and David Steadman, curator of ornithology
at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida.
The
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) and
Hispaniolan Crossbill (Loxia megaplaga)
were among 17 species of birds that
were found on the Bahamian Island of Abaco during the last Ice Age, but that no
longer live there today. Both species are still alive elsewhere, with the former
found in continental North America and the latter in Hispaniola. Fossil records
from Abaco suggest that these birds resided on the island year-round, as
opposed to migrating there in winter.
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