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Aethia (auklet)

Reptilia - Charadriiformes - Alcidae

Taxonomy
Aethia was named by Merrem (1788). It is extant. It is the type genus of Aethiini. It was considered monophyletic by Smith (2014).

It was assigned to Alcinae by Howard (1982); to Aethiinae by del Hoyo et al. (2014); to Aethiini by Smith (2011), Smith (2014); and to Alcidae by Howard (1968), Howard (1978), Olson (1985), Carroll (1988), Clements et al. (2017).

Synonyms
  • Aethia rossmoori was named by Howard (1968). Its type specimen is LACM 18948, a limb element (ulna), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is LACM 1945, which is in a Langhian/Serravallian marine siltstone in the Monterey Formation of California.

    It was considered a nomen dubium by Smith (2014).
  • Cyclorrhynchus was named by Kaup (1829). It is extant.

    It was synonymized subjectively with Aethia by Clements et al. (2017).
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1788Aethia Merrem
1829Cyclorrhynchus Kaup
1968Aethia Howard p. 16
1968Aethia rossmoori Howard p. 16 figs. Fig. 2 I, J
1978Aethia Howard p. 21
1982Aethia Howard p. 3
1985Aethia Olson p. 183
1985Aethia rossmoori Olson p. 183
1988Aethia Carroll
2011Aethia Smith p. 30 figs. Figure 14
2014Aethia Smith p. 228
2014Aethia del Hoyo et al.
2017Aethia Clements et al.

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Eugnathostomata
—Teleostomi(Bonaparte 1836)
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
RankNameAuthor
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
—Dinosauria()
—Theropoda()
—Neotheropoda
—AverostraPaul 2002
—Tetanurae
—Coelurosauria()
—Maniraptora
—Paraves
classAves
orderCharadriiformesHuxley 1867
superfamilyAlcoidae(Stejneger 1885)
familyAlcidaeLeach 1820
subfamilyFraterculinae
—Aethiini
genusAethiaMerrem 1788

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Aethia Merrem 1788 [auklet]
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†Aethia barnesi Smith 2014
Aethia cristatella Pallas 1769 [crested auklet]
Aethia psittacula Pallas 1769 [parakeet auklet]
Aethia pusilla Pallas 1811 [least auklet]
Aethia pygmaea Gmelin 1789 [whiskered auklet]
†Aethia storeri Smith 2014
Invalid names: Aethia rossmoori Howard 1968 [nomen dubium], Cyclorrhynchus Kaup 1829 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
N. A. Smith 2014Aethia is differentiated from Ptychoramphus
based upon the following four locally optimized apomorphies:
possession of a lateral sternal fenestra rather than
an unenclosed lateral sternal notch (66:1); distal extent of
articulation facet for manual digit II:1 level with articulation
facet for manual digit III:1 (196:0); post-acetabular
dorsal iliac crest broadens (205:0), rather than narrows;
nest site a natural crevice rather than a bare rock (266:1).
As with the diagnostic characters of Aethiini, these characters
could not be evaluated in the extinct taxa described
below, which are known only from humeri. There are no
autapomorphies of the humerus of Ptychoramphus aleuticus
that differentiate the humeri of that species from the
humeri of Aethia species. Ptychoramphus tenuis is known
only from an isolated tarsometatarsus.