Phenotypic Variation among Thick-billed Murres from Colonies in Hudson Strait

• Published in: ARCTIC
• Main Authors: Gaston, A.J., Chapdelaine, G., Noble, D.G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 1984
• Subjects: Animal anatomy; Animal growth; Animal physiology; Evolution (Biology); Thick-billed Murres; Akpatok Island; Nunavut; Digges Islands; Hantzsch Island; Arctic; Digges; Hudson; Hudson Strait; Détroit d'Hudson; Ice Sheet; thick-billed murre; Uria lomvia; uria
• Online Access: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65254

Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia) breeding in the Canadian Arctic are restricted to a small number of colonies, all comprising more that 10,000 pairs. Five of these colonies are scattered through Hudson Strait. We collected adult breeders at three of the colonies - Digges Island, Hantzsch Island, and Akpatok Island - and compared wing and bill measurements and body weights to look for inter-colony differences. Significant inter-colony differences were present for all measurements and a discriminant function analysis showed that some individuals fall completely outside the range of variation for the other colonies. Because of the presence of the Laurentide ice-sheet over Hudson Strait, the present colony sites could not have been occupied for more than 10,000 years. If the observed differences reflect differences in genotype then their evolution must have occurred over this period.Key words: Thick-billed murre, Uria lomvia, phenotypic variation, Hudson Strait, evolution Mots clés: Marmettes de Brunnïch, Uria lomvia, variation des phénotypes, détroit d'Hudson, évolution