Booby

Booby

Booby

Blue-footed Booby displaying by raising a foot

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Sulidae Genus: Sula Brisson, 1760

Species

Sula nebouxii Sula variegata Sula dactylatra Sula granti Sula sula Sula leucogaster For fossil species, see text

The Booby, a type of seabird, is part of the family Sulidae and the genus Sula. It is closely related to the gannets (Morus), which were formerly included in Sula.

Boobies are large birds, with long pointed wings and long bills. They hunt fish, by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. Facial air sacs, under their skin, cushion the impact with the water. Boobies are colonial breeders on islands and coasts. They normally lay one or more chalky-blue eggs, on the ground or sometimes in a tree nest.

Their name is possibly based on the Spanish slang term bobo, meaning "dunce", as these tame birds had a habit of landing on board sailing ships, where they were easily captured and eaten. Owing to this, Boobies are often mentioned as having been caught and eaten by shipwrecked sailors, notably Captain Bligh of the Bounty and his loyalists, during their famous voyage after being set adrift by Fletcher Christian and his mutineers.

Systematics and evolution

Red-footed Booby, Sula sula

Five of the six extant Sulidae species called "boobies" are in the genus Sula, while the three gannets are usually treated in the genus Morus. Abbott's Booby was formerly included in Sula but is now placed in a monotypic genus Papasula which represents an ancient lineage perhaps closer to Morus.

Some authorities consider that all nine species should be considered congeneric in Sula. However, they are readily told apart, by means of osteology. The distinct lineages of gannets and boobies are known to have existed in such form, since at least the Middle Miocene, c.15 mya (Olson 1985).

The fossil records of boobies are not as well documented as that of the gannets; possibly because the species of boobies were less numerous in the late Miocene to Pliocene, when gannets had their highest diversity or due to the more tropical distribution of boobies, many fossil species have simply not been found yet, as most localities are in continental North America or Europe.

Genus: Sula

• Blue-footed Booby, Sula nebouxii
• Peruvian Booby, Sula variegata
• Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra
• Tasman Booby, Sula (dactylatra) tasmani - possibly extinct (c.1790?)^[2]
• Nazca Booby, Sula granti (formerly S. dactylatra granti)
• Red-footed Booby, Sula sula
• Brown Booby, Sula leucogaster

• Sula humeralis (fossil; Middle Pliocene)

• Sula sulita (fossil; Pisco Late Miocene of Peru)
• Sula magna (fossil; Pisco Late Miocene/Early Pliocene of Peru)

Placement of "Sula" ronzoni (Early Oligocene of Ronzon, France) in this genus (and indeed in the Sulidae) is uncertain; it was initially described as a Mergus sea-duck, but this is incorrect. Later, it was proposed to be related to cormorants and the genus Prophalacrocorax was erected for it; this is erroneous (Olson 1985).