Sulidae

The bird family Sulidae comprises the gannets and boobies. Collectively called sulids, they are medium-large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish and similar prey. The 11 species in this family are often considered congeneric in older sources, placing all in the genus Sula. However, Sula and Morus (gannets) can be distinguished via morphological, behavioral, and DNA sequence characters. Abbott's booby (Papasula) is given its own genus, as it stands apart from both in these respects. It appears to be a distinct and ancient lineage, maybe closer to the gannets than to the true boobies.

Sulidae

Duncan Wright , USFWS · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
boobyPBDB
Sits inside
SuliformesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 41 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 48.07 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 3 of 251 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 3 of 251 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 86 of 251 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 20 of 251 occurrencesPleistocene — about 20 of 251 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences33–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 3 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 3 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 16 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 14 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 7 occurrences11–9.8 Mya — about 11 occurrences9.8–8.2 Mya — about 10 occurrences8.2–6.5 Mya — about 10 occurrences6.5–4.9 Mya — about 10 occurrences4.9–3.3 Mya — about 12 occurrences3.3–1.6 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.6–0 Mya — about 135 occurrences41.03 Mya11.7 ka49 Mya0 Mya

251 occurrences of Sulidae on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

251 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

30 formations

Pisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WPisco — 14.56°S, 75.67°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.55°S, 74.80°WPisco — 14.33°S, 75.90°WMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.70°WMonterey — 34.61°N, 120.44°WSan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.17°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.14°WSan Diego — 32.64°N, 117.05°WTemblor — 35.46°N, 118.92°WTemblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WCalvert — 37.66°N, 77.11°WCalvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WCalvert — 38.61°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WSanta Margarita — 37.00°N, 122.00°W"Topanga" — 33.66°N, 117.63°WPeace River — 27.74°N, 81.93°WAlmejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WAlmejas — 28.37°N, 115.18°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EKirkwood — 39.74°N, 75.22°WKirkwood — 40.30°N, 74.30°WGrund — 48.63°N, 16.06°EAcredale — 36.79°N, 76.17°WMessel — 49.93°N, 8.73°EBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WEastover — 37.77°N, 77.27°WKempsville — 36.79°N, 76.17°WModelo — 34.15°N, 118.47°WValmonte — 33.78°N, 118.33°WSan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Sulidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 146 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

2,692 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 178 sites for Sulidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

94 references

Each of the 251 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 82 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Sulidae

Credit
Duncan Wright , USFWS
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itSuliformes through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Reichenbach 1849