biology

Townsend's shearwater

Townsend's shearwater is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Townsend's shearwater rather than just read about it. In short: Townsend's shearwater (Puffinus auricularis) is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae. Taxonomy Its relationships are unresolved.

Key takeaways

Townsend's shearwater belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Townsend's shearwater to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Townsend's shearwater from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Townsend's shearwater (Puffinus auricularis) is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae.

Taxonomy Its relationships are unresolved. Its closest relatives are probably, but not certainly, the Hawaiian shearwater (Puffinus newelli) and possibly the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) (Austin, 1996; Austin et al., 2004). It formerly contained the former as a subspecies and was long considered a subspecies of the latter. The relationship of the Rapa shearwater, P. myrtae in regard to these species are also in need of research; this taxon was until recently placed in P. assimilis (Austin et al., 2004), but now raised to full species status by the IOC and the NACC (North American Classification Committee) of the AOU.

Conservation This species breeds around Cerro Evermann on Isla Socorro in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, though formerly present on Clarion Island and San Benedicto. The main threat to this species comes from feral cats introduced to Socorro in the early 1970s. These cats usually prey on shearwaters immediately after landing, where a lack of understory renders them exposed. Sheep and goats are also destroying breeding habitat. The Isla Clarión was eradicated in 1988, when habitat and nesting sites were destroyed by introduced pigs, sheep and rabbits, the final of which competed against the shearwaters for nesting burrows. Despite this, some breeding habitat remains to the north and north-west of Socorro's summit, where introduced animals have yet to ravage. The current mature population is estimated between 249 and 999 birds. Due to the presence of these threats, it has been classified as critically endangered. Further threat is posed by light pollution from a recently constructed airstrip and possible volcanic eruptions, the latter eradicated the San Benedicto population. Sheep and pigs have since been eradicated from Clarion, though rabbits have yet to follow. On Socorro, sheep eradication is currently in progress. The species is named for Charles Haskins Townsend (1859–1944), an eminent American ornithologist and ichthyologist.

References

Austin, Jeremy J. (1996): Molecular Phylogenetics of Puffinus Shearwaters: Preliminary Evidence from Mitochondrial Cytochrome b Gene Sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 6(1): 77–88. doi:10.1006/mpev.1996.0060 (HTML abstract) Austin, Jeremy J.; Bretagnolle, Vincent & Pasquet, Eric (2004): A global molecular phylogeny of the small Puffinus shearwaters and implications for systematics of the Little-Audubon's Shearwater complex. Auk 121(3): 847–864. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0847:AGMPOT]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Townsend's shearwater

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Townsend's shearwater claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Townsend's shearwater before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Townsend's shearwater ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Townsend's shearwater

In research: Townsend's shearwater appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Townsend's shearwater in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Townsend's shearwater is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds described in 1890, Critically endangered animals, Critically endangered biota of Mexico, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Townsend's shearwater outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Townsend's shearwater” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Townsend's shearwater in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Townsend's shearwater means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Townsend's shearwater out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Townsend's shearwater in simple terms?

Townsend's shearwater (Puffinus auricularis) is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae. Taxonomy Its relationships are unresolved.

Why does Townsend's shearwater matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Townsend's shearwater?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Townsend's shearwater.