Editing Gaviiformes

{{Short description|Order of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Early Eocene|Present}}
| image = 2012 Photo Contest - Wildlife Category (7944829792).jpg
| image_caption = [[Common loon]] (''Gavia immer'')
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Gaviiformes
| authority = [[Alexander Wetmore|Wetmore]] & [[Waldron de Witt Miller|Miller]], 1926
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = 
* {{extinct}}''[[Colymbiculus]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Colymboides]]''
* ''[[Loon|Gavia]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Gaviella]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Petralca]]''
* {{extinct}}''[[Nasidytes]]''
| synonyms = Colymbiformes <small>[[Richard Bowdler Sharpe|Sharpe]], 1891</small>
}}

'''Gaviiformes''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|g|æ|v|i|.|ᵻ|f|ɔr|m|iː|z}}) is an [[order (biology)|order]] of [[aquatic bird]]s containing the [[loon]]s or divers and their closest extinct relatives. Modern gaviiformes are found in many parts of [[North America]] and northern [[Eurasia]] (Europe, Asia and debatably Africa), though prehistoric species were more widespread.

==Classification and evolution==
There are five living species, and all are placed in the genus ''[[Gavia (bird)|Gavia]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Boertmann, D. |year=1990|title=Phylogeny of the divers, family Gaviidae (Aves)|journal=Steenstrupia |volume=16|pages=21–36}}</ref> The loons were formerly often considered to be the most ancient of the northern hemisphere bird families; this idea grew basically out of the perceived similarity of shape and (probably) habits between loons and the entirely unrelated extinct [[Cretaceous]] order [[Hesperornithiformes]]. In particular ''[[Enaliornis]]'', which was apparently an ancestral and [[plesiomorphic]] member of that order, was sometimes used to support claims of [[Albian]] ([[Early Cretaceous]]) Gaviiformes.<ref name=Stolpe/><ref>[[#Brodkorb1963|Brodkorb (1963: pp. 220–221)]]</ref> 

More recently, it has become clear that the [[Anseriformes]] (waterfowl) and the [[Galliformes]] are the most ancient groups of modern birds, and these being distinct by the end of the Albian 100 [[million years ago]] (Ma), while just possible, is not at all well-supported. Loons belong to a more modern radiation. They were once believed to be related to [[grebes]], which are also foot-propelled diving birds, and both groups were once classified together under the order [[Colymbiformes]] or in even older classifications as the Urinatores.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shufeldt |first=R. W. |date=1898 |title=Observations on the Classification of Birds |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4062455 |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=50 |pages=489–499 |issn=0097-3157}}</ref> The family name Urinatoridae was used for the family Gaviidae.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shufeldt |first=R. W. |date=1914 |title=On the Oology of the North American Pygopodes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1362079 |journal=The Condor |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=169–180 |doi=10.2307/1362079 |issn=0010-5422}}</ref> This was derived from Latin ''Urinator'' meaning "diver".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oleson |first=John Peter |date=1976 |title=A Possible Physiological Basis for the Term urinator, "diver" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/294109 |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=22–29 |doi=10.2307/294109 |issn=0002-9475}}</ref> However, as recently as the 1930s, it was determined that the two groups (grebes and divers) are not that closely related at all and are merely the product of [[convergent evolution]] and adapted in a similar way to a similar [[ecological niche]]. The similarity is so strong that even the most modern [[cladistic]] analyses of general [[anatomical]] features are easily misled into grouping loons and grebes.<ref name=Stolpe/><ref name=Slack/><ref name=m2009>[[#Mayr2009|Mayr (2009)]]</ref>

The [[Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy]] still allied the loons with the grebes in its massively [[polyphyletic]] "Ciconiiformes", and it is almost certain that the relationships of loons lie with ''some'' of the orders placed therein. Namely, other recent authors have considered loons to share a rather close relationship with [[seabird]]s such as [[penguin]]s (Sphenisciformes), tubenoses ([[Procellariiformes]]), [[wader]]s (Charadriiformes) – and perhaps the newly discovered [[clade]] [[Mirandornithes]] which unites grebes (Podicipediformes) and their closest living relatives, the [[flamingos]] (Phoenicopteriformes). It is perhaps notable that some early penguins had skulls and beaks that were in many aspects similar to those of the known living and fossil Gaviiformes.<ref name=Slack/><ref>[[#Olson|Olson (1985: pp. 212–213)]], [[#Mayr2004|Mayr (2004, 2009)]]</ref>

===Fossil record===
[[File:Plongeon catmarin oisillon.jpg|thumb|right|[[Red-throated loon]] (''G. stellata''), the smallest living ''Gavia'' [[species]]. Some [[Miocene]] members of this [[genus]] were smaller still.]]
In prehistoric times, the loons had a more southerly distribution than today, and their fossils have been found in places such as [[California]], [[Florida]] and [[Italy]]. The conflicting molecular data regarding their relationships is not much resolved by the [[fossil]] record; though they seem to have originated at the end of the [[Late Cretaceous]] like their presumed relatives, modern loons are only known with certainty since the [[Eocene]]. By that time almost all modern bird orders are at least strongly suspected to have existed – if not known from unequivocally identified specimens – anyway.<ref name=m2009/>

The oldest known stem-gaviiform is ''[[Nasidytes]]'' from the [[Ypresian|Early Eocene]] aged [[London Clay]] of England, dating to around 55 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mayr |first1=Gerald |last2=Kitchener |first2=Andrew C |date=2022-07-14 |title=Oldest fossil loon documents a pronounced ecomorphological shift in the evolution of gaviiform birds |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac045/6643590 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=196 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=1431–1450 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac045 |issn=0024-4082}}</ref>

''[[Colymboides]]'' is widely known from early [[Priabonian]] – about 37 [[million years ago]] (Ma) in the [[Late Eocene]] – to [[Early Miocene]] (late [[Burdigalian]], less than 20 Ma) [[limnic]] and [[Ocean|marine]] rocks of western [[Eurasia]] north of the [[Alpide belt]], between the [[Atlantic]] and the former [[Turgai Sea]]. It is usually placed in the Gaviidae already, but usually<ref>Some (notably [[Robert W. Storer]]) have disagreed, usually because they separated ''[[Gaviella]]'' in the basalmost subfamily of the Gaviidae and considered ''Colymboides'' the ancestor of ''Gavia''. More recent authors generally disagree at least regarding the latter: [[#Storer|Storer (1956)]], [[#Olson|Olson (1985)]], [[#Mayr2009|Mayr (2009: pp. 75–76)]]</ref> in a [[subfamily]] [[Colymboidinae]], with the modern-type loons making up the '''Gaviinae'''. But the ''Colymboides'' material is generally quite distinct from modern loons, and may actually belong in a now-extinct family of primitive gaviiforms. Furthermore, the supposed genus could well be paraphyletic, so that for example ''Dyspetornis'' – which is now contained therein – might have to be separated again. A leg of an undescribed small diver was found in the [[Late Oligocene]] deposits at [[Enspel]] ([[Germany]]); it too may or may not belong to ''Colymboides''. Of the [[crown group|crown genus]] ''Gavia'', nearly ten prehistoric species have been named to date, and about as many undescribed ones await further study. The genus is known from the Early Miocene onwards, and the oldest members of them are rather small (some are smaller than the [[red-throated loon]]). Throughout the late [[Neogene]], the genus by and large follows [[Cope's Rule]].<ref name="Brodkorb1953">[[#Brodkorb1953|Brodkorb (1953), 1963: pp. 223–225]], [[#Olson|Olson (1985: pp. 212–213)]], [[#Mlikovsky|Mlíkovský (2002: pp. 63–64)]], [[#Mayr2009|Mayr (2009: pp. 75–76)]]</ref>

Some older fossils are sometimes assigned to the Gaviiformes. From the [[Late Cretaceous]], the genera ''[[Lonchodytes]]'' ([[Lance Formation]], Wyoming) and ''[[Neogaeornis]]'' ([[Quinriquina Formation]], [[Chile]]) have been described; both are usually allied with orders which are considered related to loons. In particular the latter is still sometimes explicitly proposed as a primitive loon as they both were initially, but other authors consider ''Neogaeornis'' a [[hesperornithiformes|hesperornithiform]]; note however that neither Gaviiformes nor Hesperornithiformes are known from the [[Southern Hemisphere]] or anywhere near it. ''Lonchodytes'' was more certainly quite close to loons, but probably closer still to some of the loons' relatives. ''[[Eupterornis]]'' from the [[Paleocene]] of [[Châlons-sur-Vesle]] ([[France]]) has some features reminiscent of loons, but others seem more similar to [[Charadriiformes]] such as gulls ([[Laridae]]). A piece of a [[carpometacarpus]] supposedly from [[Oligocene]] rocks near [[Lusk, Wyoming]] was described as ''[[Gaviella pusilla]]'', but this handbone also shows some similarities to the [[plotopterid]]s which were flightless [[wing-propelled diver]]s and if these are [[apomorph]]ic would make an unconvincing member of the Gaviidae (though it still could be a small-winged gaviiform in a yet-undescribed family "Gaviellidae"<ref>Not to be used without quotation marks, as it is not a valid [[taxon]].</ref>): while the carpometacarpus in ''Gavia'' is somewhat [[convergent evolution|convergent]] to that of wing-propelled divers, enabling the wings to be used as rudders for quick underwater turns, ''Colymboides'' still had an unspecialized [[plesiomorph]]ic hand. ''Parascaniornis'', sometimes allied to the loons by early authors, was eventually determined to be a [[junior synonym]] of the hesperornithiform ''[[Baptornis]]''. A supposed mid-[[Eocene]] diver fossil form [[Geiseltal]] ([[Germany]]) was erroneously assigned to ''Gavia''.<ref>[[#Brodkorb1963|Brodkorb (1963: pp. 220–223)]], [[#Olson|Olson (1985)]], [[#Mlikovsky|Mlíkovský (2002: pp. 64, 259–261)]], [[#Mayr2009|Mayr (2009: p. 20)]]</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of Gaviiformes by population]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=Slack>{{cite journal|author1=Slack, K.E. |author2=Jones, C.M. |author3=Ando, T. |author4=Harrison G.L. |author5=Fordyce R.E. |author6=Arnason, U. |author7=Penny, D. |date=June 2006|title= Early Penguin Fossils, plus Mitochondrial Genomes, Calibrate Avian Evolution|journal=[[Molecular Biology and Evolution|Mol. Biol. Evol.]]|volume=23|issue=6|pages= 1144–1155|doi=10.1093/molbev/msj124|pmid=16533822|doi-access=free}} [http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/msj124/DC1 Supplementary Material] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216110914/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/msj124/DC1 |date=2009-12-16 }}</ref>

<ref name=Stolpe>{{cite journal|author=Stolpe, M. |date=January 1935|title= ''Colymbus, Hesperornis, Podiceps'':, ein Vergleich ihrer hinteren Extremität|journal=[[Journal of Ornithology|J. Ornithol.]]|volume=83|issue=1|pages= 115–128|language=de|doi=10.1007/BF01908745|bibcode=1935JOrni..83..115S |s2cid=11147804 }}</ref>
}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal|ref =Brodkorb1953|author= Brodkorb, Pierce|author-link= Pierce Brodkorb|year=1953|title= A Review of the Pliocene Loons|journal=[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]|volume=55|issue=4|pages= 211–214|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v055n04/p0211-p0214.pdf|doi= 10.2307/1364769|jstor= 1364769 }}
*{{cite journal|ref =Brodkorb1963|author= Brodkorb, Pierce|author-link= Pierce Brodkorb|year=1963|title= Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes)|journal=Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences|volume=7|issue=4|pages= 179–293|url=http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=feol&idno=UF00001514&format=pdf}}
* {{cite journal|ref=Mayr2004|author=Mayr, Gerald|year=2004|title=A partial skeleton of a new fossil loon (Aves, Gaviiformes) from the early Oligocene of Germany with preserved stomach content|journal=[[Journal of Ornithology|J. Ornithol.]]|volume=145|pages=281–286|doi=10.1007/s10336-004-0050-9|url=http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/ornithologie/colymboides.pdf|issue=4|s2cid=1070943 |access-date=2011-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924100426/http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/ornithologie/colymboides.pdf|archive-date=2015-09-24|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book|ref=Mayr2009|author=Mayr, Gerald |year=2009|title=Paleogene Fossil Birds|publisher=Springer-Verlag|place= Heidelberg & New York|isbn=978-3-540-89627-2}}
*{{cite book|author=Mlíkovský, Jirí |year=2002|title= Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe|publisher=Ninox Press, Prague|url=http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf}}<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 -->
* {{cite book|ref=Olson|author=Olson, Storrs L.|author-link=Storrs Olson|year=1985|chapter-url=http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/6553/1/VZ_167_Fossil_Record_of_Birds.pdf|chapter=Section X.I. Gaviiformes|editor=Farner, D.S.|editor2=King, J.R.|editor3=Parkes, Kenneth C.|title=Avian Biology|volume=8|pages=212–214|access-date=2011-01-14|archive-date=2011-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718103948/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/6553/1/VZ_167_Fossil_Record_of_Birds.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal|ref=Storer|author=Storer, Robert W.|year=1956|title= The Fossil Loon, ''Colymboides minutus''|journal=[[Condor (journal)|Condor]]|volume=58|issue=6|pages= 413–426|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v058n06/p0413-p0426.pdf|doi=10.2307/1365096|jstor=1365096}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal|author1=Appleby, R.H. |author2=Madge, Steve C. |author3=Mullarney, Killian |year=1986|title= Identification of divers in immature and winter plumages|journal=[[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]]|volume=79|issue=8|pages= 365–391}}
* {{cite journal|author=Arnott, W.G. |year=1964|title= Notes on ''Gavia'' and ''Mergvs'' in Latin Authors|journal=Classical Quarterly |series=New Series |volume=14|issue=2|pages= 249–262|jstor=637729|doi=10.1017/S0009838800023806|s2cid=170648873 }}
* Heinrichs, Ann (2003): ''Minnesota''. Compass Point Books. {{ISBN|0-7565-0315-9}}
* {{cite journal|author=International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) |year=1957–58|title= The family-group names "Gaviidae" Coues, 1903 and "Urinatoridae" (correction of "Urinatores)" [sic] Vieillot, 1818 (Class Aves) – "Opinion" 401 and "Direction" 75|journal=Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature|volume=15A|pages= 147–148|url=https://archive.org/details/bulletinofzoolog15inte}}
* [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus, Carl]] (1758): 68.1. ''Colymbus arcticus. In: [[Systema naturae]] per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis'' (10th ed., vol. 1): 190 [Latin book]. Lars Salvius, Stockholm ("Holmius"). [http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100 Digitized version] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613040751/http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/no_cache/dms/load/toc/?IDDOC=265100 |date=2017-06-13 }}
* Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (2007): [https://web.archive.org/web/20100420070851/http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/reduce/sinkers.cfm Let's Get the Lead Out! Non-lead alternatives for fishing tackle]. Version of June, 2007. Retrieved 2007-July-23.
* Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Montana FW&P) (2007): [https://web.archive.org/web/20090206134020/http://fwp.mt.gov/fieldguide/detail_ABNBA01030.aspx Animal Field Guide: Common Loon]. Retrieved 2007-May-12.
* Moran, Mark; Sceurman, Mark; Godfrey, Linda S. & Hendricks, Richard D. (2005): ''Weird Wisconsin: Your Travel Guide to Wisconsin's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets''. Sterling Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7607-5944-8}}
* Piper, W.H.; Evers, D.C.; Meyer, M.W.; Tischler, K.B. & Klich, M. (2000a): Do common loons mate for life?: scientific investigation of a widespread myth. ''In'': McIntyre, J. & Evers, D.C. (eds.): ''Loons: old history and new findings – proceedings of a symposium from the 1997 meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union'': 43–49. North American Loon Fund, Meredith, New Hampshire.
*{{cite journal|author1=Piper, W.H. |author2=Tischler, K. B. |author3=Klich, M. |year=2000b|title= Territory acquisition in loons: the importance of take-over|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=59|issue=2|pages= 385–394|doi=10.1006/anbe.1999.1295|pmid= 10675261|s2cid=23085958 }}
* {{cite journal|author1=Piper, W.H. |author2=Walcott, C. |author3=Mager, J.N. |author4=Perala, M. |author5=Tischler, K. B. |author6=Harrington, Erin |author7=Turcotte, A. J. |author8=Schwabenlander M. |author9=Banfield, N. |title= Prospecting in a Solitary Breeder: Chick Production Elicits Territorial Intrusions in Common Loons|journal=Behavioral Ecology|volume=17|issue=6|pages= 881–888|doi=10.1093/beheco/arl021|year=2006|doi-access=free }} 
*{{cite journal|author1=Piper, W.H. |author2=Walcott, C. |author3=Mager, J.N. |author4=Spilker, F. |year=2008a|title= Nestsite selection by male loons leads to sex-biased site familiarity|journal=Journal of Animal Ecology|volume=77|issue=2|pages= 205–210|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2656.2007.01334.x|pmid= 17976165|doi-access=free|bibcode=2008JAnEc..77..205P }}
* {{cite journal|author1=Piper, W.H. |author2=Walcott, C. |author3=Mager, J.N. |author4=Spilker, F. |year=2008b|title= Fatal Battles in Common Loons: A Preliminary Analysis|journal=Animal Behaviour|volume=75|issue=3|pages= 1109–1115|doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2007.10.025|s2cid=53178013 }}
* {{cite journal|author=Rasmussen, Pamela C.|year=1998|title=Early Miocene Avifauna from the Pollack Farm Site, Delaware|journal=Delaware Geological Survey Special Publication|volume=21|pages=149–151}}
* Stewart, Barry D. (2004): ''Across The Land: A Canadian Journey Of Discovery''. Trafford Publishing. {{ISBN|1-4120-2276-2}}
*{{cite journal|author=Wetmore, Alexander|year=1941|title= An Unknown Loon from the Miocene Fossil Beds of Maryland|journal=[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]|volume=58|issue=4|pages= 567|url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v058n04/p0567-p0567.pdf|doi=10.2307/4078641|jstor=4078641}}
* [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] (USFWS) (2005): [http://www.fws.gov/midwest/seney/documents/Loonupdatejun05.pdf Common Loons at Seney NWR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410040925/http://www.fws.gov/midwest/seney/documents/Loonupdatejun05.pdf |date=2008-04-10 }}, June 2005. 
* {{cite journal|author=Wings, Oliver |year=2007 |title=A review of gastrolith function with implications for fossil vertebrates and a revised classification |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=52 |pages=1–16 |url=http://www.app.pan.pl/acta52/app52-001.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307225733/http://www.app.pan.pl/acta52/app52-001.pdf |archive-date=2008-03-07 }}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Gaviiformes|''Gaviiformes''}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline|Gaviiformes|''Gaviiformes''}}

{{Loons}}
{{portalbar|Birds|Animals|Biology}}

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[[Category:Gaviiformes| ]]
[[Category:Bird orders]]
[[Category:Extant Maastrichtian first appearances]]
[[Category:Late Cretaceous taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Paleocene taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Eocene taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Oligocene taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Miocene taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Pliocene taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Pleistocene taxonomic orders]]
[[Category:Holocene taxonomic orders]]