Apparent absence ofCryptosporidium, GiardiaandToxoplasma gondiiin three species of penguins along the Antarctic Peninsula

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria José Palacios ◽  
Andrés Barbosa ◽  
Susana Pedraza-Díaz ◽  
Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora ◽  
Francisco Valera ◽  
...  

AbstractWe carried out a study to investigate the presence of some protozoan parasites (Cryptosporidiumsp.,Giardiasp.,Toxoplasma gondii) on three species of Antarctic penguins: Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) and chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) from different locations along the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. Swabs and faeces samples were analysed by PCR assay forCryptosporidiumsp. andGiardiasp. whileToxoplasmawas studied using serological methods from blood samples. We did not detect the presence of these organisms in the species studied. However, based on the upper values of the confidence intervals of the observed prevalence, their presence cannot be completely excluded.

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 190-196
Author(s):  
Steven D Emslie ◽  
Matías Romero ◽  
Mariana A Juáres ◽  
Martin R Argota

We report additional fossil evidence for pygoscelid penguins breeding on King George (25 de Mayo) Island, South Shetland Islands, in the Holocene beginning at ~7000 cal. yr BP. This evidence comes from a raised marine beach deposit formerly studied and described as Pingfo I at Stranger Point, Potter Peninsula. We relocated and exposed deposits at this site and recovered additional samples of penguin bones from five stratigraphic beds that are redescribed here. Most of these bones are from juvenile penguins and exhibit little or no wear indicating minimal transport to the beach deposits. Some of the bones are developed enough to be identifiable to Adélie ( Pygoscelis adeliae), Gentoo ( Pygoscelis papua), and Chinstrap ( Pygoscelis antarctica) penguins, indicating that all three species were breeding at Stranger Point from ~7320 to 4865 cal. yr BP. This breeding occupation corresponds with the first warming and deglaciation that occurred in the northern Antarctic Peninsula by this time and ends with the onset of reglaciation of the Peninsula. At least 31 abandoned penguin mounds and ornithogenic soils also were located and sampled at Stranger Point and indicate that the current occupation of this area by all three pygoscelid penguins dates no older than ~535 cal. yr BP. The absence of ornithogenic soils from earlier Holocene breeding was probably due to glacial activity and soil solifluction during periods of warming in the mid to late Holocene.


1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon R. A. Kelly

New discoveries of trigonioid bivalves are documented from three areas in the Antartic Peninsula: the Fossil Bluff Group of Alexander Island, the Latady Formation of the Orville Coast, and the Byers Group of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands. Eleven taxa are described, representing six genera or subgenera. The faunas are characterized by genera including Vaugonia (Vaugonia), the first Early Jurassic trigonioid recognized on the continent; Vaugonia (V.) and V. (Orthotrigonia?) in the Late Jurassic; and Iotrigonia (Iotrigonia), Myophorella (Scaphogonia), and Pterotrigonia (Pterotrigonia), which span the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary, reaching the Berriasian stage. The following species are new: Pterotrigonia (P.) cramei n. sp., Pterotrigonia (P.) thomsoni n. sp., Vaugonia (V.) orvillensis n. sp., and V. (Orthotrigonia?) quiltyi n. sp. The faunas show affinities with those of New Zealand and southern Africa. Trigonioids characterize the shallower marine biofacies in the Jurassic of the Antarctic and reflect the principal shallowing events in the history of the region.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRENDA L. HALL ◽  
ETHAN R. PERRY

Raised beach ridges on Livingston Island of the South Shetland Islands display variations in both quantity and source of ice rafted detritus (IRD) received over time. Whereas the modern beach exhibits little IRD, all of which is of local origin, the next highest beach (∼250 14C yr BP) has large amounts, some of which comes from as far away as the Antarctic Peninsula. Significant quantities of IRD also were deposited ∼1750 14C yr BP. Both time periods coincide with generally cooler regional conditions and, at least in the case of the ∼250 yr old beach, local glacial advance. We suggest that the increases in ice rafting may reflect periods of greater glacial activity, altered ocean circulation, and/or greater iceberg preservation during the late Holocene. Limited IRD and lack of far-travelled erratics on the modern beach are both consistent with the ongoing warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula region.


1989 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.M. Rees ◽  
J.L. Smellie

A terrestrial sequence on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, known as the Williams Point Beds contains a well-preserved, diverse fossil flora previously assigned a Triassic age. Because of their supposed age, volcanic provenance and evidence for active volcanism, the Williams Point Beds have occupied a unique position in Gondwana (pre-Jurassic) stratigraphy in the Antarctic Peninsula region. However, a large new collection of plant specimens obtained at Williams Point has yielded several species of angiosperm leaves, which are abundant and occur at all levels within the Williams Point Beds sequence. Thus, a Triassic age is no longer tenable. On the basis of the plants present and published radiometric ages for associated strata, the Williams Point Beds fossil flora is reassigned to the Cretaceous, and there is some evidence for a more restricted Albian–Cenomanian age. This revision of the age of the Williams Point Beds removes all direct evidence for an active Triassic volcanic arc in the Antarctic Peninsula region.


Polar Record ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 644-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rip Bulkeley

ABSTRACTThe celebrated meeting between Captain Bellingshausen of the Imperial Russian Navy and the American sealing skipper Nathaniel Brown Palmer, off the South Shetland Islands in February 1821, has often been described by following just one or other of the two men's divergent and in some respects irreconcilable accounts. The most contentious issue is whether or not Palmer told Bellingshausen about the existence of a body of land to the south of the South Shetlands, known today as the Antarctic Peninsula. This note attempts to reach a balanced assessment of the matter by examining evidence from both sides, including several previously unconsidered items. It concludes that, although the truth will never be known with absolute certainty, the basic American account is more plausible, by the narrowest of narrow margins, than the Russian.


Polar Biology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 649-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelin Troncoso ◽  
Salvador Barahona ◽  
Mario Carrasco ◽  
Pablo Villarreal ◽  
Jennifer Alcaíno ◽  
...  

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