Sula

A booby is a seabird in the genus Sula, part of the family Sulidae. Boobies are closely related to the gannets (Morus), which were formerly included in Sula.

Sula

Pete · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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
Sits inside
SulidaePBDB
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 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 13.82 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 138 occurrencesMiocene — about 30 of 138 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 5 of 138 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 3 of 138 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 3 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–785 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 101 occurrences13.82 Mya11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

138 occurrences of Sula 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

138 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

14 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 — 14.34°S, 75.91°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.17°WSan Diego — 32.64°N, 117.05°WRosarito Beach — 32.12°N, 116.80°WPeace River — 27.74°N, 81.93°WTemblor — 35.47°N, 118.91°WSanta Margarita — 37.01°N, 122.01°WBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WModelo — 34.15°N, 118.47°WVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°ELomita Marl — 33.78°N, 118.34°WMonterey — 34.61°N, 120.44°WNagura — 36.03°N, 139.10°E"Topanga" — 33.66°N, 117.63°WCaracoles — 15.07°S, 75.01°W

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The named rock units Sula has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 102 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

676 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 102 sites for Sula, 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

42 references

Each of the 138 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. 30 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 Sula

Credit
Pete
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Sula sula · FMNH:Birds:339374

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 itSulidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brisson 1760