Stercorarius fossil map
Where fossils of Stercorarius have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Prehistoric birds |
|---|---|
| Lived | 5.333 million years ago to the present (Zanclean to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Stercorariidae |
| Named by | Brisson 1760 |
| Fossil records | 25 occurrences at 18 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Antarctica, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, United Kingdom, Australia, Venezuela |
| Rock formations | txn:39602, Yorktown, Tamiami, Palos Verdes Sand |
About Stercorarius
The skuas are a group of predatory and kleptoparasitic seabirds with seven species forming the genus Stercorarius, the only genus in the family Stercorariidae. The three smaller skuas, the Arctic skua, the long-tailed skua, and the pomarine skua, are called jaegers in North American English.
The English word "skua" comes from the Faroese name for the great skua, skúgvur [ˈskɪkvʊɹ], with the island of Skúvoy renowned for its colony of that bird. The general Faroese term for skuas is kjógvi [ˈtʃɛkvɪ]. The word "jaeger" or Jäger is German for "hunter". The genus name Stercorarius is Latin and means "of dung"; the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once thought to be excrement.
Skuas nest on the ground in temperate, Antarctic, and Arctic regions, and are long-distance migrants. They have even been sighted at the South Pole.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Skua (revision 1366732202), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q205323.
