Late Quaternary prehistoric birds.html
 
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For a list of early taxa of birds known only from fossils, see List of fossil birds.
For birds that have gone extinct since the year 1500 A.D./C.E., see List of extinct birds.

Prehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists. They are known from subfossil remains and sometimes folk memory, as in the case of Haast's Eagle from New Zealand.

Artist's rendition of a giant Haast's eagle attacking New Zealand moa.
Artist's rendition of a giant Haast's eagle attacking New Zealand moa.

Birds (Aves) are generally believed to have evolved from feathered dinosaurs, and there is no real dividing line between birds and dinosaurs except of course that the former survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event and the latter did not. For the purposes of this article, a "bird" is considered to be any member of the clade Neornithes, that is the bird lineage as exists today. The other lineages of the Aves also became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

Taxon extinctions taking place before the Late Quaternary happened in the absence of significant human interference. Rather, reasons for extinction are stochastic abiotic events such as bolide impacts, climate changes, mass volcanic eruptions etc. Alternatively, species may have gone extinct due to evolutionary displacement by successor or competitor taxa - it is notable for example that in the early Neogene, seabird biodiversity was much higher than today; this is probably due to competition by the radiation of marine mammals after that time. The relationships of these ancient birds are often hard to determine, as many are known only from very fragmentary remains and due to the complete fossilization precludes analysis of information from DNA, RNA or protein sequencing.

For further discussion, see main article Fossil birds

Contents

Late Quaternary avian extinctions

This page lists bird taxa that have been become extinct before they could be researched by science, but nonetheless survived into (geologically) recent times. Their remains are not or not completely fossilized and therefore may yield organic material for molecular analyses to provide additional clues for resolving their taxonomic affiliations. As these species' extinction coincided with the expansion of Homo sapiens across the globe, in most (but not necessary all) cases, anthropogenic factors have played a crucial part in their extinction, be it through hunting, introduced predators or habitat alteration. It is notable that a large proportion of the species are from oceanic islands, especially in Polynesia. Bird taxa that evolved on oceanic islands are usually very vulnerable to hunting or predation by rats, cats, dogs or pigs - animals commonly introduced by humans -, as there evolved in the absence of mammalian predators and therefore only have rudimentary predator avoidance behavior. Many, especially rails, have additionally become flightless for the same reason and thus presented even easier prey.

The taxa in this list became extinct during the Late Quaternary - the Holocene or Late Pleistocene -, but before the period of global scientific exploration that started in the late 15th century. More precisely, their extinction was coincident with the expansion of Homo sapiens beyond Africa and Eurasia, i.e. this list basically deals with extinctions between 40000 BC and 1500 AD. They should be classified with the Wikipedia conservation status category "Prehistoric" in their individual accounts.

Taxonomic list of Late Quaternary prehistoric birds

All of these are Neornithes.

Struthioniformes

The Ostrich and related ratites.

Up to 4 more undescribed species are known, but taxonomy is not fully resolved. A. maximus and/or A. medius probably survived until historic times.

Anseriformes

The group that includes modern ducks and geese.

Galliformes

The group that includes modern chickens and quails.

Charadriiformes

Gulls, auks, shorebirds

Gruiformes

The group that includes modern rails and cranes.

Ciconiiformes

The diverse group that includes storks, herons and New World vultures.

Pelecaniformes

The group that includes modern pelicans and cormorants.

  • Sulidae - Gannets and boobies
    • Extinct subspecies of extant species

Procellariiformes

The group that includes modern albatrosses, petrels and storm-petrels.

  • Procellariidae - Petrels
    • Extinct species of extant genera
    • Placement unresolved
      • Procellariidae sp. (Easter Island, East Pacific) - possibly extirpated population of extant species

Sphenisciformes

Columbiformes

Psittaciformes

Cuculiformes

Falconiformes

Birds of prey

Caprimulgiformes

Nightjars and potoos

  • Caprimulgidae - Nightjars
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Cuban Poorwill, Siphonorhis daiquiri (Cuba, West Indies) - possibly extant

Aegotheliformes

Owlet-nightjars

Apodiformes

Swifts and hummingbirds.

  • Apodidae - Swifts
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Mangaia Swiftlet, Aerodramus manuoi (Mangaia, Cook Islands) - formerly Collocalia

Coraciiformes

Kingfishers and related birds.

Strigiformes

Owls and barn owls.

Passeriformes

  • Placement unresolved
    • Slender-billed Kauaʻi Passerine, Passeriformes gen. et sp. indet. (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)
    • Tiny Kauaʻi Passerine, Passeriformes gen. et sp. indet. (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)
  • Acanthisittidae - New Zealand "Wrens"
    • †Pachyplichas
      • Yaldwyn's Wren, Pachyplichas yaldwyni (North Island, New Zealand)
      • Grant-Mackie's Wren, Pachyplichas jagmi (South Island, New Zealand) - may be subspecies of P. yaldwyni
    • †Dendroscansor
      • Long-billed Wren, Dendroscansor decurvirostris (South Island, New Zealand)
      • Extinct subspecies of extant species
        • North Island Piwauwau, Xenicus gilviventris ssp. nov. (North Island, New Zealand) - Rock Wren subspecies
  • Meliphagidae - Honeyeaters
    • Prehistorically extinct species of Recently extinct genera
      • Oʻahu Kioea, Chaetoptila cf. angustipluma (Oʻahu and Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Narrow-billed Kioea, ?Chaetoptila sp. (Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
  • Turdidae - Thrushes
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Maui Olomaʻo, Myadestes cf. lanaiensis (Maui, Hawaiian Islands) - may have survived until the 19th century
  • Drepanididae - Hawaiian Honeycreepers
    • †Orthiospiza
    • †Xestospiza
    • †Vangulifer
    • †Aidemedia
    • Prehistorically extinct species of extant and Recently extinct genera
      • Kauaʻi Finch, Telespiza persecutrix (Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Maui Nui Finch, Telespiza ypsilon (Maui and Molokaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Maui Finch, Telespiza cf. ypsilon (Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Pila's Palila, Loxioides kikuichi (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands) - possibly survived until early 18th century
      • Scissor-billed Koa-finch, Rhodacanthis forfex (Kauaʻi and Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Primitive Koa-finch, Rhodacanthis litotes (Oʻahu and Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • O'ahu Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops wahi (Oʻahu and Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Giant ("King Kong") Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops regiskongi (Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Kauaʻi Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops sp. (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands) - may be same as Chloridops wahi
      • Maui Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops sp. (Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Giant ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus vorpalis (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Giant ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus sp. (Big Island, Hawaiian Islands) - sometimes in genus Akialoa
      • Hoopoe-billed ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus upupirostris (Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands) - sometimes in genus Akialoa
      • Stout-legged Finch, Ciridops tenax (Kauaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Molokaʻi Ula-ai-Hawane, Ciridops cf. anna (Molokaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Oʻahu Ula-ai-Hawane, Ciridops sp. (Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands)
    • Placement unresolved
      • Drepanididae gen. et sp. indet. (Maui, Hawaiian Islands) - at least 3 species
      • Drepanididae gen. et sp. indet. (Oʻahu, Hawaiian Islands)
  • Estrildidae - Waxbills
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Rota Parrotfinch, Erythrura sp. (Rota, Marianas)

References

  • Steadman, David William (2006): Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-77142-3
  • Balouet, Jean Christophe ; Olson, Storrs L. (1989) Fossil birds from late Quaternary deposits in New Caledonia. Washington, D.C. Smithsonian contributions to zoology ; Nr. 469. Smithsonian Institution Press
  • Goodman, S.M. and Patterson, B.D. (1997) Natural Change and Human Impact in Madagascar. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London. 432 S. ISBN 978-1560986836
  • del Hoyo, J. , Andrew Elliott, David Christie (2007) Handbook of the Birds of the World Volume 12 Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees, Lynx Edicions, 2007. ISBN 84-96553-42-6

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ausgerottete Arten
  2. ^ Wetmore, A. (1937). "Ancient records of birds from the island of St. Croix with observations on extinct and living of Puerto Rico". J. Agric. Univ. Puerto Rico 21: 5–16. 

External links

See also
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