Prodromus of the fossil avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands

Author:

James, Helen F., Olson, Storrs L.

Title:

Prodromus of the fossil avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands

Year:

1982

Subject:

Birds fossil Extinct birds

Summary:

Thousands of fossil deposits of extinct and living species of birds have been found on five of the main Hawaiian Islands -- Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and Hawaii. The major fossil localities are on the islands of Kauai, Oahu, and Molokai, from each of which there are diverse collections of small passerines, as well as many specimens of nonpasserine land birds, shorebirds, and seabirds. Fossils of a few additional extinct species have been found incidentally on Maui and Hawaii. In an effort to provide background information for our future systematic publications on the fossil and modern avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands, this report discussed the fossil deposits and the physical and biological features of the islands. An informal listing of the species found as fossils gives a preliminary analysis of extinction and biogeography. There are 40 extinct species known only from bones, including 1 petrel (Procellariidae), 2 ibises (Plataleidae), 7 geese (Anaddae), 1 small hawk and 1 eagle (Accipitridae), 7 rails (Rallidae), 3 species of new genus of owl (Strigidae), 2 large crows (Corvidae), 1 honeyeater (Meliphagidae), and at least 15 species of Hawaiian finches (Fringillidae, Drepaidini). The bones of the extinct birds have been found in areas as diverse as sanddunes, sinkholes, and a flooded cavern in a raised coral reef, lava tubes, loess deposits, an ash deposit under a lava flow, and in archeological sites. Evidence shows that the species of the now extinct birds survived into the period of Polynesian colonization and it is believed that the extinction of half or more of the land birds of the Hawaiian Islands is due to the destruction of the lowland forest and the predation by man, through the hunting of these birds, and through the introduction of mammals such as rats, pigs, and dogs.

URL:

https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/5224

Collection:

Monographs