List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species

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Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are avian taxa that became extinct during the Late Quaternary – the Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene – and before recorded history, specifically before they could be studied alive by ornithological science. They had died out before the period of global scientific exploration that started in the late 15th century. In other words, this list deals with avian extinctions between 40,000 BC and AD 1500. For the purposes of this article, a "bird" is any member of the clade Neornithes, that is, any descendant of the most recent common ancestor of all currently living birds.

Artist's rendition of a Haast's eagle attacking two South Island giant moa

The birds are known from their remains, which are subfossil; as the remains are not completely fossilized, they may yield organic material for molecular analyses to provide additional clues for resolving their taxonomic affiliations. Some birds are also known from folk memory, as in the case of Haast's eagle in New Zealand.

The extinction of the taxa in this list was coincident with the expansion of Homo sapiens beyond Africa and Eurasia, and in most cases, anthropogenic factors 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, dogs, cats or pigs (animals commonly introduced by humans) as they evolved in the absence of mammalian predators, and therefore have only rudimentary predator avoidance behavior. Many, especially rails, have additionally become flightless for the same reason and thus present even easier prey.

Taxon extinctions taking place before the Late Quaternary happened in the absence of significant human interference. Rather, reasons for extinction are random abiotic events such as bolide impacts, climate changes, mass volcanic eruptions, etc. Alternatively, species may have become 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 complete fossilization precludes analysis of information from DNA, RNA or protein sequencing.

Extinct bird species differed from extant birds by being larger, mostly restricted to islands, and often flightless. These factors made them especially vulnerable to human prosecution and to other anthropogenically related declines.[1]

Taxonomic list of Late Quaternary prehistoric birds

All of these birds are in Neornithes.

Paleognathes

Struthioniformes

The ostriches

†Aepyornithiformes

The elephant birds of Madagascar

  • Aepyornithidae - greater elephant birds
    • Aepyornis
      • Giant elephant bird, Aepyornis maximus - A 2018 study moved the largest elephant bird specimens to the genus Vorombe,[4] but a 2023 genetic study regarded Vorombe as synonymous with Aepyornis maximus.[5]
      • Hildebrandt's elephant bird, Aepyornis hildebrandti
  • Mullerornithidae - lesser elephant birds
    • Mullerornis
      • Lesser elephant bird, Mullerornis modestus

†Dinornithiformes

The moa of New Zealand

†Gastornithiformes

An extinct order of giant flightless fowl.

Anseriformes

The group that includes modern ducks and geese.

Pangalliformes

The group that includes modern chickens and quails.

True Galliformes

Charadriiformes

Gulls, auks and shorebirds

Charadrii

Scolopaci

Lari

Gruiformes

The group that includes modern rails and cranes.

Eurypygiformes

Procellariiformes

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

Sphenisciformes

Ciconiiformes

Suliformes

The group that includes modern boobies, gannets and cormorants.

Pelecaniformes

  • Ardeidae – herons
    • Extinct species of extant genera
    • Placement unresolved
      • Ardeidae gen. et sp. indet. (Easter Island, E Pacific)
  • Threskiornithidae – ibises
    • Apteribis
      • Maui highland ibis, Apteribis brevis (Maui, Hawaiian Islands)[13]: 23–28 
      • Molokaʻi ibis, Apteribis glenos (Molokaʻi, Hawaiian Islands)[13]: 22–23 
      • Maui lowland ibis, Apteribis sp. (Maui, Hawaiian Islands)
      • Lanai ibis, Apteribis sp. (Lanai, Hawaiian Islands)
    • Xenicibis

Cathartiformes

Phoenicopteriformes

The group that includes modern flamingos.

Mesitornithiformes

  • Mesitornithidaemesites
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Monias sp. (Madagascar)

Columbiformes

Cuculiformes

Accipitriformes

Birds of prey

Caprimulgiformes

Nightjars and potoos

Aegotheliformes

Owlet-nightjars

Apodiformes

Swifts and hummingbirds.

  • Apodidae – swifts
    • Extinct species of extant genera

Bucerotiformes

Hornbills and relatives. Formerly included in Coraciiformes.

  • Bucerotidae – hornbills
    • Extinct species of extant genera

Piciformes

Woodpeckers, puffbird and jacamars.

  • Picidae – woodpeckers
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Bermuda flicker, Colaptes oceanicus (Bermuda, West Atlantic) – known from Late Pleistocene and Holocene bones, but may have persisted until the 17th century[24]

Coraciiformes

Strigiformes

Typical owls and barn owls.

Falconiformes

Psittaciformes

  • Placement unresolved
    • Psittaciformes gen. et sp. indet. (Rota, Marianas) – cf. Cacatua / Eclectus?
  • Strigopidae – kakas and kakapos
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Chatham kākā, Nestor chathamensis (Chatham Islands, Southwest Pacific)
  • Cacatuidae – cockatoos
  • Psittacidae – parrots, parakeets, and lorikeets
    • Extinct species of extant genera
    • Extinct subspecies of an extant species
    • Placement unresolved
      • Psittacidae gen. et sp. indet. 1 (Easter Island)
      • Psittacidae gen. et sp. indet. 2 (Easter Island)
      • Psittacidae gen. et sp. indet. (Guam, Marianas) – cf. Trichoglossus / Vini?

Passeriformes

See also

References

Citations

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General

External links