Prehistoric extinction of birds on Mangaia, Cook Islands, Polynesia.

Steadman, David W.; Kirch, Patrick V.

doi:10.1073/pnas.87.24.9605

Cited by 64 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…One striking example is the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna of the Americas contemporaneous with the arrival of humans (Martin 1984)-a massive change, and one that is mirrored in the multiple extinctions that occurred when humans later reached isolated oceanic islands (Olson and James 1984, Steadman and Kirch 1990, Wilson 1992). More recent examples include the effects of hunting pressure on forest fragments in the tropics (Dirzo and Miranda 1991 ), and the harvesting pressures in freshwater and marine systems that drive substantial top-down alterations in ecosystem structure and function , Paine 1993.…”

Section: To Date the Most Severe Stresses On Freshwater Systems Havementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change

Vitousek¹

1994

Ecology

1,534

840

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Section: To Date the Most Severe Stresses On Freshwater Systems Havementioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change

Vitousek¹

1994

Ecology

1,534

840

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“…With the advent in recent decades of rigorous zooarchaeological excavations in Pacific archipelagos, and the resulting systematic studies of osteological remains, it is now well established that both insular extirpations and global extinctions of vertebrate species have been widespread and severe throughout the region since the first arrivals of human settlers to many island groups in recent millennia (e.g., Steadman, 1993Steadman, , 1995Steadman, , 1997Steadman, , 2006aSteadman, , 2006bSteadman and Kirch, 1990;Pregill, 1993;Pregill and Dye, 1989;Balouet and Buffetout, 1987;Mead et al, 2002;Molnar et al, 2002;Helgen, 2004b). Documented prehistoric vertebrate extinctions in the Pacific primarily concern birds, lizards, and land crocodiles; relatively few examples concerning mammals are known (Flannery, 1995).…”

Section: Ecology and Extinctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pacific Flying Foxes (Mammalia: Chiroptera): Two New Species of Pteropus from Samoa, Probably Extinct

Helgen¹,

Helgen²,

Wilson³

2009

American Museum Novitates

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Two new species of flying foxes (genus Pteropus) from the Samoan archipelago are described on the basis of modern museum specimens collected in the mid-19th century. A medium-sized species (P. allenorum, n. sp.) is introduced from the island of Upolu (Independent Samoa), based on a specimen collected in 1856 and deposited in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. It has not been collected again, and we regard it as almost certainly extinct. This species is smaller bodied and has much smaller teeth than both extant congeners recorded in the contemporary fauna of Samoa (Pteropus samoensis and P. tonganus). The closest relative of this new species may be Pteropus fundatus of northern Vanuatu. The disjunct historical distribution of these two smalltoothed flying foxes (in Vanuatu and Samoa) suggests that similar species may have been more extensively distributed in the remote Pacific in the recent past. Another species, a very large flying fox with large teeth (P. coxi, n. sp.), is described from two skulls collected in Samoa in 1839-1841 during the U.S. Exploring Expedition; it too has not been collected since. This robust species resembles Pteropus samoensis and Pteropus anetianus of Vanuatu in craniodental conformation but is larger than other Polynesian Pteropus, and in some features it is ecomorphologically convergent on the Pacific monkey-faced bats (the pteropodid genera Pteralopex and Mirimiri). On the basis of eyewitness reports from the early 1980s, it is possible that this species survived until recent decades, or is still extant. These two new Samoan species join Pteropus tokudae of Guam, P. pilosus of Palau, P. subniger of the Mascarenes, and P. brunneus of coastal north-eastern Australia as flying

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“…In the Mediterranean, only two species of mammals-both shrews-remain of the mammals that were present just prior to the human arrival [9,87]. On Mangaia, in the Cook Islands, 13 of 17 species of landbirds known archaeologically did not survive to be described in writing [47][48][49]81,83]. In the West Indies, multiple species of hutias, rodents that had long been present in the region, became extinct after people arrived [71,92].…”

Section: Island Extinctionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A requiem for North American overkill

Grayson

Meltzer

2003

Journal of Archaeological Science

277

154

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The argument that human hunters were responsible for the extinction of a wide variety of large Pleistocene mammals emerged in western Europe during the 1860s, alongside the recognition that people had coexisted with those mammals. Today, the overkill position is rejected for western Europe but lives on in Australia and North America. The survival of this hypothesis is due almost entirely to Paul Martin, the architect of the first detailed version of it. In North America, archaeologists and paleontologists whose work focuses on the late Pleistocene routinely reject Martin's position for two prime reasons: there is virtually no evidence that supports it, and there is a remarkably broad set of evidence that strongly suggests that it is wrong. In response, Martin asserts that the overkill model predicts a lack of supporting evidence, thus turning the absence of empirical support into support for his beliefs. We suggest that this feature of the overkill position removes the hypothesis from the realm of science and places it squarely in the realm of faith. One may or may not believe in the overkill position, but one should not confuse it with a scientific hypothesis about the nature of the North American past.

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Prehistoric extinction of birds on Mangaia, Cook Islands, Polynesia.

Abstract: Mangaia (Cook Islands) consists of a weathered volcanic interior encircled by limestones known as the makatea. Excavations at Tangatatau Rockshelter (site MAN-44), located on the inner cliff of the makatea, produced a

Cited by 64 publications

References 8 publications

Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change

Beyond Global Warming: Ecology and Global Change

Pacific Flying Foxes (Mammalia: Chiroptera): Two New Species of Pteropus from Samoa, Probably Extinct

A requiem for North American overkill

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