Fossil Birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Evidence for Wholesale Extinction by Man Before Western Contact

“The Hawaiian Islands supported at least 30 species of waterbirds historically (Olson and James 1982), but only six species remain, all of which are listed as endangered species (USFWS 2011).”

“Hawaiian Petrels and Newell’s Shearwaters were formerly abundant on all Hawaiian islands (Olson & James 1982).”

“…tubes that can be important archives of extinct fauna; the native rodent fauna of the Galapagos is known exclusively from such sites (Steadman & Ray 1982), and the extensive lava tubes of the Hawaiian islands continue to add to our knowledge of extinct birds (Olson & James 1982, 1991; Slikas 2003).”

“…been caused by accelerated human-induced activities in China during the Holocene, such as extensive deforestation and cultivation of the lowlands (Olson and James 1982; Ma et al. 2020), which was accelerated following further land exploitation and indiscriminate deforestation, particularly after…”

“The Hawaiian Islands are a biodiversity hotspot, but anthropogenic actions have endangered numerous species (Olson and Ames 1982).”

“…dating of numerous bird bone samples indicates that birds endemic to the high-elevation Haleakal¯a forests declined rapidly in the early 16th century and possibly became extinct before European contact in 1778 [83,86–88] (Figure 12). became extinct before European contact in 1778 [83,86–88] (”

“For instance, recent research by Le Roux et al. (2014), using phylogenetic dating analysis, suggested that natural long-distance dispersal is more likely rather than human-assisted dispersal since human colonization of the Hawaiian Islands occurred only in 400-600 A.D. (Olson and James, 1982).”

“Since the discovery of Hawaiian Archipelago by the Captain Cook in 1774, more than a half of over 100 endemic bird taxa in Hawaii have been driven to extinction by a combination of habitat loss, introduced species and diseases [19, 44].”

“The present bird–lobelioid network does not reflect the historical configuration under which these species evolved (Perkins 1903; Olson and James 1982; Wagner et al. 1999; Pratt et al. 2009).”

“The native people of Hawai ‘ i Island, des-cendants of Polynesian ancestors who arrived c. 1000 C.E., coexisted with M. angustipluma and other endemic species for centuries (but see Olson and James 1982 for evidence of “ wholesale extinction ” before European contact).”

“…for Myadestes are lacking from Maui, the species that lived there is unknown (S. B. Wilson Hale-a-ka-l � a declined swiftly in the early 1500s, and likely became extinct before European contact in 1778, or even as late as the mid-nineteenth century (Olson and James 1982, 1991; Slikas 2003).”

“Volcanic tubes are highly relevant for the preservation of paleontological information on volcanic and oceanic islands such as the Canary Islands [2–6].”

“The first was initiated after Polynesian people settled there around the 10– 12 th century ( James et al. 1987 ; Kirch 1911 ; Olson and James 1982 ; 1984 ; Steadman 1995 ), and the second began with European colonization beginning in the late 18 th century ( Boyer 2008 ; Sayol, Steinbauer et al.…”

“Since there 323 is little to no information published about the Mo’orean kingfisher, the Tuamotu kingfisher can 324 be used to learn more about changes in abundance of Kingfishers around South Pacific islands 325 throughout history.”

“…species, probably as a defense against Hawai‘i’s principal vertebrate herbivores a diverse group of now-extinct flightless geese and gooselike ducks (Olson and James 1982, Givnish et al. 1994, Duncan et al. 2013), other plants that evolved on these islands had no specific physical or chemical…”