List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For a list of birds known only from fossils, see List of fossil bird genera. For birds that have become extinct since the year 1500, see List of extinct bird species since 1500.

Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are

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

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

geese
.

Pangalliformes

The group that includes modern chickens and quails.

True Galliformes

Charadriiformes

shorebirds

Charadrii

  • Charadriidae – lapwings and plovers
    • Vanellinae
       – Lapwings
      • Extinct species of extant genera

Scolopaci

Lari

Gruiformes

The group that includes modern

rails and cranes
.

Eurypygiformes

  • Rhynochetidae
     – kagus
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Lowland kagu, Rhynochetos orarius (New Caledonia, Melanesia)

Procellariiformes

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

Sphenisciformes

  • Spheniscidae
     – Penguins
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Eudyptes
         – Crested Penguins
        • Chatham penguin, Eudyptes warhami (Chatham Islands, Southwest Pacific) – possibly still extant between 1867 and 1872
      • Megadyptes

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

  • Mesitornithidae – mesites
    • Extinct species of extant genera
      • Monias sp. (Madagascar)

Columbiformes

Cuculiformes

Accipitriformes

Birds of prey

Caprimulgiformes

Nightjars and potoos

  • Caprimulgidae
     – nightjars
    • Extinct species of extant genera

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
.

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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  2. ^ Buffetaut1, Eric; Angst, Delphine (2017). "How Large was the Giant Ostrich of China?" (PDF). EVOLUÇÃO – Revista de Geistória e Pré-História. 2 (1): 6–8. Retrieved 9 January 2023.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  7. ^ "Paradise shelduck | Pūtangitangi | New Zealand Birds Online". www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  8. ^ Emsile, Steven D. (1985). ”A New Species of Teal from the Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) of Wyoming” https://sora.unm.edu/node/24087
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  10. ^ Guthrie, David A.; Thomas, Howell W.; Kennedy, George L. (2000). "An extinct Late Pleistocene Puffin from the Southern California Channel Islands. (Aves: Alcidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of a Fifth California Islands Symposium: 525–530.
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    JSTOR 40166794
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  15. ^ van Tets, G.F. (1994). "An extinct new species of cormorant (Phalacrocoracidae, Aves) from a Western Australian peat swamp". Records of the South Australian Museum. 27 (2): 135–138.
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  19. ^ Hailer, F., James, H.F., Olson, S.L., & Fleischer, R.C. (2015). Distinct and extinct: genetic differentiation of the Hawaiian eagle. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 83, 40-43
  20. ^ Goodman, Steven M. (1994). "Description of a new species of subfossil eagle from Madagascar: Stephanoaetus (Aves: Falconiformes) from the deposits of Ampasambazimba". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington (107): 421–428.
  21. ^ Olson, Storrs L. (1985). "A new species of Siphonorhis from Quaternary cave deposits in Cuba (Aves: Caprimulgidae)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 98 (2): 526–532. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2014-09-03.
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  27. ^ Wetmore, Alexander (1937). "Bird Remains from Cave Deposits on Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas" (PDF). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 80: 427–441.
  28. S2CID 84510858
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  29. doi:10.1080/03036758.1988.10426464
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General

External links
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