Prehistoric Birds from Rurutu, Austral Islands, East Polynesia1

We identify 70 bird bones from the Peva dune site, Rurutu, Austral Islands. These bones represent 10 species, dominated by the extant White-tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon lepturus; the nonnative chicken, Gallus gallus; and an undescribed species of extinct rail, Gallirallus sp. Two other species are ex...

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Published inPacific science Vol. 64; no. 2; pp. 315 - 325
Main Authors Steadman, David W., Bollt, Robert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Honolulu University of Hawai'i Press 01.04.2010
University of Hawaii Press
Subjects
Aves
Birds
Dunes
Endangered & extinct species
Extinct species
Field study
Gallicolumba
Gallirallus
Gallus gallus
Indigenous species
Islands
Phaethon lepturus
Austral Islands
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Summary:We identify 70 bird bones from the Peva dune site, Rurutu, Austral Islands. These bones represent 10 species, dominated by the extant White-tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon lepturus; the nonnative chicken, Gallus gallus; and an undescribed species of extinct rail, Gallirallus sp. Two other species are extinct (the ground-doves Gallicolumba undescribed spp. 1 and 2). No species of Gallirallus or Gallicolumba has been recorded previously from the Austral Islands. All but three of the 70 bird bones are from the lowest cultural strata at Peva, which date from the thirteenth to early fifteenth century A.D. (the Archaic or Early East Polynesian cultural phase). The small set of bird bones from the Peva dune site increases the number of indigenous species of land birds known from Rurutu from three to six.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0030-8870
1534-6188
DOI:10.2984/64.2.315