Worthy & Swabey—Late Quaternary avifaunal sequence near Waitomo

Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts

Avifaunal changes revealed in Quaternary deposits near Waitomo Caves, North Island, New Zealand

Trevor H. Worthy

Palaeofaunal Surveys, 2a Willow Park Drive, Masterton, New Zealand.

Stephen E. J. Swabey

Department of Geography, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92 019, Auckland, New Zealand.

Abstract Late Pleistocene (23 000–10 000 ¹⁴C yr BP) and Holocene (10 000 ¹⁴C yr – present BP) avifaunas are described from the Henry Lambert and associated passages in Gardners Gut Cave, Waitomo Caves, North Island, New Zealand. Nine radiocarbon dates on bones and three uranium series dates on speleothems support the dating of the sites. These data are augmented by six new dates and reanalysis of the avifaunas from F1c Cave, also in the Waitomo karst. A distinctive Pleistocene avifauna characterised by the moa Euryapteryx curtus and Pachyornis mappini and the North Island goose (Cnemiornis gracilis) with common associates including New Zealand coot (Fulica prisca), North Island takahe (Porphyrio mantelli), Finsch’s duck (Euryanas finschi), and North Island kokako (Callaeas wilsoni) was present. The presence of kokako, saddleback (Philesturnus rufusater), and robin (Petroica longipes) in the Pleistocene deposits and the absence of grassland taxa such as pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae) and quail (Coturnix novaezelandiae) indicate that the vegetation about Gardners Gut Cave included tall shrubland and probably lacked much grassland, even over the Last Glacial Maximum. The Holocene at Waitomo was characterised by a moa fauna dominated by Anomalopteryx didiformis, although both Euryapteryx curtus and Pachyornis mappini persisted in small numbers. The frequent occurrence of kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), weka (Gallirallus australis), and brown teal (Anas chlorotis) typifies Holocene avifaunas; Cnemiornis and Fulica are unknown from Holocene deposits in the area.

Keywords fossil avifaunas; Pleistocene; Holocene; faunal change; radiocarbon dates; palaeovegetation; Gardners Gut Cave; F1c Cave; Waitomo Caves; New Zealand

R01007 Received 17 April 2001; accepted 14 September 2001
© Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand,Volume 32, Number 2, June 2002, pp 293–325

PDF file of entire paper: Print-quality (306K)

This year's abstracts | Journal home page | All abstracts | Publishing home page