New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
A reappraisal of the late Quaternary fossil vertebrates of
Pyramid Valley Swamp, North Canterbury, New Zealand
R. N. HOLDAWAY
Department of Zoology
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch, New Zealand*
*Present address: Palaecol Research, 167 Springs Road, Christchurch 8004, New
Zealand.
T. H. WORTHY
Palaeofaunal Surveys
43 The Ridgeway
Nelson, New Zealand
Abstract The late Quaternary fossil vertebrate fauna from
deposits at Pyramid Valley, North Canterbury, New Zealand is reassessed. The
faunal composition as contained in previous lists is updated, and minimum
numbers of individuals represented are given. Measures of faunal diversity are
presented and compared with values for present New Zealand systems and other
fossil sites. The revised faunal list includes a tuatara, one gecko, at least
46 species of bird, and one species of bat. The avifauna was dominated by moas
and waterfowl. The fossil record was biased towards large taxa because of the
taphonomic properties of the site. Deposition was slow: individuals were added
a few per year and not as a result of catastrophes. Bird diversity, by various
measures, was high for a New Zealand site. Diversity indices and rarefraction
curves suggest that a site, or group of comparable smaller sites, must contain
more than 300 individuals before adequate estimates of the species richness of
the sampled fauna are possible. Ten diurnal vertebrate guilds are recognised,
several of which are now extinct; all guilds have lost at least 50% of their
former constituent species. Sample sizes of two moa taxa were sufficient to
allow preliminary analysis of age and sex ratios: in
Dinornis giganteus
the sex ratio was skewed strongly in favour of the putative female individuals;
in
Emeus crassus the ratio was nearly equal. Consequences of the
differences are discussed. Evidence is presented that
Gallirallus minor,
reported from fossil deposits, was based on individuals of
Gallirallus
australis at the lower end of the size range. Evidence of predation of
adult moas by Haast's eagle is recorded, and the predator-prey ratio for a
system based on birds is given. The chronology, environment, and components of
the fauna are discussed.
Keywords New Zealand; avifauna; fossil birds; Pyramid Valley;
diversity; systematics; paleoecology
Received 9 January 1996; accepted 8 August 1996
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 1997, Vol. 24: 69-121
0301-4223/2401-069 $2.50/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
1997
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (4325K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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