Quaternary fossil faunas from caves in the Punakaiki area, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand

The Quaternary fossil avifauna of Southland, South Island, New Zealand

“…The following Kings Cave big kiwi bones, whose summary statistics are given in Worthy (1997), were used in the comparisons: MNZ S33782, CM24777pt, CM22899, CM23819B, CM22488, CM25301, CM23068, CM24776. (Gibb 1986) Only one date is available for the fossils recovered from the many cave sites It was obtained on the larger of the two eagles found in the Castle Rocks site, whose scattered bones lay throughout the site, but also were with the associated remains of the other eagle beneath 0 5m layer of secondarily deposited micro-crystalline calcite These observations suggested that this eagle was one of the older specimens in the site, yet it gave a date of 2096±72 yrs BP The majority of specimens in Castle Rocks are therefore probably of Late Holocene age, as had previously been concluded from an analysis of wing bones of Finsch's Duck (Worthy 1988b) However, data obtained from other sites in New Zealand suggest that cave deposits will geneially contain a time-averaged record (Worthy & Holdaway 1993, 1994, Graham 1993 In most cave sites in New Zealand, most remains will be of Holocene age, but in some sites, faunas of Last Glacial age are included in admixed deposits However the reassembly of the temporal components of such mixed or time averaged faunas is impossible if there are no stratigraphic boundaries to separate them Indeed, time-averaged faunas often accumulate as a surface deposit that may include material up to 30000 years old, eg at Hawkes Cave, Takaka Hill The common presence in the Forest Hill tomo faunas of the Little Bush Moa {Anomalopteryx didiformis), is seemingly incompatible with the presence of relatively common Giant Moa (Dinorms giganteus), as such a pairing has not been recorded for any temporally sympatnc faunas elsewhere in New Zealand It is likely that the Dinorms remains generally antedate those of Anomalopteryx Few swamp faunas have been dated, but most are expected to be of Holocene age, as they come from shallow peat swamps The Kauana Swamp was assumed to be different, as bones were in a spring vent >5 m-deep, had a unique species composition, and only the more solid bones were preserved Two dates obtained on single bones show that this fauna is >37 080 years old, so it is the oldest known swamp fauna in New Zealand The fossil faunas found in dunes, swamps and caves m Southland are therefore probably mainly of Holocene age, but some are likely to extend back into the Late Pleistocene 10-20 000 yrs BP, and one to at least 37 000 years…”

“…Dunes could be expected to have provided a serai range of habitats from bare sand, through grassland, shrubland, to forest, comprising together an open vegetation mosaic. Emeus crassus and Pachyornis elephantopus dominated areas in Canterbury and lowland Otago where this vegetation physiognomy was present in the Holocene (Worthy & Holdaway 1995, Worthy 1997, 1998a The Holocene faunas of swamp deposits were most similar to those of dunes, which may relate to the fact that many of the swamps were adjacent to dunes In contrast, the caves were in ridges of limestone, elevated above the surrounding plains, and were probably vegetated in closed canopy podocarp forests of nmu (Dacrydium cupressinum) and totara {Podocarpus totara) throughout most of the Holocene The dominance of Anomalopteryx in such environments is usual for sites throughout New Zealand (Worthy & Holdaway 1993, 1994, 1995 Little can be deduced about the small bird fauna of dunes There were several species of seabird present, e g Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor), whose bones may have their origins as either beach-cast specimens, or as resident species Terrestrial species were few, with the noticeable exception of Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei) The large size of bones of this species, and its glamour status, did undoubtedly contribute to it appearing to be the most abundant terrestrial species in dune deposits It can be assumed to have lived in the forests and shrublands of the coastal dune systems This is consistent with patterns found elsewhere -moa faunas dominated by Emeus crassus were usually associated with Haast's Eagle (Worthy & Holdaway 1995, Worthy 1997, 1998a) Also of note is the cranial material of South Island Takahe (Porphyrw hochstetten), which with the eagle bones demonstrates the marked collection bias of earlier times, as few other smaller species were recorded The only other species of note was the extinct Crow (Corvus morwrum), as dunes provided its sole record in Southland It was rare in most inland faunas (Worthy & Holdaway 1995, Worthy 1997, 1998a), but often common in coastal situations, for example the Far North dunes (Millener 1981), or Marlborough (Worthy 1998b) Forty two species of native birds other than moa were found in cave deposits in Southland Many were represented by few specimens, and the small passerines were noticeably underrepresented This almost certainly results from poor collection techniques, but larger grounddwelling birds were expected to, and did, predominate in pitfall traps Thus nearly one third of all individuals were kiwis (Apteryx spp ) Kakapo (Stngops habroptilus), Fmsch's Duck (Euryanas finschi), and large rails accounted for most of the rest The high frequency of Euryanas and its association with the extinct galhnule Hodgens' Rail {Galhnula hodgenorum), South Island Takahe (Porphyrw hochstetten), extinct New Zealand Coot (Fulicapnsca) and the South Island Aptorms (Aptornis defossor) is interesting These species were absent from West Coast and northwest Nelson deposits of Holocene age that w...…”

“…Closed-canopy forest faunas were exclusive to the West Coast and in northern areas, e.g. Takaka, where rainfall was over 2000 mm (Worthy & Holdaway 1993, 1994Worthy 1997Worthy , 1998a.…”

“…Temporal differences in faunal compositions in Southland, such as are now known for other regions of the South Island (Worthy & Holdaway 1993, 1994, are still largely undocumented The single swamp site at Kauana is likely to be of mid-Otiran age or earlier and has a fauna indicating open shrubland No cave faunas certainly of glacial age were documented, other than elements of the Forest Hill fauna A total of 58 species of native birds have been recorded from fossil deposits in Southland of Holocene and Last Glacial age A notable record is that of Dendroscansor decurvirostns from McKerchars Cave, previously known only from northwest Nelson Several species likely to have once lived in Southland are unaccounted for by the fossil faunas mainly small passerines, such as Tomtit, Grey Warbler and Fantail Investigations of further cave deposits are likely to find them Others, particularly wetland species, such as waterfowl, may well also be revealed by investigation of suitable wetland sites No cave deposit preserving a fauna of Otiran Glacial age is yet known, but should be searched for since it would be likely to provide significant new data on the evolution of the present fauna in this region The lowlands of this, one of the southernmost areas of New Zealand, were severely affected by the extreme climate prevalent during the last glaciation Unlike the lowlands of Canterbury and Otago, the limestone deposits in Southland are cavernous and are very likely to have preserved samples of glacial faunas…”

“…Introductory notes for each species can be found in Worthy & Holdaway (1993,1994. In this section only number of bones over MNI are usually given for each site.…”