biology

List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species

List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species rather than just read about it. In short: Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are avian taxa that became extinct during the Late Quaternary – the Late Pleistocene or the Early Holocene – and before recorded history, specifically before they could be studied alive by ornithological science. They had died out before the period of global scientific exploration that started in the late 15th century.

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Reference excerpt

Late Quaternary prehistoric birds are avian taxa that became extinct during the Late Quaternary – the Late Pleistocene or the Early Holocene – and before recorded history, specifically before they could be studied alive by ornithological science. They had died out before the period of global scientific exploration that started in the late 15th century. In other words, this list deals with bird extinctions between 40,000 BC and AD 1500. For the purposes of this article, a "bird" is any member of the clade Neornithes; that is, any descendant of the most recent common ancestor of all currently living birds.

These birds are known from their remains, which are subfossil bones; 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 Homo sapiens beyond Africa and Eurasia, and in most cases, anthropogenic factors played a crucial part in their extinction, be it through hunting, introduced predators or habitat alteration. It is notable that a large proportion of the species are from oceanic islands, especially in Polynesia. Bird taxa that evolved on oceanic islands are usually very vulnerable to hunting or predation by dogs, cats, pigs, goats or rats (animals commonly introduced by humans) as they evolved in the absence of mammalian predators, and therefore have only rudimentary predator avoidance behavior. Many, especially rails, have additionally become 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 birds differed from still-existing 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.

Taxonomic list of Late Quaternary prehistoric birds All of these birds are in Neornithes.

Palaeognathae

Struthioniformes The ostriches

Struthionidae – ostriches Extinct species of extant genera East Asian ostrich, Struthio anderssoni (China and Mongolia, East Asia) Asian ostrich, Struthio asiaticus (India)

†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, but a 2023 genetic study regarded Vorombe as synonymous with Aepyornis maximus Hildebrandt's elephant bird, Aepyornis hildebrandti †Mullerornithidae – lesser elephant birds †Mullerornis Lesser elephant bird, Mullerornis modestus

†Dinornithiformes The moa of New Zealand

†Emeidae – lesser moa †Anomalopteryx Bush moa, Anomalopteryx didiformis (North and South Islands, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) †Euryapteryx Broad-billed moa, Euryapteryx curtus (North Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) †Pachyornis Crested moa, Pachyornis australis (western South Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) Heavy-footed moa, Pachyornis elephantopus (eastern South Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) Mantell's moa, Pachyornis geranoides (North Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) †Emeus Eastern moa, Emeus crassus (South Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) †Dinornithidae – giant moa †Dinornis North Island giant moa, Dinornis novaezealandiae (North Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) South Island giant moa, Dinornis robustus (South Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) †Megalapterygidae – upland moa †Megalapteryx Upland moa, Megalapteryx didinus (South Island, New Zealand, Southwest Pacific) – may have survived into historic times (syn. Megalapteryx benhami)

Neognathae

†Gastornithiformes An extinct order of giant flightless fowl.

†Dromornithidae – Australian mihirungs or "demon ducks of doom" †Genyornis Genyornis newtoni (Australia)

Anseriformes The group that includes modern ducks, geese, swans, and screamers.

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species

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Example 2 — changing one variable

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Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species

In research: List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Late Quaternary prehistoric birds, Lists of animal species, Lists of prehistoric birds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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