New prehistoric avifaunas from the Gambier Group, French Polynesia

Abstract

This paper analyses 647 bird bones identifiable at least to family-level collected from archaeological sites in 2005, 2012 and 2014 by P. Kirch, in the Gambier Group, French Polynesia.The bones derive from Onemea Site (TAR-6) on Taravai Island, Nenega-Iti Rock Shelter (AGA-3) on Agakauitai Island and Kitchen Cave (KAM-1) on Kamaka Island.Eighteen bird species, four newly recorded in this archipelago, are represented among the bones from archaeological layers dating from human arrival in the tenth century to the late pre-European contact period in the early nineteeth century.They reveal that the original avifauna from the Gambier Group minimally included 37 species.These include six now extinct taxa, a species of Pseudobulweria petrel, two columbids (Bountyphaps obsoleta, Ducula tihonireasini n.sp.described herein) and three other land birds that were recorded historically.Minimally, a further six species have been extirpated from the Gambier Group.These archaeological avifaunas are strongly dominated by seabirds (89.4% Minimum Number Individuals) but differences in species representation and dominance suggest the composition of breeding seabird faunas differed between islands.Columbidae were the dominant land birds (58.9% MNI), although no species of this family currently exist on this archipelago.

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