NAIVE BIRDS AND NOBLE SAVAGES - A REVIEW OF MAN-CAUSED PREHISTORIC EXTINCTIONS OF ISLAND BIRDS

Man bird species were extirpated or became extinct when prehistoric ma n reached oceanic islands. We list >200 species of extinct island bird s only recorded as subfossils and which probably vanished due to prehi storic man. In addition, we list c. 160 cases where an extant species has been found as subfossil on islands where it no longer occurs. Seve ral species, today considered endemic to single islands or island grou ps, had a much wider distribution in the past. Biogeographic analyses of insular avifaunas are almost meaningless if the extensive prehistor ic extinctions are not taken into account. Most extinct species belong to Anatidae, Rallidae and Drepanididae while local extirpations are n umerous among doves and seabirds. Smaller birds are rare, mainly due t o sampling bias and taphonomic factors. The bird populations were depl eted mainly by overhunting, predation by introduced vertebrates and al teration of the original vegetation. Prehistoric humans on islands, al though dependent on limited animal resources, regularly failed to expl oit these in a sustainable way. Several cases where human populations disappeared from islands in the Pacific may have been due to over-expl oitation of native animals. Prehistoric man reached most tropical and temperate islands, and most of the few remaining island faunas have be en severely depleted in historic times. The prehistoric extinctions em phasize the extreme vulnerability and value of the very few pristine i sland faunas that still remain.