Hf. James et Da. Burney, THE DIET AND ECOLOGY OF HAWAIIS EXTINCT FLIGHTLESS WATERFOWL - EVIDENCE FROM COPROLITES, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 62(2), 1997, pp. 279-297
Ar least five species of large flightless waterfowl have become extinc
t in the Hawaiian Islands in recent millennia. These birds are thought
to have occupied the role of large herbivores in a wide range of terr
estrial habitats. A collection of coprolites from one of the species (
Thambetochen chauliodous) was obtained during excavations in Holocene
cave sediments on the island of Maui. The chemical composition and pol
len and spore content of the coprolites ale analysed and compared with
pollen/spore spectra from the cave sediments and from recent goose se
als. The results support the contention that these birds were primaril
y folivorous, and further suggest that ferns were important in the die
t. The coprolites have a very fine texture that may result from effici
ent hindgut fermentation and digestion of plant fibre. Our data are di
scussed in the light of a recent hypothesis of plant/herbivore coevolu
tion between extinct avian herbivores and native Hawaiian lobelias. Th
e loss of large native herbivores, as well as other changes in vertebr
ate trophic structure due to extinctions over the past few thousand ye
ars, may still be affecting ecological processes in areas of the Hawai
ian islands with native vegetation. (C) 1997 The Linnean Society of Lo
ndon.