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The generic placement of the enigmatic and extinct Logania depressa from New Zealand has been uncertain due to the paucity of available plant material. This diminutive plant has only been collected once from the central North Island, New Zealand, by William Colenso on 22 February 1847. Logania depressa is dioecious and the single collection comprises only male flowers and does not include female flowers or fruit that feature generic diagnostic characters. Previously its relationship to Geniostoma has been considered and its affinities to Orianthera are unknown. Orianthera has been recently recognised as a segregate of Logania. Using leaf material from a small fragment of L. depressa held in Allan Herbarium (CHR) we recovered 9,368 bp of plastid sequence data that mapped to Mitreola yangchuensis, with Mitreola being the closest generic relative of Logania for which whole genome data was available. Available genetic data for Loganiaceae is limited to several chloroplast markers, including the rps16 intron, petD intron, and petD–petB intergenic spacer. From the novel plastid sequence data for Logania depressa, 48 bp of the rps16 intron, 45 bp of the petD intron and 49 bp of the petD–petB intergenic spacer could be recovered to compare with available Loganiaceae sequences. Phylogenetic analysis of these sequences confirmed L. depressa as the only New Zealand member of Logania sens. str., but its relationships to Australian species are unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arrival of humans in New Zealand around 750 years ago resulted in widespread faunal extinctions including the endemic Waitaha penguin (Megadyptes waitaha). Previously thought to have only bred on coastal South Island and Stewart Island, recent genetic reanalysis of prehistoric large penguin bones from the lower North Island indicates that the Waitaha penguin may have been a common resident. Here we synthesise previous studies and present new palaeontological and archaeological evidence to suggest that the Waitaha penguin was probably breeding in the lower North Island at the time of human arrival, and did not represent vagrant individuals from more southerly breeding colonies. The elimination of breeding Megadyptes from the North Island would add to the already significant avifaunal losses from New Zealand, of which the North Island suffered the greatest biodiversity loss after the arrival of humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]