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The Chionoidea are a small, southern hemispheric shorebird clade that today includes the Magellanic Plover (Pluvianellidae) and two species of sheathbills (Chionidae). Here we describe the first fossil remains attributable to this group. The two newly described species, the early Miocene Neilus sansomae gen. et sp. nov. from New Zealand and the late Oligocene Chionoides australiensis gen. et sp. nov. from South Australia, are overall more similar to sheathbills, but the mosaic of characters shared with both Chionidae and Pluvianellidae preclude referral to either lineage. Attribution of fossils this age to these lineages also conflicts with divergence dates based on molecular data, as the split between the Magellanic Plover and sheathbills is hypothesised to be more recent. We therefore suggest that these Australasian, plover-size species represent the first record of stem-group taxa within Chionoidea.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2A5A2FD1-C3B5-4BAB-88D8-5862FE9E7976

Cyanoramphus parakeets are a key biogeographic element of the Pacific. Many of these parakeets are, however, endangered, with ongoing conservation management hampered by the unresolved taxonomic status of some populations. We used modern and ancient DNA (mitochondrial DNA control region) to assess the taxonomy of the Auckland Islands populations of red-crowned (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae novaezelandiae) and yellow-crowned (Cyanoramphus auriceps) parakeets. Our analyses show that both red-crowned and yellow-crowned parakeets on the Auckland Islands are nested within the mainland New Zealand diversity of the two species. However, we also found an orange-fronted parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi) mitochondrial DNA lineage within the genome of both of these species in the Auckland Islands population. Further sampling of historic orange-fronted parakeet museum skins showed that the orange-fronted morphotype is paraphyletic with respect to mitochondrial haplotype, which is probably caused by hybridisation or inc...

Historical museum skins are an important genetic resource for taxonomic, phylogeographic and conservation genetic research. However, their utility can be compromised by errors in specimen labels concerning taxonomic identity, collection locality and collector. Here we use morphological comparisons and ancient DNA analysis to show that two Auckland Island Shags (Leucocarbo colensoi) in the Sir Walter Buller collection of the Canterbury Museum, New Zealand, are mislabelled. Given that Buller was able to identify these taxa prior to their supposed collection dates, it suggests erroneous labelling and/or poor record keeping. Despite the importance of Buller's collections for ornithological research, our findings reinforce previous conclusions that caution is required when utilising these avian specimens.

A new avian taxon from the early Paleocene Waipara Greensand in Canterbury, New Zealand, is described. The holotype of Australornis lovei, gen. et sp. nov. includes wing and pectoral girdle bones, which exhibit distinctive morphologies. Notable features are a very long crista deltopectoralis, a craniocaudally flattened shaft, and a large tuberculum dorsale of the humerus, as well as a ridge-like caudal surface of the proximal ulna. Although a well-founded assignment of the new species to any of the extant higher-level taxa is not possible, key morphological features of stem group Sphenisciformes (penguins) are absent in A. lovei. Other than penguins, the holotype of A. lovei represents one of the most significant records of a marine Paleocene bird from the Southern Hemisphere, and contributes to the emerging view that Neoaves were already diversified in the earliest Paleogene.Australornishttp://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:DBD4F0B3-CDB4-40DA-AEC7-44D0F88AB944Australornis loveihttp://zoobank.org/ur...

The first pre-Quaternary anurans from New Zealand are reported from the Early Miocene (19–16 Ma) St Bathans Fauna based on 10 fossil bones. Four bones representing two new species differing in size are described in Leiopelma: Leiopelmatidae, and are the first Tertiary records for the family. Six indeterminate frog fossils are morphologically similar to leiopelmatids and represent two species consistent in size with those known from diagnostic material. These records are highly significant, as minimally, they reduce the duration of the leiopelmatid ‘ghost lineage’ by c.20 million years and demonstrate that a diversity of leiopelmatids has long been present on New Zealand, supporting the ancient dichotomy of the extant species based on molecular data.Leiopelma miocaenale Worthy, Tennyson, Scofield & Hand in pressurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:83F24868-A212-435B-B892-AD510796B5BBLeiopelma acricarina Worthy, Tennyson, Scofield & Hand in pressurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D3955F53-37C2-4EAD-B0BC-CE8D23FCD51B

Holocene New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri) bones collected from the north of New Zealand's South Island strengthen existing evidence for the former Holocene presence of breeding colonies of P. hookeri on mainland New Zealand. The taxonomic identity of Phocarctos bones is confirmed using both morphology and ancient DNA analysis. Five radiocarbon dates on four adult and one pup bone from Creighton's Cave near Paturau, northwest Nelson, ranged from 1290±30 yr BP to 5430±30 yr BP. Three radiocarbon dates on pup bones spanning 200 14C yr (1550±30 yr BP to 1390±30 yr BP) reveal that a prehistoric breeding rookery was present at Delaware Bay, Nelson, until shortly before the time of human arrival c. AD 1280 (670 yr BP). The Delaware Bay site in particular provides a valuable ‘snapshot’ of coastal New Zealand faunas shortly before human arrival, one that has potential to enhance our understanding of changes in the endemic coastal fauna associated with human colonisation.

We provide the first complete review of soft tissue remains from New Zealand birds that became extinct prior to European settlement (c. AD 1800). These rare specimens allow insights into the anatomy and appearance of the birds that are not attainable from bones. Our review includes previously unpublished records of ‘lost’ specimens, and descriptions of recently discovered specimens such as the first evidence of soft tissues from the South Island goose (Cnemiornis calcitrans). Overall, the soft tissue remains are dominated by moa (with specimens from each of the six genera), but also include specimens from Finsch's duck (Chenonetta finschi) and the New Zealand owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles novaezealandiae). All desiccated soft tissue specimens that have radiocarbon or stratigraphic dates are late Holocene in age, and most have been found in the semi-arid region of Central Otago.

In January 2008 an assemblage of large fossil bones was unearthed in a field near Waikari, North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. We describe this new fossil site, Rosslea, and provide an inventory of the excavated material. The bones were generally well preserved although stained deep brown, typical of peat preservation. Eight Rosslea bones were 14C AMS dated and median calibrated ages ranged from 7839 to 1482 years BP. Ancient DNA was isolated from 14 bones and a single piece of eggshell. Genetic species identifications based on mitochondrial DNA matched those based on morphology, confirming that three species of extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) were present. Also, remains of an extinct South Island Adzebill (Aptornis defossor) were identified. The species composition in the Rosslea assemblage proved typical for the time and region but comparative analyses revealed that each of five major fossil deposits in the area displayed a significantly different relative abundance of moa taxa, d...

The avifauna from the Glencrieff swamp deposit in North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand, is described. Radiocarbon ages of moa bones bracket miring at the site to between 10,000 and 12,000 (uncalibrated) years BP. Heavy-footed moa (Pachyornis elephantopus) and eastern moa (Emeus crassus) dominated the moa assemblage at the site, while South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus) and stout-legged moa (Euryapteryx curtus, formerly E. gravis (in part)) were rare. The total assemblage from the site consists of at least 1896 bones from 18 species of birds, of which nine are extinct and a further three locally extinct. In addition, we report on the discovery of the oldest known moa gizzard contents, the palynology of the Glencrieff deposit and comment on significant recent changes in site preservation conditions that are threatening the continued preservation of this significant fossil deposit.

The ratite moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) were a speciose group of massive graviportal avian herbivores that dominated the New Zealand (NZ) ecosystem until their extinction ≈600 years ago. The phylogeny and evolutionary history of this morphologically diverse order has remained controversial since their initial description in 1839. We synthesize mitochondrial phylogenetic information from 263 subfossil moa specimens from across NZ with morphological, ecological, and new geological data to create the first comprehensive phylogeny, taxonomy, and evolutionary timeframe for all of the species of an extinct order. We also present an important new geological/paleogeographical model of late Cenozoic NZ, which suggests that terrestrial biota on the North and South Island landmasses were isolated for most of the past 20–30 Ma. The data reveal that the patterns of genetic diversity within and between different moa clades reflect a complex history following a major marine transgression in the Oligocene, affected by marine barriers, tectonic activity, and glacial cycles. Surprisingly, the remarkable morphological radiation of moa appears to have occurred much more recently than previous early Miocene ( ca. 15 Ma) estimates, and was coincident with the accelerated uplift of the Southern Alps just ca. 5–8.5 Ma. Together with recent fossil evidence, these data suggest that the recent evolutionary history of nearly all of the iconic NZ terrestrial biota occurred principally on just the South Island.