Fossil and archaeological avifauna of Niue Island, Pacific Ocean / by T.H. Worthy, R.Walter, and A.J. Anderson

Abstract

The archaeological and fossil avifauna of Niue Island in the southwest Pacific is described from ten sites. Fourteen species of birds, including an extinct species each of Gallirallus and Nydicorm, and an extirpated megapode (Megapodiuspritchardii) were found. This increases the number of taxa known for the Niue fauna to 15 resident species, but faunas from surrounding islands indicate this is almost certainly an underestimate of original diversity