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Translocation of Great Spotted Kiwi/Roa to Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project
Translocation of great spotted kiwi/roa (Apteryx haasti) to Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project Gasson P.A. DECEMBER 2005 Published by Department of Conservation Private Bag 5 Nelson, New Zealand (PM2005/9035) Publ.info. Occasional Publication No. 67 ISSN 0113-3853 ISBN 0-478-14086-X CONTENTS Executive Summary 5 1. Introduction 6 2. Background 8 2.1 Great spotted kiwi biology and conservation 8 2.2 Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project 10 2.3 Purpose of the translocation 11 2.4 Previous attempts at establishing mainland kiwi populations 12 3. Development of the translocation proposal 14 3.1 Choice of kiwi species 14 3.2 Development of the operational plan 14 3.3 Choice of a source population 15 3.4 Consultation with iwi 16 3.5 Health assessment of the source population 17 3.6 Translocation approval 18 4. Transfer methods 19 4.1 Kiwi collection methods 19 4.2 Measuring, marking and health sampling 20 4.3 Holding and transportation methods 21 4.4 Release method 22 5. Transfer results 24 5.1 Collection results 24 5.2 Holding and transportation results 26 5.3 Release results 27 5.4 Health sampling results 29 6. Discussion of transfer methods and results 33 7. Post-release monitoring methods 35 7.1 Distribution monitoring 35 7.2 Breeding monitoring 36 7.3 Recapture and physical examination methods 36 8. Post-release monitoring results 38 8.1 Dispersal 38 8.2 Pair bond survival 41 8.3 Habitat usage 41 8.4 Breeding 43 8.5 Physical examinations 45 9. Post-release kiwi management 47 9.1 Management approach 47 9.2 Dispersal management 47 9.3 Road signs 48 9.4 Dog management 48 9.5 Possum control 49 10. -
The Naturalist, on the Discovery and Exploration Ofnew Zealand
460 Conclusion. Inbringing to a close the record of the scrutiny and comparison of the evidences of the extinct wingless birds of New Zealand, some relaxation may be condoned by way of indulgence of the faculty of conjecture. The cause and conditions of the extinction of these birds, discussed inpp. 457-459, may be held to be determined, and, approximately, the date of their disappearance. But what can be said as to their origin? The first ground which suggests itself as a basis of speculation is, literally as well as figuratively, New Zealand itself. Since no evidence of such birds as those ranging in size from Notornis to the maximized form of Dinornis have been found in any other part of the globe, the conclusion seems legitimate that the species of those genera, as of Aptornis and Cnemiornis, did not exist elsewhere, at least on any known existing tract of dry land. The naturalist, on the discovery and exploration of New Zealand, recognized the rare circumstance that, save the Maori and his dog, no predatory land-animal existed in the islands which could have alarmed or endangered the existence of such birds as form the subject of the present work : nor has any evidence of such enemy been discovered in any stratum or locality of either the North or South Island. Itis, indeed, accepted as a notable fact in the geographical relations of living things, that, with the exception of some Bats and shore-haunting Seals, the mammalian class was unrepresented inNew Zealand prior to the comparatively recent advent of the Polynesian people. -
Beyond Endocasts: Using Predicted Brain-Structure Volumes of Extinct Birds to Assess Neuroanatomical and Behavioral Inferences
diversity Article Beyond Endocasts: Using Predicted Brain-Structure Volumes of Extinct Birds to Assess Neuroanatomical and Behavioral Inferences 1, , 2 2 Catherine M. Early * y , Ryan C. Ridgely and Lawrence M. Witmer 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA 2 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA; [email protected] (R.C.R.); [email protected] (L.M.W.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Current Address: Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. y Received: 1 November 2019; Accepted: 30 December 2019; Published: 17 January 2020 Abstract: The shape of the brain influences skull morphology in birds, and both traits are driven by phylogenetic and functional constraints. Studies on avian cranial and neuroanatomical evolution are strengthened by data on extinct birds, but complete, 3D-preserved vertebrate brains are not known from the fossil record, so brain endocasts often serve as proxies. Recent work on extant birds shows that the Wulst and optic lobe faithfully represent the size of their underlying brain structures, both of which are involved in avian visual pathways. The endocasts of seven extinct birds were generated from microCT scans of their skulls to add to an existing sample of endocasts of extant birds, and the surface areas of their Wulsts and optic lobes were measured. A phylogenetic prediction method based on Bayesian inference was used to calculate the volumes of the brain structures of these extinct birds based on the surface areas of their overlying endocast structures. This analysis resulted in hyperpallium volumes of five of these extinct birds and optic tectum volumes of all seven extinct birds. -
B.Sc. II YEAR CHORDATA
B.Sc. II YEAR CHORDATA CHORDATA 16SCCZO3 Dr. R. JENNI & Dr. R. DHANAPAL DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY M. R. GOVT. ARTS COLLEGE MANNARGUDI CONTENTS CHORDATA COURSE CODE: 16SCCZO3 Block and Unit title Block I (Primitive chordates) 1 Origin of chordates: Introduction and charterers of chordates. Classification of chordates up to order level. 2 Hemichordates: General characters and classification up to order level. Study of Balanoglossus and its affinities. 3 Urochordata: General characters and classification up to order level. Study of Herdmania and its affinities. 4 Cephalochordates: General characters and classification up to order level. Study of Branchiostoma (Amphioxus) and its affinities. 5 Cyclostomata (Agnatha) General characters and classification up to order level. Study of Petromyzon and its affinities. Block II (Lower chordates) 6 Fishes: General characters and classification up to order level. Types of scales and fins of fishes, Scoliodon as type study, migration and parental care in fishes. 7 Amphibians: General characters and classification up to order level, Rana tigrina as type study, parental care, neoteny and paedogenesis. 8 Reptilia: General characters and classification up to order level, extinct reptiles. Uromastix as type study. Identification of poisonous and non-poisonous snakes and biting mechanism of snakes. 9 Aves: General characters and classification up to order level. Study of Columba (Pigeon) and Characters of Archaeopteryx. Flight adaptations & bird migration. 10 Mammalia: General characters and classification up -
The Birds Of
Haast’sThe Eagle Birds of Moa The Haast’s eagle was the largest eagle to have ever existed, weighing up to 230 kg (510 lbs)! It became extinct in the 1400’s after its primary food source, the moa, was hunted to extinction. Kākāpō Early inhabitants hunted the kākāpō for its plumage and meat. European settlers cleared their land, and newly-introduced predators such as cats, rats and stoats hunted them to near extinction. There are fewer than 160 known surviving kākāpō! Kea Kea are the world’s only alpine parrot. They nest in holes in the ground which makes them easy prey for rodents introduced to New Zealand such as stoats, rats, and possums. They are endangered in New Zealand, with fewer than 7,000 left. Kiwi There are fewer than 68,000 kiwis left, and about 2% of unmanaged kiwi are lost every year. Rodents introduced to New Zealand share the same food sources; this appears to stunt the growth of kiwi chicks. Moa New Zealand was home to nine different species of moa, a flightless bird reaching 3.6m (12 ft) in height. They became hunted to extinction by around the year 1400, but are a prime candidate for cloning due to the amount of moa remains in exis- tence. Morepork The morepork is known for its haunting, melancholy song in the night. It is New Zealand’s only surviving native owl. The morepork belong to the spirit world and are watchful guardians in Māori tradition. Pūkeko Pūkeko average 51cm long (20 in). They’re found in marshy or open country. -
Historical Biology: an International Journal of Paleobiology Added
This article was downloaded by: [ETH Zurich] On: 23 September 2013, At: 04:58 Publisher: Taylor & Francis Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ghbi20 Added credence for a late Dodo extinction date Andrew Jackson a a Institute for Geophysics , Sonneggstr. 5, Zurich , Switzerland Published online: 23 Sep 2013. To cite this article: Andrew Jackson , Historical Biology (2013): Added credence for a late Dodo extinction date, Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2013.838231 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. -
Dodo' Award Title for Record Period with No New Named Endangered Species by Shirley Gregory
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/358072/conservation_group_awards_interior.html Conservation Group Awards Interior Secretary 'Dodo' Award Title for Record Period with No New Named Endangered Species by Shirley Gregory By not placing a single plant or animal on the federal list of endangered species since his confirmation, U.S. Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne has earned the first-ever "Rubber Dodo Award," according to news from the Center for Biological Diversity. Kempthorne has not listed a single species as endangered during the 472 days he has served as secretary, the center said, thereby passing the previous record held by former Interior Secretary James Watt, who placed no plants or animals on the endangered species list for 376 days during his term between 1981 and 1982. "Kempthorne is eminently deserving of the first annual Rubber Dodo award," said Kieran Suckling, policy director for the center, which established the award. "His refusal to protect a single imperiled species in more than 15 months gives him the worst record of any interior secretary in the history of the Endangered Species Act. His policies should go the way of the dodo as soon as possible." The award is named for the dodo bird, a three-foot-tall, flightless bird discovered on the uninhabited island of Mauritius by Dutch sailors in 1598. Within less than a century, the bird had been wiped out -- hunted by humans and other animals it had before never encountered nor developed a natural fear of. "Political appointees like Kempthorne come and go, but extinction is forever," Suckling said. "No politician has the right to destroy the future of an endangered species." As of July, according to a report by the Washington Post, only 60 species have been added to the Endangered Species list during the George W. -
Coevolution of Cycads and Dinosaurs George E
Coevolution of cycads and dinosaurs George E. Mustoe* INTRODUCTION TOXICOLOGY OF EXTANT CYCADS cycads suggests that the biosynthesis of ycads were a major component of Illustrations in textbooks commonly these compounds was a trait that C forests during the Mesozoic Era, the depict herbivorous dinosaurs browsing evolved early in the history of the shade of their fronds falling upon the on cycad fronds, but biochemical evi- Cycadales. Brenner et al. (2002) sug- scaly backs of multitudes of dinosaurs dence from extant cycads suggests that gested that macrozamin possibly serves a that roamed the land. Paleontologists these reconstructions are incorrect. regulatory function during cycad have long postulated that cycad foliage Foliage of modern cycads is highly toxic growth, but a strong case can be made provided an important food source for to vertebrates because of the presence that the most important reason for the reptilian herbivores, but the extinction of two powerful neurotoxins and carcin- evolution of cycad toxins was their of dinosaurs and the contemporaneous ogens, cycasin (methylazoxymethanol- usefulness as a defense against foliage precipitous decline in cycad popula- beta-D-glucoside) and macrozamin (beta- predation at a time when dinosaurs were tions at the close of the Cretaceous N-methylamine-L-alanine). Acute symp- the dominant herbivores. The protective have generally been assumed to have toms triggered by cycad foliage inges- role of these toxins is evidenced by the resulted from different causes. Ecologic tion include vomiting, diarrhea, and seed dispersal characteristics of effects triggered by a cosmic impact are abdominal cramps, followed later by loss modern cycads. a widely-accepted explanation for dino- of coordination and paralysis of the saur extinction; cycads are presumed to limbs. -
SHORT NOTE a Holocene Fossil South Island Takahē
34 Notornis, 2019, Vol. 66: 34-36 0029-4470 © The Ornithological Society of New Zealand Inc. SHORT NOTE A Holocene fossil South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) in a high-altitude north-west Nelson cave ALEXANDER P. BOAST School of Environment, University of Auckland, New Zealand Long-Term Ecology Laboratory, Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, 54 Gerald Street, Lincoln 7608, New Zealand South Island takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) is one of to the alpine zone (Beauchamp & Worthy 1988; New Zealand’s most critically endangered endemic Worthy & Holdaway 2002). A related species, the bird species (NZ threat classification system A (1/1), North Island takahē or “moho” (P. mantelli) became “nationally vulnerable”) (Robertson et al. 2017). extinct before the 20th Century and is primarily Maori lore, and as few as 4 recorded sightings during known from fossils, although a live bird may have the 19th Century suggest that takahē occurred only been caught in 1894 (“takahē” in this article will in high Fiordland valleys and possibly the Nelson refer to P. hochstetteri only) (Phillipps 1959; Trewick region in recent history (Williams 1960; Reid 1974). 1996; Worthy & Holdaway 2002). It has been The birds were so infrequently seen that they were argued that takahē are a specialist tussock-feeding assumed extinct until a population of ~250–500 was “glacial-relict” species, and thus most lowland discovered in the Murchison Mountains, Fiordland, takahē subfossils date from the glacial period when in 1948 (Reid & Stack 1974). This population sharply grasslands and herbfields were more extensive declined until intensive conservation commenced (Mills et al. 1984). However, subsequent surveys of in 1981 (since fluctuating between ~100–180 birds) takahē subfossil data suggest that takahē occurred (Crouchley 1994). -
The Extirpation of Species Outside Protected Areas
Received: 13 April 2018 Revised: 24 August 2018 Accepted: 27 August 2018 DOI: 10.1111/conl.12608 LETTER The extirpation of species outside protected areas Elizabeth H. Boakes1 Richard A. Fuller2 Philip J.K. McGowan3 1 Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Abstract Research, University College London, Lon- don, UK Protected areas (PAs) are fundamental to conservation efforts but they are only part 2School of Biological Sciences, University of of a successful conservation strategy. We examine biodiversity outside PAs in Sun- Queensland, Brisbane, Australia daland, one of the world's most biologically degraded regions. Using the avian order 3 School of Natural and Environmental Sci- Galliformes as a case study, we identify species that have not been sighted outside PAs ences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK within the last 20 years on each individual landmass (i.e., Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Correspondence Sumatra, Java, and Bali). We estimate these species’ extirpation dates outside PAs Elizabeth Boakes, Centre for Biodiversity and using optimal linear estimation and species’ sighting records. Environment Research, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT, UK. We conclude there have been up to 13 extirpations of Galliformes from outside PAs Email: [email protected] in Sundaland. Three Sundaic endemics now occur only inside PAs. Sumatra has suf- Funding information fered the highest proportion of extirpations (50% of its galliform species). Effective Leverhulme Trust, Grant/Award Number: F/07/058/AK management of Sundaland's -
American Paleontologist Pages 1 and 4
FinalV OLUMEIssue 19, NUMBER 4 AMERICAN WINTER 2012 PALEONTOLOGIST A MAGAZINE OF EARTH SCIENCE PUBLISHED BY THE PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION AND ITS MUSEUM OF THE EARTH The Last Good Buy Birds in the New Age of Extinction Also in this issue... An Inordinate Fondness for Vertebrae page 20 Goodbye American Paleontologist pages 1 and 4 ...plus much more! US $5.00 FEATURE ARTICLE Th e Last Good Buy: Birds in the New Age of Extinction By Constance M. Soja Th e oldest fossils belonging to the undisputed bird survivors of the end-Mesozoic biodiversity crisis experienced Archaeopteryx date back 140-150 million years to the extraordinary evolutionary radiations. Co-adapting to the Mesozoic. During that geologic era, dinosaurs dominated brave new world, they fi lled vacated ecologic niches and terrestrial ecosystems around the globe. Pterosaurs – evolved into the iconic species that defi ne the Cenozoic – dinosaurs' evolutionary cousins, the fl ying reptiles – soared our modern world and Earth's current great geologic era. overhead, and an astounding variety of diminutive to gigantic With most animal and plant groups of the Mesozoic laid to aquatic reptiles – ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, and rest, new species rose to dominance, and new competitive mosasaurs – cruised the world's oceans. Consuming squid- relationships were established. Oversized, fl ightless "terror like belemnoid and ammonoid prey, those top predators birds" – T. rex ultimate but down-sized body doubles – were also swam in the shallow seaways that fl ooded the interior pitted against fox- and pony-sized mammals, which in the of North America and other continents. Within 80 million previous 150 million years had been small, nocturnal, rat- years, the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that brought like animals eeking out a subsidiary existence. -
Grounded Birds in New Zealand
Flightless Grounded Birds in New Zealand An 8th Grade Research Paper By Nathaniel Roth Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School June 2014 1 More than half of the birds in New Zealand either can’t fly, can only partially fly, or don’t like to fly. (Te Ara) This is a fact. Although only sixteen species in New Zealand are technically flightless, with another sixteen that are extinct (TerraNature), a majority of more than 170 bird species will not fly unless their lives are threatened, or not even then. This is surprising, since birds are usually known for flying. A flightless bird is a bird that cannot fly, such as the wellknown ostrich and emu, not to mention penguins. The two main islands southeast of Australia that make up New Zealand have an unusually diverse population of these birds. I am personally very interested in New Zealand and know a lot about it because my mother was born there, and I still have family there. I was very intrigued by these birds in particular, and how different they are from most of the world’s birds. I asked myself, why New Zealand? What made this tiny little country have so many birds that can’t fly, while in the rest of the world, hardly any live in one place? My research has informed me that the population and diversity of flightless birds here is so large because it has been isolated for so long from other land masses. Almost no mammals, and no land predators, lived there in the millions of years after it split from the Australian continent, so flying birds didn’t have as much of an advantage during this time.