PREHISTORIC EXPLOITATION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF BIRDS IN COASTAL AND ANDEAN ECUADOR By MARKUS PATRICIO TELLKAMP A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2005 Copyright 2005 by Markus Patricio Tellkamp This dissertation is dedicated to our daughters Doménica and Daniela. May they inherit from us a beautifully diverse and healthy planet earth. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would not have been possible without the help of many people. I thank my advisory committee, especially my advisor David Steadman, for their patience and enthusiastic support when my dissertation took an unexpected turn and a side project became the main focus of my research. I also thank David Steadman for unrestricted access to the specimen collection of birds at the Florida Museum of Natural History and a great deal of inspiration. Brian McNab, Norris Williams, Susan deFrance, and Michael Binford all provided great comments that improved the quality of this work. The recent acquisition of specimens from Peru by Andrew Kratter has been instrumental in the success of this study. Lauran Bianco assisted in taking morphometric measurements. My visit to archaeological field sites in coastal Ecuador was greatly facilitated by Ana Agreda. I thank my wife Ivonne Ulloa for helping with so many aspects of this study, from cleaning bones, entering data, to providing companionship into the wee hours of the night. For help with my study on the phylogeography of Andean birds, although not the subject of this dissertation, I need to thank the Department of Zoology, Ginger Clark, Ivonne Ulloa, Lauran Bianco, Alexandra Rudnik, Phuong Pham, Robert Gotshalk, Fabián Cupuerán, Miguel Burgos, Fabián Granda, Fundación Arco Iris, Martha Mondragón, Juan Fernando Freile, Fundación La Otonga, and the Ecuadorian ornithological foundation (CECIA). iv Financial support came from a Grinter Fellowship, the generosity of Günter and Irene Tellkamp, and my work with CECIA. My parents, Günter and Irene Tellkamp, also provided moral support whenever it was needed. Above all, I thank my wife for her total support, help, love, and sacrifice in sharing my dream of obtaining a PhD degree. Our daughters are a constant inspiration and motivation to preserve the wonderful diversity of life and all the ecosystems that sustain it (and us). v TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................xv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION: THE HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTS OF ECUADOR.............1 Introduction...................................................................................................................1 Palynology ....................................................................................................................4 Eastern Lowlands ..................................................................................................4 High Andes............................................................................................................6 Western Lowlands.................................................................................................8 Sedimentology ............................................................................................................10 Paleontology ...............................................................................................................14 Archaeology................................................................................................................18 Biogeographical Patterns............................................................................................23 Historical Accounts ....................................................................................................26 Synthesis.....................................................................................................................28 Environmental Change as the Result of the Interaction between Culture and Nature.....................................................................................................................28 2 COMPARATIVE OSTEOLOGY OF ECUADORIAN BIRDS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS............................................................................32 Introduction.................................................................................................................32 Methods ......................................................................................................................34 Results.........................................................................................................................35 Identifications .............................................................................................................35 Discussion.................................................................................................................199 vi 3 EARLY HOLOCENE MANGROVE AND WETLAND BIRDS ON THE ARID SANTA ELENA PENINSULA, ECUADOR ..........................................................201 Introduction...............................................................................................................201 Methods ....................................................................................................................204 Results.......................................................................................................................207 Systematic List..........................................................................................................210 Discussion.................................................................................................................220 4 REMARKABLY HIGH NUMBERS OF SONGBIRDS AND GROUND DOVES AT THE EL AZÚCAR ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, COASTAL ECUADOR: AN UNUSUAL HUNTING ADAPTATION TO AN ARID ENVIRONMENT? ..226 Introduction...............................................................................................................226 Methods ....................................................................................................................230 Study Site...........................................................................................................230 Excavation .........................................................................................................230 Analysis of Bird Bones......................................................................................232 Results.......................................................................................................................237 Systematic List..........................................................................................................239 Discussion.................................................................................................................263 Guangala Fishers, Farmers, Hunters, and Bird Trappers?.................................265 The Paleoenvironment of El Azúcar .................................................................266 Conclusion ................................................................................................................269 5 A PREHISTORIC BIRD ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE ANDEAN TREE LINE AT LA CHIMBA, NORTHERN ECUADOR..........................................................271 Introduction...............................................................................................................271 Methods ....................................................................................................................273 Study Site...........................................................................................................273 Bone Identification ............................................................................................275 Results.......................................................................................................................277 Systematic List..........................................................................................................281 Discussion.................................................................................................................298 6 PREHISTORIC EXPLOITATION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF BIRDS IN ANDEAN AND COASTAL ECUADOR................................................................305 Introduction...............................................................................................................305 Prehistoric Exploitation of Birds in Ecuador............................................................309 Prey availability.................................................................................................310 Prey density .......................................................................................................311 Hunting Technique ............................................................................................311 Taboos ...............................................................................................................312 Hunting Regulation ...........................................................................................312