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Description

The recently extinct fauna of the Society Islands, French Polynesia and Pitchairn Islands, to scale.

The Pacific Ocean is huge. At 165 million square kilometres there is enough room for islands to be remote. Across the central and eastern part of the South Pacific are some of the loneliest islands, yet even here humans and their entourage of pests have caused the extinction of many species. Due to the vast distances, birds were the main terrestrial vertebrate colonists able to reach these islands, and consequently have been badly affected since human arrival. See also Extinct Island Fauna - Polynesia 1 , Extinct Island Fauna - Melanesia 1 and Extinct Island Fauna - Melanesia 2 .

* Pigeons and doves are well represented, as they were from the other Pacific island assemblages, with a variety of species from the fruit dove, ground dove and giant pigeon lineages. One celebrity species was the Spotted green or 'Liverpool' pigeon. The latter name was due to specimens that had turned up in UK collections, but with an unknown origin. A similarity to living Nicobar pigeons was able to pinpoint ancestry but it has only been recently that connections made with traditional Tahitian stories from the 19th Century have confirmed where the Spotted green pigeon lived. Notably at least seven separate species have been found from the four remote islands that make up the Pitcairn islands. Little is known about them, but all show limited capabilities of flight with most species having been found around human settlements in middens.

* Monarch flycatchers have a large range having spread across the Pacific, Australasia, South-east Asia and Africa. Species of Pomarea are exclusively found in the Pacific, with several species highly endangered and three confirmed extinctions. Little is known about the three species, but the usual suspects of introduced predators and habitat destruction are to blame.

* Four species of parrot disappeared across the eastern Polynesian islands. Both Vini lorikeets and Cyanorhamphus parakeets are widespread Pacific groups, but two species from each succumbed to the pressure of predators and habitat destruction.

* One family that is are symbolic of island endemism and extinctions must be the rails. Of 150 species, over 30 island species evolved towards flightlessness. Their short rounded wings and propensity for running rather than flying has meant they are common island vagrants. Once they colonise an island with no terrestrial predators, rails tend to resort to a flightless lifestyle. The downside of flightlessness is that when circumstances change, like introduced predators then the rails face an uncertain future. Gallirallus (or possibly Hypotaenida) rails are widespread across the Pacific, and have suffered badly with up to 17 species extinct. At least six were native to the eastern Polynesian islands. Likewise Porzana (or Zapornia) crakes have also been hit hard with around 20 species, many unnamed, lost across the Pacific. Likewise 11 species of the larger Porphyrio swamphens are no longer in existence across the Pacific. An example of each group are shown.

* Despite gulls being very adaptable worldwide with many species living alongside humans, one species from French Polynesia was killed off specifically by human activity.

* The five Prosobonia sandpipers were once found across the Pacific, but due to rat predation now only one is in existence.

Description

The recently extinct fauna of the Society Islands, French Polynesia and Pitchairn Islands, to scale.

The Pacific Ocean is huge. At 165 million square kilometres there is enough room for islands to be remote. Across the central and eastern part of the South Pacific are some of the loneliest islands, yet even here humans and their entourage of pests have caused the extinction of many species. Due to the vast distances, birds were the main terrestrial vertebrate colonists able to reach these islands, and consequently have been badly affected since human arrival. See also Extinct Island Fauna - Polynesia 1 , Extinct Island Fauna - Melanesia 1 and Extinct Island Fauna - Melanesia 2 .

* Pigeons and doves are well represented, as they were from the other Pacific island assemblages, with a variety of species from the fruit dove, ground dove and giant pigeon lineages. One celebrity species was the Spotted green or 'Liverpool' pigeon. The latter name was due to specimens that had turned up in UK collections, but with an unknown origin. A similarity to living Nicobar pigeons was able to pinpoint ancestry but it has only been recently that connections made with traditional Tahitian stories from the 19th Century have confirmed where the Spotted green pigeon lived. Notably at least seven separate species have been found from the four remote islands that make up the Pitcairn islands. Little is known about them, but all show limited capabilities of flight with most species having been found around human settlements in middens.

* Monarch flycatchers have a large range having spread across the Pacific, Australasia, South-east Asia and Africa. Species of Pomarea are exclusively found in the Pacific, with several species highly endangered and three confirmed extinctions. Little is known about the three species, but the usual suspects of introduced predators and habitat destruction are to blame.

* Four species of parrot disappeared across the eastern Polynesian islands. Both Vini lorikeets and Cyanorhamphus parakeets are widespread Pacific groups, but two species from each succumbed to the pressure of predators and habitat destruction.

* One family that is are symbolic of island endemism and extinctions must be the rails. Of 150 species, over 30 island species evolved towards flightlessness. Their short rounded wings and propensity for running rather than flying has meant they are common island vagrants. Once they colonise an island with no terrestrial predators, rails tend to resort to a flightless lifestyle. The downside of flightlessness is that when circumstances change, like introduced predators then the rails face an uncertain future. Gallirallus (or possibly Hypotaenida) rails are widespread across the Pacific, and have suffered badly with up to 17 species extinct. At least six were native to the eastern Polynesian islands. Likewise Porzana (or Zapornia) crakes have also been hit hard with around 20 species, many unnamed, lost across the Pacific. Likewise 11 species of the larger Porphyrio swamphens are no longer in existence across the Pacific. An example of each group are shown.

* Despite gulls being very adaptable worldwide with many species living alongside humans, one species from French Polynesia was killed off specifically by human activity.

* The five Prosobonia sandpipers were once found across the Pacific, but due to rat predation now only one is in existence.