Mid-Holocene coprolites from southern New Zealand provide new insights into the diet and ecology of the extinct little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis)
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Mid-Holocene coprolites from southern New Zealand provide new insights into the diet and ecology of the extinct little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis). / Wood, Jamie R.; Vermeulen, Melanie J.; Bolstridge, Nicola; Briden, Shar; Cole, Theresa L.; Rivera-Perez, Jessica; Shepherd, Lara D.; Rawlence, Nicolas J.; Wilmshurst, Janet M.
In: Quaternary Science Reviews, Vol. 263, 106992, 2021.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Mid-Holocene coprolites from southern New Zealand provide new insights into the diet and ecology of the extinct little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis)
AU - Wood, Jamie R.
AU - Vermeulen, Melanie J.
AU - Bolstridge, Nicola
AU - Briden, Shar
AU - Cole, Theresa L.
AU - Rivera-Perez, Jessica
AU - Shepherd, Lara D.
AU - Rawlence, Nicolas J.
AU - Wilmshurst, Janet M.
N1 - Funding Information: The excavation and collection of moa coprolites from Borland Burn Rock Bivouac was performed under an Authority for research and collection of material on public conservation land (64005-RES) granted by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and a Heritage New Zealand Authority (201/435). We thank Alex Boast for assistance with coprolite subsampling. This work was supported by a National Geographic Research and Exploration Grant (9363?13), Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden FastStart (16-UOO-096), University of Otago, and the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment's Strategic Science Investment Funding for Crown Research Institutes. Funding Information: The excavation and collection of moa coprolites from Borland Burn Rock Bivouac was performed under an Authority for research and collection of material on public conservation land ( 64005-RES ) granted by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and a Heritage New Zealand Authority (201/435). We thank Alex Boast for assistance with coprolite subsampling. This work was supported by a National Geographic Research and Exploration Grant ( 9363–13 ), Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden FastStart ( 16-UOO-096 ), University of Otago , and the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment's Strategic Science Investment Funding for Crown Research Institutes. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Knowledge about the diets of New Zealand's extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) is heavily biased towards just three species (Dinornis robustus, Megalapteryx didinus and Pachyornis elephantopus), which represent about 90% of all identified coprolites and gizzard content samples. By comparison, the diets of the other six moa species are poorly known. Here, we report the discovery of a new coprolite deposit attributed to little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis) based on DNA barcoding and former moa species distributions. The deposit is the southernmost site from which moa coprolites have been recovered and just the second to contain mid-Holocene specimens. Moreover, the deposit provides the longest known temporal span (∼2200 years) of moa coprolites within a stratigraphic context. Pollen and plant DNA from the coprolites, as well as associated plant macrofossils, indicate that the deposit spans a period when the forest canopy was transitioning from Podocarpaceae to silver beech (Lophozonia menziesii) dominance about 6800–4600 years ago. Our analysis of coprolite content supports the current hypothesis that little bush moa browsed trees and shrubs within the forest understorey, but provides new evidence that ferns were also an important part of their diet. Based on this finding, we suggest that moa might once have played a previously unrecognised role in the dispersal of ground fern spores throughout New Zealand forests.
AB - Knowledge about the diets of New Zealand's extinct moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) is heavily biased towards just three species (Dinornis robustus, Megalapteryx didinus and Pachyornis elephantopus), which represent about 90% of all identified coprolites and gizzard content samples. By comparison, the diets of the other six moa species are poorly known. Here, we report the discovery of a new coprolite deposit attributed to little bush moa (Anomalopteryx didiformis) based on DNA barcoding and former moa species distributions. The deposit is the southernmost site from which moa coprolites have been recovered and just the second to contain mid-Holocene specimens. Moreover, the deposit provides the longest known temporal span (∼2200 years) of moa coprolites within a stratigraphic context. Pollen and plant DNA from the coprolites, as well as associated plant macrofossils, indicate that the deposit spans a period when the forest canopy was transitioning from Podocarpaceae to silver beech (Lophozonia menziesii) dominance about 6800–4600 years ago. Our analysis of coprolite content supports the current hypothesis that little bush moa browsed trees and shrubs within the forest understorey, but provides new evidence that ferns were also an important part of their diet. Based on this finding, we suggest that moa might once have played a previously unrecognised role in the dispersal of ground fern spores throughout New Zealand forests.
KW - Ancient DNA
KW - Avian herbivory
KW - Dispersal
KW - Extinct species
KW - Ferns
KW - Forest ecology
KW - Palaeodiets
KW - Palaeoecology
KW - Palynology
U2 - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106992
DO - 10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106992
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85106610277
VL - 263
JO - Quaternary Science Reviews
JF - Quaternary Science Reviews
SN - 0277-3791
M1 - 106992
ER -
ID: 274066705