Fossil deposits in the Hodges Creek Cave System, on the northern foothills of Mt Arthur, Nelson, South Island, New Zealand | Notornis and Birds New Zealand

摘要

Avifaunas from Pleistocene and Holocene fossil deposits in the Hodges Creek Cave System in northwest Nelson, New Zealand, are described. At least 20 species of birds are present in glacial-age deposits from these sites at about 900 m above sea level. A sample of 12,000 year old Finsch's Duck (Euryanas finschi) bones shows that post-glacial shortening of the wings in this species had already started at that time.