A rich Pleistocene-Holocene avifaunal sequence from Te Waka #1: terrestrial fossil vertebrate faunas from inland Hawke’s Bay, North Island, New Zealand. Part 2: Tuhinga 13

Tuhinga 13: 1 - 38

ABSTRACT: The results of 13 m² of new excavations in the rock shelter called Te Waka #1, 900 m above sea level in inland Hawke’s Bay, North Island, New Zealand, are presented. The site is shown to have an unparalleled continuous faunal record in sediments about 3 m deep that spans the period from the Kawakawa eruption 22 600 ¹⁴C yrs BP to the present. Good temporal control is afforded by clear stratigraphy, three obvious tephras (Taupo Ignimbrite, one unidentified, Kawakawa Tephra (Oruanui Ignimbrite), seven AMS radiocarbon ages, and one uranium-series age. Three frog species, a tuatara, five lizards, 42 birds, and three bats are represented in the 2490 identified bones from the combined faunas from W. H. Hartree’s late 1950s and our 1999-2000 excavations. The fauna is interpreted as being mainly derived from the prey remains of Falco novaseelandiae, it includes the first fossil records of Garrodia nereis and Charadrius bicinctus from the North Island. The presence in the fossil avifauna of species that live only in shrubland or forest indicates that such vegetation was present on Te Waka between 22 000 ¹⁴C yrs BP and the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM, 18 000 ¹⁴C yrs BP). Pterodroma cookii ceased to breed on Te Waka over the LGM. The absence of this species (which nests solely under forest), the lack of forest passerines, and the presence of species characteristic of open vegetation indicate a substantial loss of vegetation around the site at that time. The sedimentary and faunal record indicate that the area was reafforested about 14 000 ¹⁴C yrs BP.

KEYWORDS: Fossil avifauna, palaeoenvironment, climate change, Quartenary, Te Waka, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand