Recent advances in avian palaeobiology in New Zealand with implications for understanding New Zealand’s geological, climatic and evolutionary histories

Exotic Animal Practice in Australasia

The diverse and unparalleled ecological landscape of Australasia has forged a unique environment for exotic animal practice, characterized by its rich biodiversity and stringent legislation. From its origins in the 1960s to its current status as a dedicated specialist niche, the exotic pet veterinary profession in Australasia has undergone a remarkable evolution. The profession faces hurdles in education and training, with limited dedicated institutes offering comprehensive programs, leading to a knowledge gap that employers must bridge. However, the close-knit community of passionate veterinarians has forged unique training pathways and opportunities, establishing a vibrant and highly skilled group of professionals.

Evidence for adaptation of colourful truffle-like fungi for birds in Aotearoa-New Zealand

Propagule dispersal is a crucial aspect of the survival and reproduction of sessile organisms, such as plants and fungi. As such, the colours of fleshy fruits serve as a visual cue for animal dispersers. However, little is known about how, or whether, specific traits of fungal fruiting bodies, such as colour or shape, attract animal dispersers, and additionally the identities of fungal dispersers are poorly understood. Globally, most truffle-like fungi are dull-coloured, subterranean, and likely have scents that are attractive to mammalian dispersers. In Aotearoa-New Zealand, however, brightly coloured truffle-like fungi that emerge from the forest floor have seemingly proliferated. This proliferation has prompted the hypothesis that they are adapted to dispersal by a bird-dominated fauna. In our study, we used the literature and citizen science data (GBIF) to explore whether colourful species occur at a higher proportion of the total truffle-like fungi flora in Aotearoa-New Zealand than elsewhere in the world. In addition, we tested for a relationship between biotic factors (avian frugivory and forest cover) and abiotic factors (precipitation, radiation, and temperature) and the prevalence of brightly coloured truffle-like fungi across the world. The most colourful truffle-like fungi are in three defined regions: Australia, South and Central America and the Caribbean, and Aotearoa-NZ. Potential dispersers and the environment both relate to the distribution of truffle-like fungi: we found that increasing levels of frugivory were associated with higher proportions of colourful truffle-like fungi. This finding provides new insights into drivers of certain fungal traits, and their interactions between birds and fungi. Unique ecosystems, such as Aotearoa-NZ's bird-dominated biota, provide fascinating opportunities to explore how plants and fungi interact with the sensory systems of animals.

Pharmacists in zoos? A qualitative study investigating the potential for pharmacist involvement in wildlife health care in Aotearoa New Zealand

BACKGROUND

The importance of wildlife health has been critically emphasized by the current global pandemic. Pharmacists play a valuable role in the health care of companion animals and livestock; however, their involvement in exotic animal health is largely unexplored.

OBJECTIVES

This project consulted with zoo vets in New Zealand and investigated their practices around prescribing and dispensing of medicines to explore the opportunities for the involvement of pharmacists.

METHODS

A mixed methods approach was used where data were initially collected through an online survey distributed to 26 veterinarians and animal keepers working in zoos, wildlife parks, and sanctuaries. An optional semistructured interview followed the survey.

RESULTS

The facilities surveyed housed New Zealand native animal species and 85% also housed exotic animals. Veterinarians dispensed 75% of medicines at their animal facility, whereas the remaining 25% were dispensed by veterinary nurses. On average, 5-10 medications were dispensed at each animal facility per day. Common medicines dispensed were antibiotics, pain relievers, and antifungals. Most respondents felt that they could benefit from working alongside pharmacists in veterinary care. Compounding, access to medicines and identification of tailored formulations were identified as areas where collaboration would be valued. Limitations in the knowledge of pharmacists in animal medicine were distinguished as an area enhancement to assist in collaborative relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

There are opportunities for the skills of pharmacists to be incorporated into the care of animals in zoos and wildlife parks in New Zealand. Strengthening the pharmacist-veterinarian relationship can enhance the health outcomes of animals in animal facilities through this interprofessional interaction.

Abundance and Dynamics of Small Mammals in New Zealand: Sequential Invasions into an Island Ecosystem Like No Other

New Zealand had no people or four-footed mammals of any size until it was colonised by Polynesian voyagers and Pacific rats in c. 1280 AD. Between 1769 and 1920 AD, Europeans brought three more species of commensal rats and mice, and three predatory mustelids, plus rabbits, house cats hedgehogs and Australian brushtail possums. All have in turn invaded the whole country and many offshore islands in huge abundance, at least initially. Three species are now reduced to remnant populations, but the other eight remain widely distributed. They comprise an artificial but interacting and fully functional bottom-up predator-prey system, responding at all levels to interspecific competition, habitat quality and periodic resource pulsing.

Recent evolution of extreme sexual dimorphism in the huia (Heteralocha acutirostris; Callaeidae)

The New Zealand wattlebirds (Callaeidae) are an endemic New Zealand passerine family whose species show extreme variation in bill morphology. In particular, the extinct huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) has attracted considerable attention because it exhibited extreme sexual dimorphism in bill morphology. However, the phylogenetic relationships within the Callaeidae, crucial for understanding bill evolution in the family, have not been resolved to date. Here we present phylogenies based on complete mitochondrial genome sequences and nuclear ultraconserved elements. Kōkako (Callaeas spp.) is strongly supported as sister taxon to saddleback/tīeke (Philesturnus spp.) and huia, diverging around 6.8 Ma. Saddleback and huia are estimated to have split from each other 5 Ma, indicating that the extreme sexual bill dimorphism in huia has evolved within this time frame. Our estimates for the divergences within the Callaetidae are similar to, or younger than, those of most other endemic New Zealand avian families, therefore the observed bill variation is not a consequence of a longer divergence time. Instead, the expansion of the huia into the wood-foraging niche, combined with the sexual dimorphism it evolved in order to optimise feeding on this resource, has been the main contributor to the large variation of bill morphologies within this family.

Nomenclature of supra-generic units within the Family Scincidae (Squamata)

The modern classification of skinks is based on a nomenclature that dates to the 1970s. However, there are a number of earlier names in the family group that have been overlooked by recent workers. These names are identified and their validity with respect to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature investigated, along with their type genera. In most cases, use of these names to supplant junior synonyms in modern day use is avoidable by use of the Reversal of Precedence articles of the Code, but the names remain available in case of future divisions at the tribe and subtribe level. Other names are unavailable due to homonymy, either of their type genera or the stems from similar but non-homonymous type genera. However, the name Egerniini is replaced by Tiliquini, due to a limited timespan of use of Egerniini. A new classification of the Family Scincidae is proposed, providing a more extensive use of Code-regulated levels of classification, including tribes and subtribes, and a detailed synonymy provided for each taxonomic unit.

Phylogenetic analysis of a new morphological dataset elucidates the evolutionary history of Crocodylia and resolves the long-standing gharial problem

First appearing in the latest Cretaceous, Crocodylia is a clade of semi-aquatic, predatory reptiles, defined by the last common ancestor of extant alligators, caimans, crocodiles, and gharials. Despite large strides in resolving crocodylian interrelationships over the last three decades, several outstanding problems persist in crocodylian systematics. Most notably, there has been persistent discordance between morphological and molecular datasets surrounding the affinities of the extant gharials, Gavialis gangeticus and Tomistoma schlegelii. Whereas molecular data consistently support a sister taxon relationship, in which they are more closely related to crocodylids than to alligatorids, morphological data indicate that Gavialis is the sister taxon to all other extant crocodylians. Here we present a new morphological dataset for Crocodylia based on a critical reappraisal of published crocodylian character data matrices and extensive firsthand observations of a global sample of crocodylians. This comprises the most taxonomically comprehensive crocodylian dataset to date (144 OTUs scored for 330 characters) and includes a new, illustrated character list with modifications to the construction and scoring of characters, and 46 novel characters. Under a maximum parsimony framework, our analyses robustly recover Gavialis as more closely related to Tomistoma than to other extant crocodylians for the first time based on morphology alone. This result is recovered regardless of the weighting strategy and treatment of quantitative characters. However, analyses using continuous characters and extended implied weighting (with high k-values) produced the most resolved, well-supported, and stratigraphically congruent topologies overall. Resolution of the gharial problem reveals that: (1) several gavialoids lack plesiomorphic features that formerly drew them towards the stem of Crocodylia; and (2) more widespread similarities occur between species traditionally divided into tomistomines and gavialoids, with these interpreted here as homology rather than homoplasy. There remains significant temporal incongruence regarding the inferred divergence timing of the extant gharials, indicating that several putative gavialids ('thoracosaurs') are incorrectly placed and require future re-appraisal. New alligatoroid interrelationships include: (1) support for a North American origin of Caimaninae in the latest Cretaceous; (2) the recovery of the early Paleogene South American taxon Eocaiman as a 'basal' alligatoroid; and (3) the paraphyly of the Cenozoic European taxon Diplocynodon. Among crocodyloids, notable results include modifications to the taxonomic content of Mekosuchinae, including biogeographic affinities of this clade with latest Cretaceous-early Paleogene Asian crocodyloids. In light of our new results, we provide a comprehensive review of the evolutionary and biogeographic history of Crocodylia, which included multiple instances of transoceanic and continental dispersal.

Deep Macroevolutionary Impact of Humans on New Zealand's Unique Avifauna

Islands are at the frontline of the anthropogenic extinction crisis [1]. A vast number of island birds have gone extinct since human colonization [2], and an important proportion is currently threatened with extinction [3]. While the number of lost or threatened avian species has often been quantified [4], the macroevolutionary consequences of human impact on island biodiversity have rarely been measured [5]. Here, we estimate the amount of evolutionary time that has been lost or is under threat due to anthropogenic activity in a classic example, New Zealand. Half of its bird taxa have gone extinct since humans arrived [6, 7] and many are threatened [8], including lineages forming highly distinct branches in the avian tree of life [9-11]. Using paleontological and ancient DNA information, we compiled a dated phylogenetic dataset for New Zealand's terrestrial avifauna. We extend the method DAISIE developed for island biogeography [12] to allow for the fact that many of New Zealand's birds are evolutionarily isolated and use it to estimate natural rates of speciation, extinction, and colonization. Simulating under a range of human-induced extinction scenarios, we find that it would take approximately 50 million years (Ma) to recover the number of species lost since human colonization of New Zealand and up to 10 Ma to return to today's species numbers if currently threatened species go extinct. This study puts into macroevolutionary perspective the impact of humans in an isolated fauna and reveals how conservation decisions we take today will have repercussions for millions of years.

How ‘Gondwanan’ is Riethia? Molecular phylogenetics elucidates the mode and tempo of diversification in Austro-Pacific Chironominae (Diptera)

Riethia Kieffer, a genus of the non-biting midge subfamily Chironominae (Diptera: Chironomidae) is distributed in Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and South America. This austral distribution could be due to earth history (vicariance) or from Southern Hemisphere dispersal(s). We obtained samples from each area, most intensively from throughout Australia. We included putative sister genus Pseudochironomus Malloch, many genera from tribe Tanytarsini, enigmatic taxa in Chironomini and conventional outgroups from other subfamilies. We assembled a multilocus molecular dataset for four genetic regions from 107 individuals to reconstruct the first dated molecular phylogeny for the group. Four terminal clusters corresponded to unreared (thus unassociated) larvae. Monophyly was supported for ‘core’ Riethia, Pseudochironomus, putative tribe Pseudochironomini, tribe Tanytarsini (including enigmatic Nandeva Wiedenbrug, Reiss & Fittkau) and subfamily Chironominae. All species are monophyletic except for R. cinctipes Freeman, which includes R. neocaledonica Cranston. Riethia zeylandica Freeman, previously thought to be widespread in eastern Australia, now is a New Zealand endemic with Australian specimens allocated now to several regionally restricted species. The origin of Riethia was at 60.6 Ma (‘core’) or 52.1 Ma depending on the relationship of two South American species. Both dates are before the break-up of South America and Australia. Diversification within crown group Riethia started before the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, with subsequent separation at 52 Ma of an Australian ‘clade I’ from its sister ‘clade II’, which comprises Australian, New Zealand and New Caledonian species. Inferred dates for species origins of New Caledonia and New Zealand taxa imply transoceanic dispersals from eastern Australia. Western Australian species diverged during the mid to late Miocene from their eastern Australian sister taxa. This correlates with the onset of drying of Australia and the separation of mesic east from west by the formation of an arid proto-Nullarbor. Taken together, the inferred tempo of diversification in the group included both older ages reflecting earth history, yet with suggested recent intra-Pacific separations due to transoceanic dispersals.

Prehistoric avifaunas from the Kingdom of Tonga

Avifaunas derived from Lapita archaeological sites excavated between 2004 and 2014 from four sites in the Vava'u Group and two on Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga are described, revealing birds encountered by the first human arrivals. A total of 741 identifiable bones revealed 24 avian taxa, among which terrestrial birds, especially rails, pigeons and parrots, were the most abundant. At a minimum, eight taxa, or 50% of the original non-passerine land bird diversity in the sample, are globally extinct. These include two megapodes (Megapodius alimentum and a larger unnamed megapode), three pigeons (a large Caloenas sp. indet., Didunculus placopedetes and Ducula shutleri sp. nov.), two rails (Hypotaenidia vavauensis sp. nov. and an unnamed one) and the parrot Eclectus infectus. The rail H. vavauensis was restricted to Vava'u and was flightless, with reduced wings, and larger than Hypotaenidia woodfordi of the Solomons, the largest congener hitherto found in the Pacific. The pigeon Du. shutleri was volant, but was the largest species in its genus and was widespread in the Kingdom. The evolution of Tongan avifaunas is related to varying ages (Pliocene to Pleistocene) of the island groups, where geological youth apparently precluded true giantism in the fauna.

Evidence for a giant parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand

Insular avifaunas have repeatedly spawned evolutionary novelties in the form of unusually large, often flightless species. We report fossils from the Early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand that attests to the former existence of a giant psittaciform, which is described as a new genus and species. The fossils are two incomplete tibiotarsi from a bird with an estimated mass of 7 kg, double that of the heaviest known parrot, the kakapo Strigops habroptila. These psittaciform fossils show that parrots join the growing group of avian taxa prone to giantism in insular species, currently restricted to palaeognaths, anatids, sylviornithids, columbids, aptornithids, ciconiids, tytonids, falconids and accipitrids.

A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand

A new genus and species of fossil bat is described from New Zealand's only pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic terrestrial fauna, the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, South Island. Bayesian total evidence phylogenetic analysis places this new Southern Hemisphere taxon among the burrowing bats (mystacinids) of New Zealand and Australia, although its lower dentition also resembles Africa's endemic sucker-footed bats (myzopodids). As the first new bat genus to be added to New Zealand's fauna in more than 150 years, it provides new insight into the original diversity of chiropterans in Australasia. It also underscores the significant decline in morphological diversity that has taken place in the highly distinctive, semi-terrestrial bat family Mystacinidae since the Miocene. This bat was relatively large, with an estimated body mass of ~40 g, and its dentition suggests it had an omnivorous diet. Its striking dental autapomorphies, including development of a large hypocone, signal a shift of diet compared with other mystacinids, and may provide evidence of an adaptive radiation in feeding strategy in this group of noctilionoid bats.