Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region
The widespread perception of New Zealand is of a group of remote islands dominated by reptiles and birds, with no native mammals except a few bats. In fact, the islands themselves are only part of a wider New Zealand Region which includes a large section of Antarctica. In total, the New Zealand Regi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Diversity |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/1/45 |
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| author | Carolyn M. King |
| author_facet | Carolyn M. King |
| author_sort | Carolyn M. King |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The widespread perception of New Zealand is of a group of remote islands dominated by reptiles and birds, with no native mammals except a few bats. In fact, the islands themselves are only part of a wider New Zealand Region which includes a large section of Antarctica. In total, the New Zealand Region has at least 63 recognised taxa (species, subspecies and distinguishable clades) of living native mammals, only six of which are bats. The rest comprise a large and vigorous assemblage of 57 native marine mammals (9 pinnipeds and 48 cetaceans), protected from human knowledge until only a few centuries ago by their extreme isolation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Even after humans first began to colonise the New Zealand archipelago in about 1280 AD, most of the native marine mammals remained unfamiliar because they are seldom seen from the shore. This paper describes the huge contrast between the history and biogeography of the tiny fauna of New Zealand’s native land mammals versus the richly diverse and little-known assemblage of marine mammals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:00:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5029a6c16f6b4fc38c3f6fea8428b3d3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:00:05Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-5029a6c16f6b4fc38c3f6fea8428b3d32024-01-26T16:05:20ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182024-01-011614510.3390/d16010045Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand RegionCarolyn M. King0Environmental Research Institute—Te Pūtahi Rangahau Taiao, School of Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New ZealandThe widespread perception of New Zealand is of a group of remote islands dominated by reptiles and birds, with no native mammals except a few bats. In fact, the islands themselves are only part of a wider New Zealand Region which includes a large section of Antarctica. In total, the New Zealand Region has at least 63 recognised taxa (species, subspecies and distinguishable clades) of living native mammals, only six of which are bats. The rest comprise a large and vigorous assemblage of 57 native marine mammals (9 pinnipeds and 48 cetaceans), protected from human knowledge until only a few centuries ago by their extreme isolation in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Even after humans first began to colonise the New Zealand archipelago in about 1280 AD, most of the native marine mammals remained unfamiliar because they are seldom seen from the shore. This paper describes the huge contrast between the history and biogeography of the tiny fauna of New Zealand’s native land mammals versus the richly diverse and little-known assemblage of marine mammals.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/1/45ChiropteraOtariidaePhocidaecetaceafossil historyZealandia |
| spellingShingle | Carolyn M. King Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region Diversity Chiroptera Otariidae Phocidae cetacea fossil history Zealandia |
| title | Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region |
| title_full | Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region |
| title_fullStr | Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region |
| title_short | Biogeography and History of the Prehuman Native Mammal Fauna of the New Zealand Region |
| title_sort | biogeography and history of the prehuman native mammal fauna of the new zealand region |
| topic | Chiroptera Otariidae Phocidae cetacea fossil history Zealandia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/1/45 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT carolynmking biogeographyandhistoryoftheprehumannativemammalfaunaofthenewzealandregion |