Abstract
Excavations and studies of existing collections during the last decades have significantly increased the abundance as well as the diversity of the avian fossil record for Insular Southeast Asia. The avian fossil record covers the Eocene through the Holocene, with the majority of bird fossils Pleistocene in age. Fossil bird skeletal remains represent at least 63 species in 54 genera and 27 families, and two ichnospecies are represented by fossil footprints. Birds of prey, owls and swiftlets are common elements. Extinctions seem to have been few, suggesting continuity of avian lineages since at least the Late Pleistocene, although some shifts in species ranges have occurred in response to climatic change. Similarities between the Late Pleistocene avifaunas of Flores and Java suggest a dispersal route across southern Sundaland. Late Pleistocene assemblages of Niah Cave (Borneo) and Liang Bua (Flores) support the rainforest refugium hypothesis in Southeast Asia as they indicate the persistence of forest cover, at least locally, throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.
Highlights
Localities with avian remains in Insular Southeast Asia Australia and Asia have both yielded extraordinary fossil bird remains (for an overview, see Murray & Vickers-Rich (2004) and Chiappe (2007)), some of them dating back well into the Cretaceous and including some of the world’s earliest birds (Vickers-Rich, 1991; Chiappe, 2007; Martin et al, 2014), fossil bird remains from the island archipelagos in between these continental landmasses are rare
Whereas the Middle Pleistocene mammal fauna from Java went extinct at the transition to the Late Pleistocene, birds might have responded by a range shift rather than extinction
The avian fossil record in Insular Southeast Asian has significantly increased in abundance and diversity over the last decades, and consists of at least 63 species, representing 54 genera in 27 families, and 2 ichnospecies
Summary
Ever since the seminal observations of Wallace (1863) and Wallace (1869), a plethora of studies has highlighted the avian species richness, high levels of endemism, and unique biogeographical patterns, as well as the conservation threats across Insular Southeast Asia (i.e., Huxley, 1868; Mayr, 1944; Butchart et al, 1996; Brooks, Pimm & Collar, 1997; Brooks et al, 1999; Stattersfield et al, 1998; Myers et al, 2000; Trainor & Lesmana, 2000; Birdlife International, 2001; Jones et al, 2001; Jones, Marsden & Linsley, 2003; Ding et al, 2006; Jønsson et al, 2008; Jønsson et al, 2010; Holt et al, 2013). Evidence for extinction events and faunal turnovers in Insular Southeast Asia comes mainly from the mammalian fossil record, proboscideans and primates (i.e., van den Bergh, 1999; Meijaard, 2003; de Vos, van den Hoek Ostende & van den Bergh, 2007; Van der Geer et al, 2010; Louys & Meijaard, 2010). How past events have shaped current patterns of avian distributions. How to cite this article Meijer (2014), The avian fossil record in Insular Southeast Asia and its implications for avian biogeography and palaeoecology. I provide a synthesis of the current fossil record of birds in Insular Southeast Asia. I describe sites with fossil avian remains, interpret the fossil evidence in terms of avian biogeography and dispersal, and discuss the significance of avian assemblages for Southeast Asian palaeoecology
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