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Penguin bones reveal long-lost species
SMC Alert
19/11/08
Penguin bones reveal
long-lost species
The hoiho or yellow-eyed penguin,
one of our most charismatic native species, was a stranger
to New Zealand until just a few hundred years ago, according
to research out today from the University of Otago.
A newly-discovered penguin species, called the Waitaha penguin, once occupied the yellow-eyed's range and was forced into extinction by human arrival between 1300 and 1500 AD.
PhD student Sanne Boessenkool set out to investigate changes in the yellow-eyed penguin population following human settlement. Much to her surprise, her analysis of ancient DNA from prehistoric penguin bones revealed that they were not from yellow-eyeds, but from an entirely unknown species of penguin.
We've asked scientists to express their views on these new findings and their potential significance.
Dr David Penny of the
Allan Wilson Center for Molecular Ecology and Evolution at
Massey University says:
"This research is both important
and very interesting, in that it adds to our knowledge of
the consequences of human actions on plants and animals,
which is an critical issue everywhere in the world.In order
to understand the ongoing impacts, we need to know about
past events, such as the extinction of the previously
unknown penguin these researchers have discovered -- one
more of our native species that was naïve to humans and
unable to adjust its behaviour to adapt to human
presence.
"In addition, it is vitally important to know how species, such as the yellow-eyed penguin, are able to respond to new opportunities. It is becoming apparent that some species can respond to things like climate change, and others cannot. The more we know, the more we can help."
Dr Jon Waters, Department of Zoology at
University of Otago and co-author of this paper,
says:
"This research highlights the fact that we still
have a great deal to learn about New Zealand's natural
history, and especially about the impact of human arrival
here. Who knows what other fascinating stories might have
been overlooked?
"More broadly, this penguin study indicates that we inhabit a highly dynamic part of the world - an idea that contrasts with the more traditional view of an ancient and relatively unchanging New Zealand biota inherited from Gondwana. It is now becoming clear, for instance, that species respond rapidly to human-mediated impacts such as climate change and extinction.
"The ancient DNA approach used in this penguin study is enormously powerful as it provides a direct means of characterising historical biodiversity. When coupled with more traditional techniques, this method has potential to revolutionise our understanding of the past."
Dr Steve
Trewick, Senior Lecturer: Evolution, Research Fellow: Allan
Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution at Massey
University, says:
"The paper certainly contributes to the growing body of evidence on the relative youth of much of New Zealand's biota, contrary to the popular view that has prevailed during the last 50 years.
"The finding that penguins suffered directly and severely from the first human colonists, is useful but perhaps not surprising; it might have been a surprise to discover that humans did not take full advantage of so vulnerable a prey.
"More exciting is the demonstration of biotic replacement (in this case by penguins from Subantarctic islands), which provides a much needed reminder that observations of biotic assemblages made at one point in time (now) are unreliable evidence of what occurred in the past.
"The capacity for penguins to colonise and recolonise is evident from studies of little blue penguin. Molecular data have here provided the potent evidence for this dynamism, just as similar data revealed that fewer moa species existed than originally thought, and that rails such as the takahe have evolved many times in New Zealand (and elsewhere) from repeated colonisation events (by flying relatives). In the case of Megadyptes (the yellow-eyed penguin), extinction by humans was probably the catalyst for successful colonisation, but before humans arrived environmental and evolutionary process must have facilitated reoccupation, replacement and character divergence.
"This intersection of ecology and molecular phylogenetics continues to provide the most compelling demonstrations of evolution, often in relatively short time frames."
Dr Phil Seddon, Director of the Wildlife
Management Programme at University of Otago and co-author of
this paper, says:
"The traditional understanding has
always been that the native species we see around us in New
Zealand today are the hardy remnants of a pre-human
biodiversity. What these unexpected results highlight is the
dynamic nature of ecosystem change, where the loss of one
species may open up opportunities for the expansion of
another.
"On one hand, hidden extinctions may be a more common feature of New Zealand's recent past than we realise. But on the other hand, we can be heartened by evidence of the resilience of endemic species such as Yellow-eyed Penguins, which are able to flourish when conditions are favourable.
"As ever, the conservation challenge remains the creation and maintenance of conditions that allow our wildlife to persist, even in the face of human-mediated threats, such as habitat loss, invasive species, over-harvest and global climate change."
ENDS
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