Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan
Located on the eastern margin of Eurasia, the Japanese Archipelago hosts a unique modern fauna of terrestrial vertebrates including landbirds which show a high proportion of endemic species/subspecies. Despite its potential importance in taxonomy and biogeography, the Pleistocene landbird fossil rec...
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doaj-63f4a71ef4a14d32a30ae4d35b46677a2020-11-25T00:20:20ZengInstitute of Paleobiology PASActa Palaeontologica Polonica0567-79201732-24212018-09-0163346949110.4202/app.00509.2018Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast JapanJunya Watanabe0Hiroshige Matsuoka1Yoshikazu Hasegawa2Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyoku Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Kyoto 606-8502, JapanDepartment of Geology and Mineralogy, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyoku Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Kyoto 606-8502, JapanGunma Museum of Natural History, 1674-1 Kamikuroiwa, Tomioka, Gunma 370-2345, JapanLocated on the eastern margin of Eurasia, the Japanese Archipelago hosts a unique modern fauna of terrestrial vertebrates including landbirds which show a high proportion of endemic species/subspecies. Despite its potential importance in taxonomy and biogeography, the Pleistocene landbird fossil record has been scarce on Japanese islands, providing little information on the history of the unique fauna in the region. In this study, fossil remains of non-passeriform landbirds from the middle–late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages [MIS] 9 and 5e) of Shiriya, northernmost Honshu Island, Japan, are revised with extensive osteological comparisons. As a result, the presence of at least six non-passeriform landbird species, represented by 71 specimens, was confirmed: Syrmaticus sp., Coturnicini gen. et sp. indet., Columbidae gen. et sp. indet., Apus sp., Haliaeetus sp., and Accipitridae gen. et sp. indet. The Shiriya paleoavifauna is the first substantial Pleistocene landbird fauna reported from the central Japanese islands so far, and suggests that the overall landbird fauna in northern Honshu in the last interglacial period (MIS 5e) was not drastically different from the present one, in contrast to the presence of several extinct land mammals and seabirds in the local fauna. The occurrence of Syrmaticus despite the supposedly colder climate in that time than today suggests that the distribution of modern S. soemmerringii might not be totally defined by climatic factors, but probably affected by a biogeographic barrier at the strait between Honshu and Hokkaido islands.http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app63/app005092018.pdfAvesPhasianidaeColumbidaeApodidaeAccipitridaebiogeographyPleistoceneJapan |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Junya Watanabe Hiroshige Matsuoka Yoshikazu Hasegawa |
spellingShingle |
Junya Watanabe Hiroshige Matsuoka Yoshikazu Hasegawa Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan Acta Palaeontologica Polonica Aves Phasianidae Columbidae Apodidae Accipitridae biogeography Pleistocene Japan |
author_facet |
Junya Watanabe Hiroshige Matsuoka Yoshikazu Hasegawa |
author_sort |
Junya Watanabe |
title |
Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan |
title_short |
Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan |
title_full |
Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan |
title_fullStr |
Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from Shiriya, northeast Japan |
title_sort |
pleistocene non-passeriform landbirds from shiriya, northeast japan |
publisher |
Institute of Paleobiology PAS |
series |
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |
issn |
0567-7920 1732-2421 |
publishDate |
2018-09-01 |
description |
Located on the eastern margin of Eurasia, the Japanese Archipelago hosts a unique modern fauna of terrestrial vertebrates including landbirds which show a high proportion of endemic species/subspecies. Despite its potential importance in taxonomy and biogeography, the Pleistocene landbird fossil record has been scarce on Japanese islands, providing little information on the history of the unique fauna in the region. In this study, fossil remains of non-passeriform landbirds from the middle–late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages [MIS] 9 and 5e) of Shiriya, northernmost Honshu Island, Japan, are revised with extensive osteological comparisons. As a result, the presence of at least six non-passeriform landbird species, represented by 71 specimens, was confirmed: Syrmaticus sp., Coturnicini gen. et sp. indet., Columbidae gen. et sp. indet., Apus sp., Haliaeetus sp., and Accipitridae gen. et sp. indet. The Shiriya paleoavifauna is the first substantial Pleistocene landbird fauna reported from the central Japanese islands so far, and suggests that the overall landbird fauna in northern Honshu in the last interglacial period (MIS 5e) was not drastically different from the present one, in contrast to the presence of several extinct land mammals and seabirds in the local fauna. The occurrence of Syrmaticus despite the supposedly colder climate in that time than today suggests that the distribution of modern S. soemmerringii might not be totally defined by climatic factors, but probably affected by a biogeographic barrier at the strait between Honshu and Hokkaido islands. |
topic |
Aves Phasianidae Columbidae Apodidae Accipitridae biogeography Pleistocene Japan |
url |
http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app63/app005092018.pdf |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT junyawatanabe pleistocenenonpasseriformlandbirdsfromshiriyanortheastjapan AT hiroshigematsuoka pleistocenenonpasseriformlandbirdsfromshiriyanortheastjapan AT yoshikazuhasegawa pleistocenenonpasseriformlandbirdsfromshiriyanortheastjapan |
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1725368447713411072 |