Sprinkled across the tropical Pacific, the innumerable islands of Oceania are home to some of the most unique bird communities on the planet, and they sustain species found nowhere else on earth. Many of the birds that live in this region are endangered, however; many more have become extinct as a result of human activity, in both recent and prehistoric times. Reconstructing the avian world in the same way archeologists re-create ancient human societies, David Steadman—a leading authority on tropical Pacific avian paleontology—has spent the past two decades in the field, digging through layers of soil in search of the bones that serve as clues to the ancient past of island bird communities. His years of indefatigable research and analysis are the foundation for Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds, a monumental study of the landbirds of tropical Pacific islands—especially those from Fiji eastward to Easter Island—and an intricate history of the patterns and processes of island biology over time. Using information gleaned from prehistoric specimens, Steadman reconstructs the birdlife of tropical Pacific islands as it existed before the arrival of humans and in so doing corrects the assumption that small, remote islands were unable to support rich assemblages of plants and animals. Easter Island, for example, though devoid of wildlife today, was the world’s richest seabird habitat before Polynesians arrived more than a millennium ago. The forests of less isolated islands in the Pacific likewise teemed with megapodes, rails, pigeons, parrots, kingfishers, and songbirds at first human contact. By synthesizing data from the distant past, Steadman hopes to inform present conservation programs. Grounded in geology, paleontology, and archeology, but biological at its core, Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds is an exceptional work of unparalleled scholarship that will stimulate creative discussions of terrestrial life on oceanic islands for years to come.

Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds

Science & Math

Steadman, David W.

Biological Sciences

University of Chicago Press

Galapagos: Discovery on Darwin's Island

Zousmer, Steven

Smithsonian Inst. Pr.

The Graphic Art of Francisco Goya

ALEXANDER, DAVID

Curtis, Mark

Simon, Norton

Arts & Photography

Galleries of Claremont College

Exhibition catalog. Introduction by Frederick S. Wight. Catalogue by David W. Steadman. Illustrated in color and black/white. 132p. Measures 8.5x10 inches. Artists include Milton Avery, George Bellows, Henri Matisse, Kathe Kollwitz, Gustav Klimt, Dali, Charles Demuth, Emil Nolde, Egon Schiele, Kurt Schwitters, and others. Artist biographies.

Works on Paper 1900-1960 from Southern California Collections

Wight, Frederic S.

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Paleoecology and Archeology of the Eastern Great Lakes Region: Proceedings of the Smith Symposium, Held at the B ... of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences)

Smith Symposium (1986 Buffalo Museum of Science)

Miller, Norton G.

Laub, Richard S.

Buffalo Museum of Science

George G. and Elizabeth G. Smith Foundation

Buffalo Society of Natl Sciences

Galapagos: Discovery on Darwin's Islands

Smithsonian Institution Press

Book by Funk, Robert E., Steadman, David W., Kopper, J. S.

Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Investigations in the Dutchess Quarry Caves, Orange County, New York (Persimmon Press Monographs in Archaeology)

History

Funk, Robert E.

Kopper, J. S.

Americas

Persimmon Pr

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Books by Steadman, David W.