Paleornithology of St. Helena Island, South Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, number 23, 49 pages, 10 figures, 6 plates, 8 tables, 1975.-Thepresent avifauna of St. Helena is a very depauper¬ ate one, many species of birds having been extirpated since man's discovery of the island in 1502.The great extent of this extinction was confirmed by a study of over 4600 specimens of fossil and subfossil bird bones, representing 21 species, collected from rich deposits on the island.These deposits vary in age and fall roughly into three groups, the oldest of which extends well back into the Pleistocene, the youngest of which is very recent, and the third is intermediate.The deposits yielded the remains of the following species, six of which are here described as new: Procellariidae-Pterodroma rupinarum, new species, Bulweria bifax, new species, Puffinus pacificoides, new species, P. griseus, P.