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Original Articles

Pleistocene avian fossils from Pyramids Cave (M-89), eastern Victoria, Australia

Pages 383-404 | Received 06 Aug 1990, Published online: 27 Nov 2008
 

Abstract

The avian assemblage of Pyramids Cave is composed of a minimum of 17 species. It is not dominated by any single species, which may be an effect of the small sample size. Total number of individuals for the deposit is 31. Terrestrial species comprise the majority of this assemblage (57%). These species are also crepuscular and/or exhibit an irruptive nature. Also important to this assemblage are diurnal, non-terrestrial forms which roost communally (20%). There are two species unique to this deposit (Pycnoptilus fordi and Orthonyx wakefieldi). Range extensions are recorded for one species, Atrichornis rufescens, and one superspecies group Orthonyx temminckii. The avian assemblage was accumulated by Tyto alba and is, in part, very different from that currently found in the area. The association of A. rufescens and O. wakefieldi indicates the presence of closed notophyll, vine forest, which suggests a climate warmer and markedly wetter than that occurring in the area around Pyramids Cave today.

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