Natural history of New Zealand

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The natural history of New Zealand began when the landmass Zealandia broke away from the supercontinent Gondwana in the Cretaceous period. Before this time, Zealandia shared its past with Australia and Antarctica. Since this separation, the New Zealand landscape has evolved in physical isolation, although much of its current biota has more recent connections with species on other landmasses. The exclusively natural history of the country ended in about 1300 AD, when humans first settled, and the country's environmental history began. [1] [2] The period from 1300 AD to today coincides with the extinction of many of New Zealand's unique species that had evolved there.

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The break-up of Gondwana left the resulting continents, including Zealandia, with a shared ecology. Zealandia began to move away from the part of Gondwana which would become Australia and Antarctica approximately 85 million years ago (Ma). By about 70 Ma, the break up was complete. [3] [4] Zealandia has been moving northwards ever since, changing both in relief and climate. Most of the present biota of New Zealand has post-Gondwanan connections to species on other landmasses, but does include a few descendants of Gondwanan lineages, such as the Saint Bathans mammal. Overall, trans-oceanic dispersal has played a clear role in the formation of New Zealand's biota. [5] Several elements of the Gondwana biota are present in New Zealand today: predominantly plants, such as the podocarps and the southern beeches, but also distinctive insects, birds, frogs and the tuatara. [6]

In the Duntroonian stage of the Oligocene, the land area of Zealandia was at a minimum. It has been suggested that water covered all of it, [7] but the consensus is that low-lying islands remained, perhaps a quarter of the modern land area of New Zealand. [5] [8]

Before the split (Gondwana, 85 million years ago)

Zealandia (lower right), between Australia and Antarctica near the South Pole, 90 million years ago. The present position of New Zealand is outlined in white (centre left). Zealandia and New Zealand 90 ma Gondwana.png
Zealandia (lower right), between Australia and Antarctica near the South Pole, 90 million years ago. The present position of New Zealand is outlined in white (centre left).

In the late Cretaceous, Gondwana was a fraction of its original size, however, the landmasses that would become Australia, Antarctica and Zealandia were still attached. Most of the modern 'Gondwanan fauna' had its origin in the Cretaceous. During this time Zealandia was temperate and almost flat, with no alpine environments. [9]

Gondwanan fauna

Fossils found at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, suggest that 110 million years ago (Ma), Australia supported a number of different monotremes, but did not support any marsupials. [10] Marsupials appear to have evolved during the Cretaceous in the contemporary northern hemisphere, to judge from a 100-million-year-old marsupial fossil, Kokopellia, found in the badlands of Utah. [11] Marsupials would then have spread to South America and Gondwana. The first evidence of mammals (both marsupials and placental) in Australia comes from the Tertiary, and was found at a 55-million-year-old fossil site at Murgon, in southern Queensland. [12] As Zealandia had rifted away at this time it explains the lack of ground-dwelling marsupials and placental mammals in New Zealand's fossil record.

Dinosaurs continued to prosper but, as the angiosperms diversified, conifers, bennettitaleans and pentoxylaleans disappeared from Gondwana c. 115 Ma together with the specialised herbivorous ornithischians, whilst generalist browsers, such as several families of sauropodomorph Saurischia, prevailed. The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event killed off all dinosaurs except birds, but plant evolution in Gondwana was hardly affected. [13] Gondwanatheria is an extinct group of non-therian mammals with a Gondwanan distribution (South America, Africa, Madagascar, India, and Antarctica) during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene. [14] Xenarthra and Afrotheria, two placental clades, are of Gondwanan origin and probably began to evolve separately c. 105 Ma when Africa and South America separated. [15]

Gondwanan flora

The plant genus Nothofagus provides a good example of a taxon with a Gondwanan distribution, having originated in the supercontinent and existing in present-day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and South America's Southern Cone Nothofagus demis.JPG
The plant genus Nothofagus provides a good example of a taxon with a Gondwanan distribution, having originated in the supercontinent and existing in present-day Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, and South America's Southern Cone

Angiosperms evolved in northern Gondwana/southern Laurasia during the Early Cretaceous and radiated worldwide. The southern beeches, Nothofagus, are prominent members of this early angiosperm flora. The Late Cretaceous pollen record shows that some types of flora evolved across Gondwana, while others originated in Antarctica and spread to Australia. [16] Fossils of Nothofagus have also recently been found in Antarctica. The laurel forests of Australia, New Caledonia, and New Zealand have a number of species related to those of the laurissilva of Valdivia, through the connection of the Antarctic flora. These include gymnosperms and the deciduous species of Nothofagus, as well as the New Zealand laurel, Corynocarpus laevigatus , and Laurelia novae-zelandiae . At this time Zealandia was mostly covered in forests of podocarps, araucarian pines, and ferns. [9]

Rafting away (latest Cretaceous 85–66 Ma)

The remains of Gondwana 83 Ma, with Zealandia lower left Opening of South Atlantic 83 Ma.png
The remains of Gondwana 83 Ma, with Zealandia lower left
Plesiosaur (Kaiwhekea), is 7 metres long and lived around 70-69 million years ago in the seas around Zealandia. Kaiwhekea NT small.jpg
Plesiosaur (Kaiwhekea), is 7 metres long and lived around 70–69 million years ago in the seas around Zealandia.

The Australia-New Zealand continental part of Gondwana split from Antarctica in the late Cretaceous (95–90 Ma). This was followed by Zealandia separating from Australia (c.85 Ma). The split started from the Southern end and eventually formed the Tasman Sea. By about 70 Ma, the continental crust of Zealandia separated from Australia and Antarctica. However, it is not known when the division of land above sea level occurred, and for some time only shallow seas would have separated Zealandia and Australia in the north. Dinosaurs continued to live in New Zealand and had about 10–20 million years to evolve unique species after they separated from Gondwana. [17]

In the Cretaceous, New Zealand was much further south (c.80 degrees south) than it is today, however, it and much of Antarctica was covered in trees as the climate of 90 Ma was much warmer and wetter than today. [18] [19]

New Zealand's present native fauna does not contain land mammals (other than bats) or snakes. Neither marsupials nor placental mammals evolved in time to reach Australia before the split. The multituberculates, a primitive type of mammal, may have evolved in time to cross New Zealand using the land bridge. [20] The evolution and dispersal of snakes is less certain, due to their poor fossil record, it is uncertain as to whether they were in Australia before the opening of the Tasman Sea. [21] Ratites evolved around c. 80 ma and may have been present in Zealandia at this time. [22]

Swamps and rifting (Paleocene to Eocene 66 to 33.9 Ma)

At the start of the Paleocene New Zealand's biota was recovering from the extinction of dinosaurs, and the species that survived were expanding into the empty niches. There was a slight decrease in mean temperature at the start of the Paleocene, leading to a change in canopy species. [23] Zealandia was largely covered by shallow seas with low-lying land and swamps. [24] [25] The oldest penguin fossil in the world and various other sea birds are found in New Zealand from this time. [26]

The Tasman Sea continued to expand until the early Eocene (53 Ma). The western half of Zealandia then along with Australia formed the Australian Plate (40 Ma). In response to this, a new plate boundary was created within Zealandia between the Australian Plate and Pacific Plate. This led to the formation of a subduction arc with active volcanism forming islands north and west of present New Zealand. [27] New Zealand was low lying due to this extension and swamps became widespread. Today these are recorded as large coal seams in the geological record.

The isolation of Antarctica and the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is credited by many researchers with causing the glaciation of Antarctica and global cooling in the Eocene epoch. Oceanic models have shown that the opening of these two passages limited polar heat convergence and caused a cooling of sea surface temperatures by several degrees; other models have shown that CO2 levels also played a significant role in the glaciation of Antarctica. [28] Published estimates of the onset of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current vary, but it is commonly considered to have started at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. [28] [29] [30]

Whales were completely marine creatures by 40 Ma; [31] New Zealand oldest whale fossils are from 35 Ma. [32]

New Zealand's shallow seas (Oligocene 33.9 to 23 Ma)

New Zealand before the activation of the Alpine Fault (30 Ma) 30 ma New Zealand Zealandia.png
New Zealand before the activation of the Alpine Fault (30 Ma)

From the early Oligocene, at maximum submersion of the Zealandia landmass, almost all New Zealand's rocks are marine. Oligocene terrestrial sediments are few, scattered, and not well-dated.

It has been suggested that at some point, Zealandia was entirely underwater, and consequently all land biota would be descended from later immigrants. [33] [34] [35] However, molecular estimates of divergence times between 248 extant New Zealand lineages and their closest relatives elsewhere follow approximately a smooth exponential over the last 50 million years or more. Some 74 of these lineages appear to have survived the Oligocene in New Zealand. There is no evidence for a deficit of pre-Oligocene lineages, nor an excess of lineages arriving just afterward. This strongly suggests that New Zealand was never submerged completely. [5] Although there is no obvious peak of lineage extinction in the Oligocene, the limited diversity of mitochondrial DNA in kiwis, moas, and New Zealand wrens indicate that all three lineages underwent a genetic bottleneck (small effective populations) roughly coinciding with the maximum submersion; New Zealand at this time probably consisted of low-lying islands with a limited diversity of habitats. [8]

Significant uplift occurred by the mid-Oligocene (~32–29 Ma) in the modern Canterbury Basin, where palaeochannels eroded through the early Oligocene Amuri Limestone lead eastwards to the present Bounty Trough. [36]

The North and South island have been separate for most of the last 30 million years, allowing for the development of separate subspecies. [22]

The Southern Alps, Foulden Maar and Saint Bathans Fauna (Miocene – Pliocene 23 to 2.6 Ma)

Major uplift occurred on the Alpine Fault, which started to form the hills and the mountains that became the Southern Alps.

This reconstruction of the lake at Foulden Maar 23 million years ago was commissioned by palaeontologist Daphne Lee and drawn by artist/ecologist Paula Peeters. Foulden Maar reconstruction by Paula Peeters.jpg
This reconstruction of the lake at Foulden Maar 23 million years ago was commissioned by palaeontologist Daphne Lee and drawn by artist/ecologist Paula Peeters.

Foulden Maar, a maar-diatreme volcano in Otago, preserved a high diversity of freshwater fish, arthropods, plants and fungi at a lake 23 Ma. It is the only known maar of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and is one of New Zealand's pre-eminent fossil sites. [37] The fossil evidence derived from pollen and spores suggests a warm temperate or sub-tropical rain forest with canopy trees, with an understorey of shrubs, ferns and on the margins pioneer species. Climatically, the area resembled modern-day south-eastern Queensland, a humid sub-tropical zone with species that no longer occur in the New Zealand flora. [38] The lake contained small and large galaxiid fishes and eels, ducks (inferred from coprolites), and likely crocodiles as well. [39] [40]

A restoration of Dinornis robustus (the moa), and Pachyornis elephantopus, both from the South Island Giant moa.jpg
A restoration of Dinornis robustus (the moa), and Pachyornis elephantopus , both from the South Island

The Saint Bathans Fauna represents a detailed record of New Zealand's terrestrial life in the Miocene. It shows that small land mammals and crocodiles existed and have since become extinct. The earliest moa remains come from the Miocene Saint Bathans Fauna. Known from multiple eggshells and hindlimb elements, these represent at least two species of already fairly large sized species. [41]

The boundaries defining the Pliocene are not set at an easily identified worldwide event but rather at regional boundaries between the warmer Miocene and the relatively cooler Pliocene. The upper boundary was set at the start of the Pleistocene glaciations. Uplift intensified on the Alpine Fault forming the Southern Alps. This global cooling coupled with an increase in elevation led to the local extinction of many groups of plants, which are now still found in New Caledonia. [42] The new niches created in the mountains were filled with migrants from Australia and species that could evolve quickly.

The Taupo Volcanic Zone and ice age (Pleistocene - Holocene 2.6 Ma to today)

NZ-NI plain map.png
Bullseye1.png
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Lake Taupo eruption, 186 AD

The ice age began 2.6 Ma, at the start of the Pleistocene epoch, and is defined by the presence of ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. [43] During the warmer periods sea level was higher than today leading to raised beaches around New Zealand. New Zealand's flora is still recovering from the last glacial maximum. About 2 Ma, extension and subduction under the North Island formed the Taupo Volcanic Zone, leading to the central North Island being covered in cobalt deficient soils which restrict forest development. One of the largest eruptions being the Lake Taupo eruption of 186 AD. [44]

Since the last glacial maximum there have been three major climatic periods: the coldest period from 28–18,000 years ago, an intermediate period from 18-11,000 years ago and our current climatic condition the warmer Holocene Inter Glacial over the last 11,000 years. [45] In the first period global sea levels were about 130 metres (430 feet) lower than today. This made most of New Zealand a single island and exposed great sections of the currently submerged continental shelf. [46] Temperatures were about 4–5 °C lower than today. Much of the Southern Alps and Fiordland were glaciated and much of the rest of New Zealand was covered in grass or shrubs, due to the cold and dry climate. [47] [48] These vast tracks of exposed land with little vegetation cover increased wind erosion and the deposition of loess (windblown dust). [45] This deforestation led to a reduction in the forest cover and many canopy species were restricted to the northern areas of the country. The kauri was at the time only present in Northland but has progressively moved south from there over the last 7000 years, reaching its current limit about 2000 years ago. [49]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Cenozoic is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66 million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds, and angiosperms. It is the latest of three geological eras, preceded by the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. The Cenozoic started with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, when many species, including the non-avian dinosaurs, became extinct in an event attributed by most experts to the impact of a large asteroid or other celestial body, the Chicxulub impactor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsupial</span> Infraclass of mammals in the clade Metatheria

Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are primarily found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of the defining features of marsupials is their unique reproductive strategy, where the young are born in a relatively undeveloped state and then nurtured within a pouch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleogene</span> First period of the Cenozoic Era (66–23 million years ago)

The Paleogene Period is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Neogene Period 23.03 Mya. It is the first part of the Cenozoic Era of the present Phanerozoic Eon. The earlier term Tertiary Period was used to define the time now covered by the Paleogene Period and subsequent Neogene Period; despite no longer being recognized as a formal stratigraphic term, "Tertiary" still sometimes remains in informal use. Paleogene is often abbreviated "Pg", although the United States Geological Survey uses the abbreviation "Pe" for the Paleogene on the Survey's geologic maps.

The Phanerozoic is the current and the latest of the four geologic eons in the Earth's geologic time scale, covering the time period from 538.8 million years ago to the present. It is the eon during which abundant animal and plant life has proliferated, diversified and colonized various niches on the Earth's surface, beginning with the Cambrian period when animals first developed hard shells that can be clearly preserved in the fossil record. The time before the Phanerozoic, collectively called the Precambrian, is now divided into the Hadean, Archaean and Proterozoic eons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multituberculata</span> Extinct order of mammals

Multituberculata is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and reached a peak diversity during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene. They eventually declined from the mid-Paleocene onwards, disappearing from the known fossil record in the late Eocene. They are the most diverse order of Mesozoic mammals with more than 200 species known, ranging from mouse-sized to beaver-sized. These species occupied a diversity of ecological niches, ranging from burrow-dwelling to squirrel-like arborealism to jerboa-like hoppers. Multituberculates are usually placed as crown mammals outside either of the two main groups of living mammals—Theria, including placentals and marsupials, and Monotremata—but usually as closer to Theria than to monotremes. They are considered to be closely related to Euharamiyida and Gondwanatheria as part of Allotheria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratite</span> Polyphyletic group of birds

A ratite is any of a group of mostly flightless birds within the infraclass Palaeognathae. They are mostly large, long-necked, and long-legged, the exception being the kiwi, which is also the only nocturnal extant ratite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metatheria</span> Clade of marsupials and close relatives

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<i>Nothofagus</i> Genus of plants

Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and New Caledonia. The species are ecological dominants in many temperate forests in these regions. Some species are reportedly naturalised in Germany and Great Britain. The genus has a rich fossil record of leaves, cupules, and pollen, with fossils extending into the late Cretaceous period and occurring in Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antarctic flora</span> Distinct community of plants which evolved on the supercontinent of Gondwana

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Polar region of the Cretaceous</span> Animals that lived below the Antarctic circle in the Cretaceous

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biodiversity of New Zealand</span> The variety of life forms indigenous to New Zealand

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sparassodonta</span> Extinct order of mammals

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palaeognathae</span> Infraclass of birds

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The Paleocene, or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek παλαιός palaiós meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch, translating to "the old part of the Eocene".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gondwana</span> Neoproterozoic to Cretaceous landmass

Gondwana was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Zealandia, Arabia, and the Indian Subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of New Zealand</span> Overview of the geology of New Zealand

The geology of New Zealand is noted for its volcanic activity, earthquakes and geothermal areas because of its position on the boundary of the Australian Plate and Pacific Plates. New Zealand is part of Zealandia, a microcontinent nearly half the size of Australia that broke away from the Gondwanan supercontinent about 83 million years ago. New Zealand's early separation from other landmasses and subsequent evolution have created a unique fossil record and modern ecology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monotreme</span> Order of egg-laying mammals

Monotremes are mammals of the order Monotremata. They are the only known group of living mammals that lay eggs, rather than bearing live young. The extant monotreme species are the platypus and the four species of echidnas. Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brains, jaws, digestive tract, reproductive tract, and other body parts, compared to the more common mammalian types. Although they are different from almost all mammals in that they lay eggs, like all mammals, the female monotremes nurse their young with milk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Meseta Formation</span>

The La Meseta Formation is a sedimentary sequence deposited during the Eocene on Seymour Island off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. It is noted for its fossils, which include both marine organisms and the only terrestrial vertebrate fossils from the Cenozoic of Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meridiolestida</span> Extinct clade of mammals

Meridiolestida is an extinct clade of mammals known from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic of South America and possibly Antarctica. They represented the dominant group of mammals in South America during the Late Cretaceous. Meridiolestidans were morphologically diverse, containing both small insectivores such as the "sabretooth-squirrel" Cronopio, as well as the clade Mesungulatoidea/Mesungulatomorpha, which ranged in size from the shrew-sized Reigitherium to the dog-sized Peligrotherium. Mesungulatoideans had highly modified dentition with bunodont teeth, and were likely herbivores/omnivores. Meridiolestidans are generally classified within Cladotheria, more closely related to living marsupials and placental mammals (Theria) than to monotremes, barring one study recovering them as the sister taxa to spalacotheriid "symmetrodonts". However, more recent studies have stuck to the cladotherian interpretation. Within Cladotheria, they have often been placed in a group called Dryolestoidea together with Dryolestida, a group of mammals primarily known from the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of the Northern Hemisphere. However, some analyses have found this group to be paraphyletic, with the meridiolestidans being more or less closely related to therian mammals than dryolestidans are. Meridiolestidans differ from dryolestidans in the absence of a parastylar hook on the molariform teeth and the lack of a Meckelian groove.

References

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  13. ↑ Anderson et al. 1999 , CRETACEOUS: of flowers and pollination, pp. 158–159
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