[Taxacom] New Zealand modern biota ALL by dispersal?

[John Grehan]

For dispersalists the answer is obvious - the moa swam and the kiwi flew
(from Europe according to some).

John Grehan



> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-
> bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Karl Magnacca
> Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 2:35 AM
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] New Zealand modern biota ALL by dispersal?
> 
> On 10 Jan 2007 at 4:25, Ken Kinman wrote:
> >      Perhaps the most difficult dispersal across the Tasman Sea to
> explain
> > would be the frog genus Leiopelma, but I am mulling over some ideas.
> > Compared to that it would be easy to explain Sphenodon's dispersal
> across
> > the Tasman Sea, so if I can explain how Leiopelma probably dispersed
> across
> > it, everything else would be a breeze.
> 
> What's the explanation for moa and kiwi?  As someone without much
> knowledge of the assemblage I could believe that the tuatara could
raft
> across, but it seems kind of unlikely for those two.  The only other
way
> I see would be flying, and even if the ratites aren't monophyletic and
> they could still fly at the time they don't seem like they would have
> ever been strong enough to make it over such a distance (though maybe
it
> was shorter then?).  It seems even more difficult if the kiwi are more
> closely related to cassowaries, as it would make it more likely that
> they were flightless before arriving.
> 
> Karl
> =====================
> Karl Magnacca
> UC-Berkeley, ESPM Dept.
> 137 Mulford Hall #3114
> Berkeley, CA 94720
> http://nature.berkeley.edu/~magnacca/
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Taxacom mailing list
> Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom