Extinction and biogeography of tropical Pacific birds

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 Steadmana leading authority on tropical Pacific avian paleontologyhas 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 islandsespecially those from Fiji eastward to Easter Islandand an intricate history of the patterns and processes of island biology over time.nbsp; 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