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Penguin bones have given scientists an insight into how some of the South Island’s earliest settlers adapted to changes in their environment.
An international team led by scientists from the University of Otago’s Department of Zoology used carbon dating and ancient DNA analysis of archaeological penguin remains to establish the timing of penguin extinction and colonisation events.
Its findings have been published in the latest issue of the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
Associate Professor Ian Smith says key to the study was the realisation bones at earlier sites came from the Waitaha penguin, which became extinct about 1500.
They were replaced within about 30 years by yellow eyed penguins moving from the subantarctic, but these did not seem to be under the same hunting pressure.
He says the population in the deep south flattened or declined as large moa and seals were hunted out, but there also seems to have been a change in attitude.
"With the extinction of moas and Waitaha penguins and other things, Maori were beginning to develop an understanding of the effects of their hunting and were starting to develop a more conservation approach towards their harvesting," Dr Smith says.
He says the study helps to understand how quickly species can respond to human activities.
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http://www.waateanews.com/play_podcast?podlink=MjYyNTI=
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