prehistoric presence of
endemic non-flying land mammals (three extinct species of Rodentia and one of Soricomorpha), which are absent
from the other archipelagos; and (ii) by their different history of human colonization. In the Canary Islands, two
well differentiated waves of human arrival took place; the “aboriginal”, from north-west Africa, some time
between 756 cal BC–313 cal AD (Alcover et al.2009), and a second wave of colonization from Europe starting in
the 14
th
century (Aznar et al.2006). The other Macaronesian archipelagos were first populated from Portugal
during the 15
th
century (Crosby 1988).
Six species of extinct endemic birds have been recorded so far from Quaternary sites in the Canary Islands: the
Lava Shearwater Puffinus olsoniMcMinn et al.1990; the Dune Shearwater P. h o le a eWalker et al.1990; the
Canarian Quail Coturnix gomeraeJaume et al.1993; and three passerines, Trias’s Greenfinch Carduelis triasi
Alcover and Florit 1987; the Slender-billed Greenfinch C. aurelioiRando et al.2010; and the Long-legged Bunting
Emberiza alcoveriRando et al. 1999. In addition, the extinction of the Canary Islands Oystercatcher Haematopus
meadewaldoi(Bannerman) took place during the 20
th
century (Martín & Lorenzo 2001), with a further five nonendemic birds being extirpated during Holocene and historical times (see Rando 2003 and references therein). All
these extinctions seem to be directly correlated with aboriginal (Rando & Alcover 2010) or European colonization
and subsequent environmental alterations (Alcover & Florit 1987; Jaume et al.1993; Rando 2003; Rando &
Alcover 2008). These data show that more than 50% of the endemic species of birds of the Canary Islands became
extinct during the last two millennia.