Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 50
The megapodes on Savo eluded my camera, but I did catch this orange-footed
scrubfowl,
Megapodius reinwardt
, on the Lesser Sunda Island of Rinca. It showed off its
eponymous big feet as it pawed through leaves. These megapodes, denied the constant heat
source that is available to the birds on Savo, pile up dead leaves and sticks to make their
nests and depend on organic decay to keep their eggs warm.
It will be especially sad if these birds disappear, for they demonstrate how
life can adapt to a dangerous world. Megapodes by the million have been
roasted by sudden explosions of the volcanoes on which they depend for
warmth. But some megapode populations have always managed to survive
those localized disasters. Now, the new and far more widespread environ-
mental changes that have been brought about by our own species may prove
to be too much for them.
Extinctions and catastrophes
What ef ects have these repeated geological catastrophes had on the liv-
ing world? We might expect that many of the huge eruptions and tsunamis
would lead to waves of extinctions, but in fact most of them seem to have
had surprisingly little ef ect.