Hawaii Fossil Treasure Cave Explored

Sixteen years ago, in 1992, a group of scientists, together with their children, was searching Hawaii for fossil evidences. What they stumbled upon surpassed even their boldest expectations. The cave they found proved to be the richest in fossils on all Hawaiian islands and, perhaps, of all sites in the Pacific Island area. They learned from a local expert that the name of the cave was originally Makauwahi (“Smoke eye”).

 

More specifically, the involved scientists were David A. Burney and Lida Pigott Burney from the Department of Biological Sciences at Fordham University in Bronx, New York, US, together with their children, Mara and Alec, as well as their colleagues, Helen F. James and Storrs L. Olson from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., and their own children, Sydney and Travis.

 

Since the discovery, the scientists have been on a constant race to find more about it, to protect the findings, and to ensure the thriving of those species that could be resurrected. The researchers were able to receive a leasing for the cave and its surroundings from its rightful owners and, since then, they have continuously dedicated themselves to delving more into its past. According to them, the millennia-old cave could prove how its animal and plant life evolved with the arrival of the first inhabitants and the new species they brought along.

 

Besides the many fossil rocks, bones, pollen or seeds found preserved in the former Pleistocene dune field, the team also discovered evidences on how humans shaped the changes in the life of the area, leading the indigenous one towards its doom during 3 stages. As first-comers, Polynesians hunted down the native species of flightless waterfowl, and brought chickens, rats and pigs instead, which pillaged their breeding territories and nests. Secondly, as the locals settled, they began practicing agriculture, which further caused the native species to become extinct. This process was completed with the arrival of the European, American and Asian inhabitants, who brought goats and cattle.

 

Currently, with the help of the children from Kauai schools and that of local volunteers, the group of researchers has managed to rehabilitate about a hundred of the lost native species of plant life. Although many of the extinct local animals or insects can't be brought back to life, the surviving ones can still be provided a proper place to thrive once again.