List of Late Quaternary prehistoric bird species

Taxon extinctions taking place before the Late Quaternary happened in the absence of significant human interference.

Rather, reasons for extinction are random abiotic events such as bolide impacts, climate changes, mass volcanic eruptions, etc.

The relationships of these ancient birds are often hard to determine, as many are known only from very fragmentary remains and complete fossilization precludes analysis of information from DNA, RNA or protein sequencing.

The ostriches The elephant birds of Madagascar The moa of New Zealand An extinct order of giant flightless fowl.

True Galliformes Gulls, auks and shorebirds The group that includes modern rails and cranes.