In the Pacific Ocean, the main wave of extinction began in about 1500 bc, when Polynesian farmers settled the Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia. They killed off, directly or indirectly, hundreds of species of birds, insects, snails and other local inhabitants. From there, the wave of extinction moved gradually to the east, the south and the north, into the heart of the Pacific Ocean, obliterating on its way the unique fauna of Samoa and Tonga (1200 bc); the Marquis Islands (ad 1); Easter Island, the Cook Islands and Hawaii (ad 500); and finally New Zealand (ad 1200).
