Through the looking glass: Fossils reveal a Miocene Wonderland at St Bathans

It’s the height of the Central Otago summer – barren, dry and dusty. Driving down the gravel road to St Bathans, we’re travelling back in time, down the rabbit hole to a world long gone. Only ghosts remain of this lost world and that’s what we’ve come here to find. The fossilised bones of a myriad of animals dating back some 16-19 million years from the Miocene period can be found in the sediments of the surrounding area. Continue reading “Through the looking glass: Fossils reveal a Miocene Wonderland at St Bathans”

A tale of two penguins: Bice and Rosie

New Zealand has long been considered the cradle of penguin evolution. But two new fossil discoveries, affectionately known as Bice’s, (pronounced Bee-chee’s), and Rosie’s Penguins, are rewriting early penguin evolution and have taken the world by storm. Move aside Penguins of Madagascar; there are some new and cool kids on the block!

But how did we get to this point and what is Bice’s and Rosie’s tale? Continue reading “A tale of two penguins: Bice and Rosie”