Tag: Biodiversity

From Aptornis to Zosterops: What can be done about an extinction crisis 50,000 years in the making?

Conservation comes down to values. Do we only focus on the charismatic animals and the things we can see, or do we conserve the out-of-sight, out-of-mind Lilliputs? If that world collapses, you can be sure ours is next.

I’m standing in the basement of our National Museum Te Papa Tongarewa surrounded by the ghostly remains of New Zealand’s bygone bird fauna.

Around me are row upon row of subfossil bones of giant moa to tiny wrens. Vividly preserved bird skins stare at me with vacant eyes as if awaiting word to stand up as sentinels to the currently unfolding biodiversity crisis, like those in Bill Hammond’s famous birdman paintings. Continue reading “From Aptornis to Zosterops: What can be done about an extinction crisis 50,000 years in the making?”

Back to the Future in Northland: Fossils illuminate a flight path towards ecosystem restoration

Ground control to Major Tom: The otherworldly Herangi Hill at Motu i Pao/Cape Maria van Dieman where Fred found the ancient Moho skull. Photo courtesy of Jennifer Carol.

In the pouring rain, surrounded by flowing sand lava and cascading lahars, Fred Brook gingerly walks towards Matt Rayner and me. He’s sliding across a steep sand dune, his hands carefully cupped before him. Whatever he is holding appears precious. It is; Fred has hit the jackpot. Through the rain, we get a glimpse of a powerful beak, possibly thousands of years old.

Fred has found the ancient skull of a Moho, the extinct North Island Takahē (Porphyrio mantelli), that died out shortly after the arrival of Polynesians in Aotearoa. This fossilised taonga represents what we have come here to find. It is also providing a rare glimpse at what the tip of Northland could have been like then and may be like in the near future. Continue reading “Back to the Future in Northland: Fossils illuminate a flight path towards ecosystem restoration”

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”

Traditional Chinese medicine: Eye of newt and toe of frog

‘Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and cauldron bubble’ chant the three witches in the cavern, lightening flashing outside, in Act 4, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. It’s images like these, conjured up by the great bard himself, that I associate with traditional Chinese medicines and herbal remedies.

The implied promise that if I take this concoction, my health and life will improve, is a powerful allure to many people, but does this ‘hell-broth’ really contain the ‘eye of newt and toe of frog’ as it promises or is it just fairy dust, or even something much worse? Continue reading “Traditional Chinese medicine: Eye of newt and toe of frog”