Jacob C. Blokland

Assoc. Prof. Trevor Worthy is our guest speaker for Thursday's Scientific Seminar. Presenting “Facing up to Genyornis – The hunt for the skull of Australia’s last Mihirung bird”, Trevor will cover the adventure to find its skull.
Thursday 11th September
RSSA Rooms, off Morgan Thomas Lane
6:00 pm

Close-up of a bird with a large, broad dark bill, brownish-tan plumage, and a grayish crown.

Boat-billed Heron at Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge #CostaRica

I love their large eyes that help them hunt at night.

#herons #birds #nature

My photo shows a limestone wall panel carved in bas relief from the Fifth Dynasty Funerary Temple of king Userkaf at Saqqara, 2465-2458 BC. It shows birds and a butterfly in a papyrus thicket in the marshes of the river Nile. A pied kingfisher and butterfly hover above the papyrus thicket, whilst a hoopoe, an ibis with long curved beak, a night heron, and a gallinule,are depicted amongst the papyrus umbrels. Height 102 cm. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Lovely naturalistic scene of birds and a butterfly in a papyrus thicket, carved by an ancient Egyptian artisan some 4,500 years ago!

Faint traces of paint survive on this limestone wall relief from the funerary temple of king Userkaf. Egyptian Museum, Cairo 📷 by me

#ReliefWednesday
#Archaeology

(I should add, I only mentioned New Zealand Paleocene penguins--the only described Paleocene penguin from elsewhere is Crossvallia unienwillia from the Antarctic Peninsula)

Maybe not a paradise for all, way back then. I reckon it would've smelled pretty bad...

Multiple exceptionally preserved fossils from the Paleocene Waipara Greensand inform the diversity of the oldest stem group Sphenisciformes and the formation of their diving adaptations Abstract. We report new stem group sphenisciforms (ancestral penguins) from the Paleocene of the Waipara Greensand (Canterbury, New Zealand), and describe

60 million years ago, eastern #Aotearoa New Zealand was #penguin paradise!

We describe 4 archaic penguin species from the Waipara Greensand, North Canterbury. This now totals 10 species from there, in addition to a diversity of Paleocene penguins from Otago and Chatham Island.
#fossil #birds

Multiple fossilized skeletons of extinct birds closely related to penguins.

New Paleocene proto-penguins Archaeodyptes waitahaorum, Daniadyptes primaevus, Waimanutaha kenlovei, and Waiparadyptes gracilitarsus: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a... 🪶🧪 (📷Mayr et al.)

New Zealand birds never fail to amaze. The extinct Hodgen's rail, thought to be a diminutive relative of the Australian waterhen, turns out instead to be a giant crake!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

📷: Paul Martinson, Te Papa CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Another case of island gigantism: the extinct Hodgens’ Waterhen (Tribonyx hodgenorum) is a member of Porzana (Aves: Rallidae) - Journal of Ornithology Tribonyx hodgenorum (Scarlett, Rec Canterb Mus 6:265–266, 1955) was a flightless rail (Rallidae) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand that became extinct in the eighteenth century. The affinities of this r...

Now online in Journal of #Ornithology

Another case of island gigantism: the extinct Hodgens’ Waterhen (Tribonyx hodgenorum) is a member of Porzana (Aves: Rallidae)

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Comparison of the wing and leg bones of several species of rail, including the recently extinct Hodgens' waterhen (A, D, G, J), the closely related Australian crake (B, E, H, K), and the black-tailed nativehen (C, F, I, L).

Genetic analysis reveals that the recently extinct Hodgens' waterhen ("Tribonyx" hodgenorum; A, D, G, J in figure) was a giant, flightless crake in the genus Porzana: link.springer.com/article/10.1... 🪶🧪 (📷Sangster et al.)

Unfortunately, as is too common of a story, we just missed out on meeting this guy. The most recent bones of this species are from a midden from the 1700s.

The implication is that this rail is not a flightless insular dwarf allied with the chook-sized nativehens (Tribonyx spp.), but rather a bantam-sized island giant that evolved from much smaller ancestors (Porzana fluminea)!

We thought 'New Zealand giant crake' was fitting.

This highlights the usefulness of considering molecular data and morphology together, to better understand evolutionary trends.

Figure 2 from the paper, comparing pelves of Hodgens' waterhen, Tribonyx ventralis and Porzana fluminea.

Figure 3 from the paper, comparing the humerus, femur, tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus of Hodgens' waterhen, Tribonyx ventralis and Porzana fluminea.

A close relationship to the crakes of Porzana was unexpected, and had been previously unconsidered or dismissed on the basis of morphology.

Looking at the bones in the context of this new information, despite the difference in size, there are several features that support this relationship.

The 3 modern species of Porzana are around starling-sized, or smaller. This rail—Porzana hodgenorum—was considerably larger, but still only about the size of a bantam.

The Australian Spotted Crake, Porzana fluminea. Image by patrickkavanagh, Flickr, CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_k59/52909644058/

The Black-tailed nativehen, Tribonyx ventralis. Ron Knight, Flickr, CC BY 2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/sussexbirder/8079591021/in/photostream/

Until now, the consensus was that it was a flightless nativehen of Tribonyx (otherwise only known from Australia), Tribonyx hodgenorum.

New genetic evidence shows that it was a member of Porzana—the 7th genus—and the closest relative of the Australian spotted crake (Porzana fluminea).

Taxonomic synonymy for this species. Author provided.

Hodgens' Waterhen. "Gallinula hodgenorum". From the series: Extinct Birds of New Zealand., 2005, Masterton, by Paul Martinson. Purchased 2006. © Te Papa. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Te Papa (2006-0010-1/47)

Since its description 70 years ago, this rail has been placed in 6 different genera, as perhaps a nice illustration of the relative morphological homogeneity across the family Rallidae (which is only further confused by the independent evolution of flightlessness in many species!).

Another case of island gigantism: the extinct Hodgens’ Waterhen (Tribonyx hodgenorum) is a member of Porzana (Aves: Rallidae) - Journal of Ornithology Tribonyx hodgenorum (Scarlett, Rec Canterb Mus 6:265–266, 1955) was a flightless rail (Rallidae) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand that became extinct in the eighteenth century. The affinities of this r...

New #research out today led by George Sangster, with Trevor Worthy, Pascale Lubbe, Paul Scofield & myself.

Recently #extinct flightless #rail Hodgens' waterhen from #Aotearoa New Zealand is a 'giant' crake of the genus Porzana, rather than a nativehen of Tribonyx.

(📷 credits given in ALT text)

Birds are dinosaurs who shrugged off a couple apocalypses. Some eat bone marrow. Some drink nectar. They outswim fish in the sea. They smile politely at gravity’s demands. ‬

‪I am grateful to see them. I am grateful to feed them. I am grateful to know them.‬

A new fossil kangaroo species of the genus Dorcopsoides (Marsupialia, Macropodinae) from the late Miocene Ongeva Local Fauna, central Australia The kangaroo tribe Dorcopsini is represented today by six species of New Guinean forest-wallaby. However, the group has a patchy fossil record beginning on the Australian mainland in the upper Mioc...

NEW #RESEARCH WOOHOO
Here's our description of Dorcopsoides cowpatensis sp. nov., a little #fossil macropodine #kangaroo from the late Miocene Ongeva locality in central #Australia.
doi.org/10.1080/0311...

Artwork by Gabriel Ugueto

I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎

Screenshot 1 of 2 of a Facebook post about Genyornis newtoni, which has an AI generated image produced from work illustrated by Jacob Blokland (not attributed).

Screenshot 2 of 2 of a Facebook post about Genyornis newtoni, which has an AI generated image produced from work illustrated by Jacob Blokland (not attributed). Skull image they have used here is unaltered from what I drew.

Came across this the other day... first time I've seen my work being used in the production of an AI image. The skull they've used is the same one I had drawn.

Had to laugh at "All rights and credits reserved to the respective". Sad that this type of thing is commonplace.

It was fun diving into the world of ancient sound-scapes with GM and hearing analyses. I think the dromornithids will continue to suprise me at every turn

Diagram showing the evolutionary relationships among cranes, rails, and other closely related birds, scaled against geologic time.

Phylogenetic position of the recently extinct Nesotrochis "cave rails" of the Caribbean: www.avespress.com/uploads/down... New analysis suggests they were the closest known relatives of the (also recently extinct) New Zealand adzebills! 🪶🧪 (📷 @stervander.com et al.)

The hearing capabilities of the Dromornithidae (Aves), with inferences on acoustic communication and ecology The preservation of bony structures which enclose the hearing organs (ECD) provide a basis for interpreting the hearing capabilities of the extinct, flightless Dromornithidae (Aves). Although the len....

Great new research out by @phoebyornis.bsky.social McIn-ear-ney, Warren and Trevor, investigating the hearing capabilities of Australia's extinct Thunder Birds (Dromornithidae). Love the idea of these beasties booming across the landscape.

Comparison of diverse mandibular mechanics during biting in Devonian lungfishes Fossil lungfish from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation, Australia, feature some of the most remarkable and specialized mandible morphologies in their 4…

Very proud of this one, my first foray into #biomechanics using #FEA!

“Comparison of diverse mandibular mechanics during biting in Devonian lungfishes”, published today in @cp-iscience.bsky.social, based on Joshua Bland’s honours work:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

An artistic rendition of the extinct Antillean Cave Rail, Nesotrochis debooyi Wetmore, 1918. ©Piotr Gryz, with permission.

Welcome a new family of #birds, the Caribbean cave rails, Nesotrochidae! They were—surprisingly—the sisters of NZ adzebills, all sadly extinct. New #OpenAccess paper out in Avian #Systematics w Gerald Mayr, Chen Guangji & Feng Shaohong: www.avespress.com/uploads/down...

🧵

#ornithology #taxonomy 🧪🪶

In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.

DROMORNIS #dromornis #paleoart #kevin

Illustrators call out journals and news sites for using AI art Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.

Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.

@kamalnahas.bsky.social @ella-maru.bsky.social‬ ‪@blokoweka.bsky.social‬

www.nature.com/articles/d41...