Jamie Wood

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

Word has got around that we have a new sack of bird seed

The necessity for authentication of ancient DNA from archaeological artefacts The study of ancient DNA (aDNA) has revolutionised the fields of archaeology, human evolution and paleoecology, offering new insights into the past. I…

🧬 📜 New paper alert! 📜 🧬

We review recent literature that use ancient DNA methods in the analysis of archeological artefacts. We hope this will be a useful resource to improve the inclusion of ancient DNA methods into the study of ancient artefacts.

1/🧵

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

The necessity for authentication of ancient DNA from archaeological artefacts

url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/6eR1CVARMk...

Ancient DNA and morphometrics reveal a new species of extinct insular shelduck from Rēkohu Chatham Islands Abstract. The Rēkohu Chatham Islands, 785 km east of mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, exhibit high levels of species endemism. Prior to human settlement, the

Ancient DNA and morphometrics reveal a new species of extinct insular shelduck from Rēkohu Chatham Islands

For open access url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/4Ej0C4QO0q...

Long-term parasite decline associated with near extinction and conservation of the critically endangered kākāpō parrot Boast et al. analyze a unique fecal record of the endangered kākāpō parrot to reveal >800 years of changing parasite communities. Parasite losses occur during the species’ decline to near extinction a...

Parasite extinctions in threatened species may be far more prevalent than previous estimates suggest. Our new study of kākāpō dung spanning from ~1,500 years ago to present, finds >80% of parasite species were lost as the host species declined.

Antlions have a fascinating lifecycle. Their larvae look nothing like the adults, dig pits in sand, and predate small invertebrates (hence their name).

Wonderful to be at Fowler’s Gap, NSW, for a couple of days fieldwork - a really stunning variety of landscapes.

Picking through some arid zone barn owl material today. Lots of small mammal bones, but a surprising amount of frog as well.

Fun fact: If you stretched all the DNA in a human body out into a line, then started at one end driving at 100km/hr, it would take you 68,493 years to reach the other end. Alternatively, if you traveled at light speed, you could get there in just 27.36 hours.

A laptop case and a warm lamp. What more could a cat wish for on a bleak rainy Adelaide day.

Magpies may not be a pesky Australian import – new research finds their ancestors thrived in NZ a long time ago A fossil discovery of an ancient relative of the Australian magpie which lived in New Zealand some 19 million years ago challenges the understanding of ‘native’ species.

theconversation.com/magpies-may-...

Scientists sound the alarm for Nullarbor’s fragile limestone caves and unique underground creatures A massive renewable energy project threatens the treasures that lie beneath, including rare cave animals and a record of ancient life forms, experts warn

The more we learn about the Nullarbor's landscape, biodiversity and history, the clearer it becomes that this is a unique and special place. Somewhere worthy of protection, not just for Australia, but for the world.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Impressive work - The number of recognised genera of Australo-Papuan treefrogs has just been increased from 3 to 35!

academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

Burrowing Into the Past: Extending Niche Space Models of Procellariiform Breeding Grounds by Merging Fossil and Historic Data Aim Predicting species' potential distributions and niches requires multi-scale data encompassing the past and present. Increasingly, researchers have advocated using historical context to inform ec...

Stoked to finally see this one out in the wide world: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Tube-nosed #seabirds in #Aotearoa #NewZealand have been largely driven extinct on the mainland, since the arrival of humans. Our paper shows just how dramatic this collapse likely was...(1/4)

The FIRST International Conference on Palaeogenomics will happen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 23-26, 2026!

Topics will encompass all corners of ancient DNA research, from humans to wildlife and sediments🧬🦣💀🦠

Save the dates ✅

Check the website icp2026.palaeogenomics.org and follow us for updates!

Burrowing Into the Past: Extending Niche Space Models of Procellariiform Breeding Grounds by Merging Fossil and Historic Data doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

🧬 Introducing Environmental DNA, a free event for those in industry, government, and NGOs who are new to eDNA.

📍 National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide
📅 Thursday, 26th June 2025, 9am – 5pm
🎟 Free (limited spots available)

Register now: lnkd.in/gpTepqzF

Why did the processionary caterpillars cross the road?

Central Australia fieldwork

Ornithological-themed toilet wall graffiti in Alice Springs

The penguin that wasn’t The Hunter Island penguin (Tasidyptes hunteri) was named in 1983 when four penguin bones were excavated from a midden on Hunter Island. Its ‘extinction’ was estimated to have occurred about 11,700 yea...

Did you know the extinct Hunter Island Penguin (Tasidyptes hunteri) never actually existed? DNA testing of its bones showed they came from a mixture of different living penguin species. #worldpenguinday #worlddnaday

2020 Chatham Island Crested Penguin Bullion Coin NZ Post is the official issuing authority of New Zealand stamps and the exclusive producer of legal tender commemorative coins for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

Back in 2010 I sequenced DNA of a penguin bone from the Chatham Islands - 9 years later it was formally described as a new species, and a year after that it was minted as a coin! #worldpenguinday

Left it till the very end to check out Chihuly in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens at night - very impressive!

By pooping the equivalent mass of >48,000 school buses per year, New Zealand's seabirds once transported vast quantities of nutrients from the ocean to land. Seabird extinctions and population declines have had major impacts for terrestrial ecosystems. Fascinating talk by @andrebellve.bsky.social.

6,000 years of Adélie penguin ecology in the Ross Sea reconstructed from ancient environmental DNA Long-term records of biodiversity provide baselines for interpreting change in threatened environments, such as Antarctica. Our study explores how ancient environmental DNA can provide these baselines, by reconstructing details about past populations and diets of Adélie penguins in the Ross Sea.

Exploration of the past 6,000 years of Adélie penguin ecology in the Ross Sea highlights past population dynamics and diets, offering insights into biodiversity changes in one of Earth's last intact marine ecosystems. The researchers take you behind their Nature Communications paper. 🧪