A tiny fossil suggests bowerbirds once lived in ancient New Zealand – new research

By Elizabeth Steell, Research Fellow in Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
Alan Tennyson, Curator of Vertebrates, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago
Pascale Lubbe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Ecology, University of Otago

Most of our knowledge of New Zealand’s prehistoric bird diversity comes from long-lost species with bones large enough to be studied by eye. But many bird bones are so tiny we can barely see their features without a microscope.

Some 14 to 19 million years ago, in the Miocene epoch, the remains of thousands of birds were preserved in and around the vast Lake Manuherikia, located in present-day Central Otago.

We know a lot about some of the lake’s larger birds such as…

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