The front and back of a pāua shell on a black background.

The discovery of the Manawatāwhi pāua, unique to the Three Kings Islands, highlights the need to build taxonomic expertise to speed up work to describe thousands of as-yet unnamed species. Authors Kerry Walton, Curator Invertebrates, Te Papa, Hamish G Spencer, Sesquicentennial Distinguished Professor of Zoology, University of Otago, and Nic Rawlence, Associate Professor in Ancient DNA, University of Otago discuss the ramifications of the new find. This article was first published on The Conversation, 3 September, 2024.Read more