Prions are a group of small seabirds that are very difficult to tell apart. This is part of the reason why it took more than 70 years to identify New Zealand’s first MacGillivray’s prion. Bird curator Colin Miskelly describes how modern genetic methods were used to identify old museum specimens – and to add a new species to the New Zealand and Australian lists.Read more
Vertebrates Curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently returned from one of the most remote and rarely visited parts of Aotearoa New Zealand. He shares some of his images and insights from two days ashore on the Bounty Islands.Read more
New DNA research by Science Researcher Lara Shepherd and Vertebrate Curators Colin Miskelly and Alan Tennyson has revealed parallel evolution in the small seabirds called prions. This unexpected result requires recognition of an eighth species of prion. Their research also revealed that all the birds formerly known as ‘fulmar prions’ are endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand. This means that we have gained two additional endemic bird species, and Australia has lost a breeding species.Read more
