Are wingless fliers Nature’s best hitchhikers?
by Ricardo L. Palma, Curator of Terrestrial Invertebrates Evolving without wings, humans dreamed about flying for thousands of years… but only just over 100 years ago they invented a heavier-than-air...
View ArticleDelving into the household accounts of James Hector
Dr Simon Nathan is an Honorary Research Associate at Te Papa. During his research towards a biography on James Hector, the founder of the Colonial Museum, he has delved into the household accounts of...
View ArticleMāori at Gallipoli – TedX talk “Forgotten grandfathers: Maori men of WW1″
Kia ora koutou Last month I gave a talk at a TedX conference in Tauranga where I discussed some of the research I’ve undertaken as part of our exhibition development project here for an exhibition...
View ArticleColossal New Addition to Te Papa’s Scientific Collections
Today we’ve been hearing about the most recent addition to Te Papa’s scientific collections, a new colossal squid Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni. We’re playing host to a dozen or so media representatives...
View ArticleDoodia rasp ferns become Blechnum hard ferns
A key principle in the scientific classification of animals, plants, and other living things is that the system of scientific names reflects their relationships. This is because there is only a single...
View ArticleSubtropical tree fern challenge
I spent yesterday afternoon in the fernery of Otari-Wilton’s Bush, examining two tree fern species from New Zealand’s subtropical Kermadec Islands. More details below, including ‘why?’. But first, a...
View ArticleThe Great Kereru Count 2014 – 22nd September to 5th October
This blog was written by Mel Dash, who is currently on maternity leave from Te Papa Kererū (New Zealand’s native wood pigeon) are making a comeback but they still need our help so Forest and Bird’s...
View ArticleRongoā Māori|Māori Medicine
Earlier this year we welcomed Ngāti Toa Rangatira into Te Papa to fill our iwi gallery and to be our iwi in residence for two and a half years. Together with iwi leadership from Ngāti Toa and Te Papa,...
View ArticleRongoā Māori | Māori Medicine Part 2
Tēnā ano tātou – thank you for all of your support for last week’s blog! It is such an extraordinary privilege working with our Kaumatua and Kuia and sharing their kōrero with you. Feeding back the...
View ArticleA new tree fern
New Zealand has a new tree fern – kind of. Te Papa Research Fellow Patrick Brownsey and I have recently recognised a subspecies within the stumpy tree fern, tuokura, Dicksonia lanata. The new name is...
View ArticleWestland Petrels weathering the storm…mostly!
New Zealand has an amazing diversity of seabirds. Around 1/3 of the worlds 348 species are found in New Zealand waters, with a high number of endemic and threatened species among them. Te Papa has a...
View ArticleTe Papa’s Science Showcased
The exhibition DeCLASSIFIED! Nature’s secrets exposed at Te Papa has just opened. It showcases recent discoveries by Te Papa’s scientists. Find out more about DeCLASSIFIED! Nature’s secrets exposed on...
View ArticleTangle ferns untangled
A focus for my research in 2014 has been preparing an account on the Gleicheniaceae fern family for the online Flora of New Zealand. More on the revolutionary online Flora of New Zealand. The...
View ArticleHelp us make discoveries
Interested in the ‘outdoors’? Want to learn more about the animals and plants around you? Want to make discoveries? Perhaps even find a new species? Want to help (1) Te Papa with its scientific...
View ArticleA box of fluffy birds – moving fairy prions from Takapourewa / Stephens...
Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently led a team that visited Takapourewa / Stephens Island Nature Reserve, to select and gather up 100 fairy prion chicks to move to Mana Island near...
View ArticleAntarctic blog #8 – The end of the world
Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly visited Antarctica during November-December 2014 as a guest lecturer for Adventure Network International (ANI). This is the final blog in a series based on...
View ArticleA box of fluffy birds – the sequel. Fairy prion chicks fly from Mana Island
Fairy prions are small burrow-nesting seabirds that breed in large colonies on many islands around New Zealand. The largest colony (of about 1.8 million pairs) is on Takapourewa / Stephens Island in...
View ArticleBioBlitzing Tolaga Bay
Last week Te Papa Botany curator Leon Perrie and I attended the Uawa BioBlitz in Tolaga Bay. Organized by the Allan Wilson Centre and Groundtruth, the BioBlitz was an intense 24 hours of species...
View ArticleLife through a burrowscope lens (Part 5) – subterranean Takapourewa /...
Te Papa vertebrate curator Dr Colin Miskelly recently led a team that visited Takapourewa / Stephens Island Nature Reserve, to select and gather up 100 fairy prion chicks to move to Mana Island near...
View ArticleCitizen science update – the ferns found so far
The DeCLASSIFIED! citizen science projects have been running for nearly three months. These projects are an opportunity to learn spiders and ferns with Te Papa’s experts, and to help us with our...
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