evolution

New technologies can extend our scientific understanding. They can also mean we have to throw out earlier ideas.

Evolution is the process of change in a species that occurs over a long period of time.

Māori knowledge of animals is vast. This article is an introduction to Māori knowledge of a selected sample of animal species indigenous to Aotearoa. Mātauranga Māori ...

Takahē are one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s conservation success stories. Now new research has shed light on their evolutionary history. This article has been republished from ...

Exciting news for all fans of lizards (mokomoko) a new species has just been rediscovered. Te mokomoko a Tohu is Aotearoa New Zealand’s newest species of ...

Around 3,500 years ago the earliest ancestors of many Pacific people and Māori – the people provisionally named Lapita – appeared in Oceania. Records of the ...

A more precise timeline now shows Aotearoa was first settled in the North Island before the settlers expanded south and then retreated again when the climate ...

One of New Zealand’s iconic moa species was almost wiped out during the last ice age according to recently published research. DNA from ancient eastern moa ...

The most controversial feature of the New Zealand flora is the plethora of small-leaved trees and shrubs with wiry interlaced branches. This article has been republished ...

Dr Nic Rawlence tells us about the amazing research by one of his students, who developed a specialised technique that allows scientists to non-destructively extract ancient ...

This Connected article, written by Matt Boucher, looks at why our wildlife is so distinct and how the species developed and adapted to their current state. ...

This Connected article by Sophie Fern covers the discovery of Squawkzilla – a giant parrot that lived in New Zealand 19 million years ago. Two leg ...

This Connected article by Priscilla Wehi and Hemi Whaanga explores how early Māori named and grouped the plants and animals they found around them. Discover what ...

Our planet has life on it, and for that reason, it may be unique in the universe. Ironically enough, we know much more about some of ...

In 1880, Alice McKenzie saw a large blue bird in a remote part of Fiordland. Alice and her family made careful observations of the bird and ...

An inquiry approach is often recommended for science education. It supports student-directed learning and can enhance engagement because students pursue questions and lines of inquiry that ...

In any one species, there is a large amount of genetic variation. The survival of a species is often linked with the extent of genetic variation ...

Population biology is a field of study that explores populations and how they interact with their environment. Scientists observe all factors influencing a population within an ...

Scientifically, takahē have been something of a mystery. For several decades, it was assumed that takahē were extinct in both the North and South Islands – ...

Takahē (Porphyrio hochstetteri) once lived throughout the South Island. Their original habitats were the bushy edges of lowland swamps and rivers. Today’s remnant takahē population lives ...

New Zealand plants are unique! New Zealand has some of the oldest primeval forests in the world, the largest type of moss and some of the ...

Genomics has opened up our understanding of ancient hominins and human evolution. Genomics is an area within genetics that concerns the sequencing and analysis of an ...

As humans, we’re curious about ourselves. Where did we come from? How did we evolve? Tom Higham talks about what we know about the journey from ...

The Auckland Islands are often described as a hotspot of biodiversity, with a wide variety of seabirds, invertebrates and marine mammals and a range of hardy ...

Mapping the whole genome of the sheep (Ovis aries) was completed in 2014. The information is contributing to a myriad of new research projects to improve ...