Pascale Lubbe – The Conversation

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October 22, 2025

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

Elizabeth Steell, University of Cambridge; Alan Tennyson, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Nic Rawlence, University of Otago, and Pascale Lubbe, University of Otago

New Zealand’s ancient bowerbird was smaller and more slender than the species living in Australia and New Guinea today.

An artist’s depiction of the Rēkohu shelduck. Sasha Votyakova/Te Papa

August 13, 2025

The discovery of an extinct shelduck highlights the rich ancient biodiversity of the remote Rēkohu Chatham Islands

Nic Rawlence, University of Otago; Alan Tennyson, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Levi Lanauze, Indigenous Knowledge, and Pascale Lubbe, University of Otago

Many birds on Rēkohu Chatham Islands show how ‘island syndrome’ influences evolution – they are distinct but remain closely related to species on the mainland.

Royal spoonbills are among several new species that have crossed the Tasman and naturalised in New Zealand. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons

February 18, 2025

Loss of forests brought new birds to NZ during the last Ice Age – we’re witnessing a similar process now

Pascale Lubbe, University of Otago; Michael Knapp, University of Otago, and Nic Rawlence, University of Otago

When landscapes change, exotic species take advantage of new habitats. Such a pulse of colonisation coincided with the Ice Age some 2.6 million years ago.

Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

September 16, 2024

Are kiwi and moa recent immigrants from Australia? Neither fossils nor genetic evidence support the story

Nic Rawlence, University of Otago; Alan Tennyson, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Pascale Lubbe, University of Otago

A recent announcement that kiwi and moa are Australian immigrants is not borne out by available evidence. Working out when birds arrived in New Zealand requires both fossil evidence and genetics.

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