{"id":2000106523,"date":"2026-03-26T12:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000106523"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:57:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T09:57:25","slug":"ancient-fossil-discovery-unveils-lost-new-zealand-wildlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/ancient-fossil-discovery-unveils-lost-new-zealand-wildlife\/","title":{"rendered":"Ancient fossil discovery unveils lost New Zealand Wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The researchers found the remains of at least 16 species, including birds and frogs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the most significant discoveries was a newly identified parrot species, Strigops insulaborealis, believed to be an ancestor of the flightless k\u0101k\u0101p\u014d, though this ancient bird may have had the ability to fly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other findings include extinct ancestors of the takah\u0113 and a pigeon species closely related to the Australian bronzewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fossils were embedded in two distinct layers of volcanic ash, dated to 1.55 million years ago and 1 million years ago, which helped the researchers establish a precise timeline for the remains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These layers acted as natural time markers, giving scientists a clear snapshot of life during this ancient period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discovery challenges previous assumptions about New Zealand\u2019s wildlife. Prior fossil records were either from millions of years ago or from the time after humans arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new findings fill a crucial gap in understanding the environmental forces shaping wildlife long before humans arrived. According to Associate Professor Trevor Worthy, the fossils represent a “missing volume” in the natural history of New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team also pointed out that climate shifts and volcanic eruptions may have caused significant extinctions before humans, with as many as 33-50% of species disappearing in the million years before human settlement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Paul Scofield from Canterbury Museum emphasized that these natural events played a pivotal role in the extinction of species, adding that this discovery “proves that dramatic climate changes and volcanic activity were already reshaping wildlife”, long before human impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Scientists open a million-year-old time capsule beneath New Zealand.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A team of scientists from Flinders University in Australia, alongside experts from Canterbury Museum and New Zealand\u2019s top universities, has uncovered an extraordinary fossil site in a limestone cave near Waitomo on New Zealand\u2019s North Island. This discovery, which includes fossils dating back 1 to 1.5 million years, offers a rare look at New Zealand\u2019s ancient ecosystems, long before human settlement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":2000106524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[75],"byline":[201],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000106523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-homenews","byline-rania-umutoni"],"bylines":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"contributors":[{"id":201,"name":"Rania Umutoni","slug":"rania-umutoni","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":139}],"featured_image":{"id":2000106524,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-zealand-cave.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-zealand-cave.jpg","width":150,"height":84},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-zealand-cave.jpg","width":300,"height":169},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-zealand-cave.jpg","width":768,"height":432},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-zealand-cave.jpg","width":1024,"height":576},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-zealand-cave.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000106523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000106523"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000106523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000106578,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000106523\/revisions\/2000106578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000106524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000106523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000106523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000106523"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000106523"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000106523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}