Natural History publications

2025

Braund, J., & Miskelly, C. M. (2025). Birds observed and collected by the Austrian Novara Expedition when in New Zealand, 1858–1859. Notornis, 72(2), 107–116. https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/publications/birds-observed-and-collected-by-the-austrian-novara-expedition-when-in-new-zealand-1858-1859

De Pietri, V. L., Scofield, R. P., Hand, S. J., Archer, M., Tennyson, A. J. D., & Worthy, T. H. (2025). Early Miocene gull-like birds (Charadriiformes: Laridae) from New Zealand. Geobios, 90, 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.021

Edwards, J. P., Martin, A. J., Parker, W. M. G., Lowery, M., Dodla, A., Giergiel, M., Gassner, C., Wood, B. R., Rich, T. H., Evans, A. R., & Vickers-Rich, P. (2025). Earliest trace fossil evidence of wood-eating termites (Isoptera) and mites (Oribatida) in circumpolar environments of Australia: Upper Strzelecki Group (Lower Cretaceous), Victoria. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003101822500344X

Frigyik, E., Baker, C. M., Sirvid, P. J., Derkabetian, S., & Giribet, G. (2025). Tiny hunters along the Alpine Fault: Integrative phylobiogeography demonstrates high geographic structure in a forest-dwelling Aotearoa harvester genus (Arachnida, Triaenonychidae: Algidia). Journal of Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.15097

Galbreath, R., van Grouw, H., & Tennyson, A. J. D. (2025). The mysterious Miss Rebecca Stone and her collection of birds from Hokianga, 1842: A window into early ornithology in Aotearoa New Zealand. Notornis, 72(2), 57–69. https://doi.org/10.6317/2510968/fupxha

Jones, H. R., Lehnebach, C. A., & Tate, J. (2025). Sequence data support greater taxonomic diversity and a complicated history of hybridisation in New Zealand’s sun orchids—Thelymitra (Orchidaceae). New Zealand Journal of Botany. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2025.2523007

Lehnebach, C. A., Alderton-Moss, J., & Shepherd, L. D. (2025). A new species of Prasophyllum (Orchidaceae) for New Zealand and lectotypification of P. colensoi. New Zealand Journal of Botany [online]. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2025.0000000

Meudt, H. M., Pearson, S., Ning, W., Prebble, J. M., & Tate, J. A. (2025). Forget-me-not phylogenomics: Improving the resolution and taxonomy of a rapid island and mountain radiation in Aotearoa New Zealand (Myosotis; Boraginaceae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 204 (March). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108250

Miskelly, C. M. (2025). Birds of Te Araroa Trail – Aotearoa New Zealand’s long pathway. Notornis, 71(1), 33–48. https://doi.org/10.6317/221010/tlsskz

Miskelly, C. M., Braund, J. (2025). First record of Kermadec petrel (Pterodroma neglecta) near the New Zealand mainland. Notornis, 72(2), 117–119. https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/publications/first-record-of-kermadec-petrel-pterodroma-neglecta-near-the-new-zealand-mainland

Miskelly, C. M., Tennyson, A. J. D., Horton, P., Penck, M., Ryan, P., Barbraud, C., Delord, K., & Shepherd, L. (2025). Hidden in plain sight: DNA sequencing of museum specimens confirms the occurrence of MacGillivray’s Prion (Pachyptila macgillivrayi) in Australia and New Zealand. Emu - Austral Ornithology. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2025.2490644

Myers, A. A., Ball, O. J. P., & Shepherd, L. D. (2025). A new landhopper, Manawataawhiorchestia uruone gen. nov., sp. nov. (Amphipoda: Talitroidea: Talitridae) from Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands, New Zealand. Zootaxa, 5637(2), 363–373.

Perrie, L. R., Glenny, D. S., & Shepherd, L. D. (2025). Taxonomic synopsis of Aciphylla (Apiaceae): Accepted species, nomenclature, and hybridisation. New Zealand Journal of Botany [online]. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2025.2498442

Perrie, L. R., Ohlsen, D. J., Kellow, A., Hutton, I., Brownsey, P. J., & Shepherd, L. D. (2025). Tmesipteris eucampta (Psilotaceae), a newly described species for plants of Tmesipteris from Lord Howe Island. New Zealand Journal of Botany [online]. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825X.2025.2511005

Pollock, T. I., Deakin, W. J., Chatar, N., Carmona, P. S. M., Rovinsky, D. S., Panagiotopoulou, O., Parker, W. M. G., Adams, J. W., Hocking, D. P., Donoghue, P. C. J., Rayfield, E. J., & Evans, A. R. (2025). Functional optimality underpins the repeated evolution of the extreme “saber-tooth” morphology. Current Biology, 35(3), 455–467. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.11.059

Schweizer, M., Frahnert, S., Shepherd, L. D., Miskelly, C. M., Tennyson, A. J. D., Bretagnolle, V., & Shirihai, H. (2025). Genetic data confirm that Diomedea platei Reichenow, 1898, is the correct name for the population of Buller’s albatross Thalassarche bulleri breeding at the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Notornis, 71, 165–175.

von Mering, S., Leachman, S., Santos, J., & Meudt, H. M. (2025). Wikidata for botanists: Benefits of collaborating and sharing linked open data. Annals of Botany [Accepted manuscript]. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf062

2024

Ball, O. J. P., Myers, A. A., Pohe, S. R., & Shepherd, L. D. (2024). The radiation of landhoppers (Crustacea, Amphipoda) in New Zealand. Diversity, 16(10), 632. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/16/10/632

Bell, T., & Patterson, G. B. (2024). The Okuru skink Oligosoma carinacauda sp. nov of South Westland, New Zealand—simply elusive or extinct? Zootaxa, 5536(1), 123–138. https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5536.1.4

Brockelsby, W. D., Edwards, E., Grimwood, H., Sirvid, P. J., Fleury, K., Selwyn, R., Shanahan, D., Salvador, R. B., & Kasper, J. (2024). Assessment of moth diversity in the Zealandia ecosanctuary through a community science initiative. New Zealand Entomologist, 47(2), 53–69. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00779962.2024.2377201

Carlig, E., Di Blasi, D., Ghigliotti, L., Scalas, A., Stewart, A. L., & Mortara, M. (2024). Feeding behaviour of seven icefish species (Channichthyidae) in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Fishes, 9(7), 247. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9070247

Delgado, J. A., & Palma, R. L. (2024). Entry by brute force: An unusual behaviour displayed by Scaurus uncinus (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), to access nests of Messor barbarus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Spain. European Journal of Entomology, 121, 234–240. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2024.034

Leachman, S., & Schrader, L. (2024). Delving Into Te Papa Research Expedition Data. Biodiversity Information Science and Standards, 8. https://biss.pensoft.net/article/135809

Lehnebach, C. A., & Jones, H. R. (2024). Taxonomic notes on New Zealand orchids I: typification of nine orchid names described by William Colenso in 1886. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825x.2024.2353917

Marx, F. G., Coste, A., Richards, M. D., Palin, J. M., & Fordyce, R. E. (2024). Strontium isotopes reveal a globally unique assemblage of Early Miocene baleen whales. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 54(5), 711–721. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2023.2278732

McAlpine, K. G., Cory, S., Cox, B. T. M., McLeod, T., Rapson, G., Roskruge, N. R., & Shepherd, L. D. (2024). Karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus): Native taonga (treasure) or environmental weed? New Zealand Journal of Botany, 63(5). https://tandfonline.com/full-article 

Miskelly, C. M., Forsdick, N. J., Palma, R. L., Rawlence, N. J., & Tennyson, A. J. D. (2024). Amendments to the 5th edition (2022) of the Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand. Notornis, 70, 93–114. https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Checklist-Notornis-71-3-93-114.pdf

Miskelly, C.M., (2024). Fernbird (mātātā, Poodytes punctatus) preying on a lizard. Notornis. 71. 29-30.  https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Shortnote_Miskelly_711_29-30.pdf

Ning, W., Meudt, H. M., & Tate, J. A. (2024). A roadmap of phylogenomic methods for studying polyploid plant genera. Applications in Plant Sciences, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11580

Nakano, T., Yamamori, L., Marshall, B. A., Williams, S. T., & Fukuda, H. (2024). Akoyazara, a new genus of limpet-shaped trochids, with redescription of Broderipia J.E. Gray, 1847 (Vetigastropoda: Trochidae: Fossarininae). Molluscan Research, 44(4), 316–334. https://doi.org/10.1080/13235818.2024.2403043

Okeremi, X., Kasper, J., & Morgan-Smith, R. (2025). Forensic entomology in New Zealand a gap assessment. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 1, 16. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00450618.2025.2513077

Oniki-Willis, Y., Sychra, O., & Palma, R. L. (2025). Additional records of Neopsittaconirmus lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Ischnocera) parasitizing captive parrots. Brazilian Journal of Veterinary Parasitology, 34(1), e018224. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-29612025004

Palma, R. L. (2025). Identification of a louse species previously recorded as genus only in New Zealand. The Weta, 58, 74–75. https://weta.ento.org.nz/index.php/weta/article/view/439

Parker, W. M. G., Adams, J. W., Hocking, D. P., Fitzgerald, E. M. G., Shaw, G., Renfree, M. B., & Evans, A. R. (2025). Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy reveals trace elemental indicators of life history in marsupial teeth. Biological Trace Element Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-024-04502-z

Parker, W. M. G., Adams, J. W., Campbell, E. J., Coulson, G., Sanson, G. D., & Evans, A. R. (2024). Evergrowing incisors of diprotodont marsupials record age and life history. Archives of Oral Biology, 165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archoralbio.2024.106018

Rawlence, N. J., Verry, A. J. F., Cole, T. L., Shepherd, L. D., Tennyson, A. J. D., Williams, M., Wood, J. R., & Mitchell, K. J. (2024). Ancient mitogenomes reveal evidence for the Late Miocene dispersal of mergansers to the Southern Hemisphere. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae040

Shepherd, L. D., Ford, M., & Perrie, L. R. (2024). Genetic and morphological analyses support the reinstatement of Schoenus vacillans (Cyperaceae) as distinct from S. apogon. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 62 [online]. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0028825X.2024.2390055

Shepherd, L. D., Miskelly, C. M., Bulgarella, M., & Tennyson, A. J. D. (2024). Correction: Genomic analyses of fairy and fulmar prions (Procellariidae: Pachyptila spp.) reveals parallel evolution of bill morphology, and multiple species. PLoS ONE, 19(12), e0315613. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0315613

Stewart, A. L., Kenaley, C. P., & Sutton, T. (2024). A new species of Eustomias (Nominostomias) (Stomiiformes: Stomiidae) from the Kermadec Ridge—Tonga Trench region, western South Pacific Ocean, with notes on the barbel morphology of E. trewavasae. Zootaxa, 5458(1), 93–107. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5458.1.5

Tennyson, A. J. D., Greer, L., Lubbe, P., Marx, F. G., Giovanardi, S., & Rawlence, N. J. (2024). A response to Worthy et al. 2022. A swan-sized fossil anatid (Aves: Anatidae) from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand. Zootaxa, 5168 (1), 39–50. Zootaxa, 5453(1), 127–128. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5453.1.8

Tennyson, A. J. D., Salvador, R. B., Tomotani, B. M., & Marx, F. G. (2024). A New Diving Pliocene Ardenna Shearwater (Aves: Procellariidae) from New Zealand. Taxonomy, 4(2), 237–249. https://doi.org/10.3390/taxonomy4020012

Thomas, A., Maxwell, K., Dobson-Waitere, A., Aranui, A., Phipps-Black, R., Thomson, T., & Mercier, O. R. (2024). Helping the ‘Helping hands’: Supporting Māori postgraduates to advance community aspirations for environmental research. Higher Education Research & Development, 44(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2393118

Valdivia, M., Frones, L., Rossini, E., Laporta, P., Carroll, E. L., McGowen, M. R., Marx, F. G., & Ríos, N. (2024). First record of Ramari’s beaked whale Mesoplodon eueu (Cetacea: Ziphiidae) for Uruguay. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 104. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0025315423000929

Van Der Walt, K., Lehnebach, C. A., & Alderton-Moss, J. (2024). Asymbiotic germination, seedling establishment and fungal uptake of Pterostylis montana and P. paludosa , two orchid species endemic to New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825x.2023.2294840

Vaughan, P. M., Bird, J. P., Bretagnolle, V., Shirihai, H., Tennyson, A. J. D., Miskelly, C. M., & Clarke, R. H. (2024). A review of records and research actions for the poorly known Vanuatu Petrel Pterodroma [cervicalis] occulta. Bird Conservation International, 34. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959270923000382

Vink, C. J., Sirvid, P. J., & Duperre, N. (2024). A redescription of the Pacific Bounty hunter, Pacificana cockayni Hogg, 1904 and an attempt to reunite with its family. New Zealand Journal of Zoology. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2024.2432459

Walton, K., Marshall, B. A., Rawlence, N. J., & Spencer, H. G. (2024). Haliotis virginea Gmelin, 1791 and a new abalone from Aotearoa New Zealand (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Haliotidae). Molluscan Research, 44(4). https://doi.org/10.1080/13235818.2024.2390476

White, W. T., Stewart, A. L., O’Neill, H. L., & Naylor, G. J. P. (2024). Dichichthyidae, a New Family of Deepwater Sharks (Carcharhiniformes) from the Indo–West Pacific, with Description of a New Species. Fishes, 9(4), 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9040121

2023

Baucon, A., Ferretti, A., Fioroni, C., Pandolfi, L., Serpagli, E., Piccinini, A., De Carvalho, C. N., Cachão, M., Linley, T., Muñiz, F., Belaústegui, Z., Jamieson, A., Lo Russo, G., Guerrini, F., Ferrando, S., & Priede, I. (2023). The earliest evidence of deep-sea vertebrates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(37). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2306164120

Brockelsby, W. D., Miskelly, C. M., Glare, T. R., & Minor, M. A. (2023). The number of larval instars in the flax weevil ( Anagotus fairburni ) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2023.2251898

Dutoit, L., Mitchell, K. J., Dussex, N., Kemper, C. M., Larsson, P., Dalén, L., Rawlence, N. J., & Marx, F. G. (2023). Convergent evolution of skim feeding in baleen whales. Marine Mammal Science, 39(4), 1337–1343. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13047

Ehret, D. J., Tennyson, A. J. D., Richards, M. D., & Boessenecker, R. W. (2023). First records of two mackerel shark species ( Carcharodon planus comb. nov. and Carcharodon hubbelli ; Lamnidae) from New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 54(5), 609–619. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2023.2278730

French, R. K., Anderson, S. H., Cain, K. E., Greene, T. C., Minor, M., Miskelly, C. M., Montoya, J. M., Wille, M., Muller, C. G., Taylor, M. W., Digby, A., Crane, J., Davitt, G., Eason, D., Hedman, P., Jeynes, B., Latimer, S., Little, S., Mitchell, M., . . . Holmes, E. C. (2023). Host phylogeny shapes viral transmission networks in an island ecosystem. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 7(11), 1834–1843. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02192-9

Gottfried, M. D., & Tennyson, A. J. D. (2023). A Pliocene boxfish (Tetraodontiformes, Ostraciidae) from New Zealand – a preview of future environmental change? Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 54(5), 602–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2023.2256681

Ksepka, D. T., & Tennyson, A. J. D. (2023). Oldest fossil record of Sulidae from New Zealand. Journal of Ornithology, 165(1), 277–280. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-023-02117-0

Ksepka, D. T., Tennyson, A. J. D., Richards, M. D., & Fordyce, R. E. (2023). Stem albatrosses wandered far: a new species of Plotornis (Aves, Pan-Diomedeidae) from the earliest Miocene of New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 54(5), 643–659. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2023.2266390

Marx, F.G., Richards, M.D., Fordyce, R.E. (2023) Chapter 25. Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia (marine mammals). Pp. 391–397 in: Kelly, M., Mills, S., Terezow, M., Sim-Smith, C., Nelson, W. (Eds) The Marine Biota of Aotearoa New Zealand. Updating our marine biodiversity inventory. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 136, 494 pp.

Miskelly, C.M. & Shepherd, L.D. (2023). Long-distance dispersal by a Coenocorypha snipe. Notornis. 70. 135-138.  https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/publications/long-distance-dispersal-by-a-coenocorypha-snipe/

Miskelly, C.M., Crossland, A., Tennyson, A.J.D., Bell, E., Saville, I., & Southey, I. (2023). Vagrant and extra-limital bird records accepted by the Birds New Zealand Records Appraisal Committee 2021–2022. Notornis. 70. 60-73.  https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Miskelly_etal_70-60-73.v2.pdf

Miskelly, C.M., Bell, B.D., Bishop, D.M., (2023). Changes in a New Zealand wetland bird community following creation of a predator-fenced sanctuary. Notornis. 70. 160-169.  https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Miskelly_etal_704_160-169.v4.pdf

O’Neill, H. L., White, W. T., Pogonoski, J. J., Alvarez, B., Gomez, O., & Keesing, J. K. (2023). Sharks checking in to the sponge hotel: First internal use of sponges of the genus Agelas and family Irciniidae by banded sand catsharks Atelomycterus fasciatus. Journal of Fish Biology, 104(1), 304–309. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15554

Perrie, L. R., Amice, R., Shepherd, L. D., & Brownsey, P. J. (2023). Tmesipteris alticola (Psilotaceae), a new fern species endemic to New Caledonia. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825x.2023.2240737

Perrie, L., & Shepherd, L. (2023). Naturalisation of the tree of love Aichryson laxum (Crassulaceae) and its implications for biosecurity surveillance in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/0028825x.2023.2279296

Pure, G.A. & Miskelly, C.M. (2023). Riflemen (tītitipounamu, Acanthisitta chloris: Acanthisittidae) eating seeds of silver beech (tawhai, Lophozonia menziesii:
Nothofagaceae). Notornis. 70. 139-142.  https://www.birdsnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Shortnote_Pure-Miskelly_70_139-142-v3.pdf

Rule, J. P., Duncan, R. J., Marx, F. G., Pollock, T. I., Evans, A. R., & Fitzgerald, E. M. (2023). Giant baleen whales emerged from a cold southern cradle. Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, 290(2013). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2177

Schwartsburd, P. B., Bostock, P. D., Parris, B., Field, A., Brownsey, P., & Nepi, C. (2024). Updated typification of the Tasmanian pteridophytes described by Labillardière in his Novae Hollandiae plantarum specimen of 1806. Taxon. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.13215

Shepherd, L. D., Tennyson, A. J. D., & Miskelly, C. M. (2024). Mitochondrial DNA structuring of Antarctic prions (Pachyptila desolata, Procellariidae). Tuhinga, 35, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3897/tuhinga.35.115090

Shepherd, L. D., Townsend, A., De Lange, P. J., & Perrie, L. R. (2023). Genetic analysis of a genus of plant mimics (Alseuosmia A.Cunn; Alseuosmiaceae) reveals incongruence between morphology and phylogeny and possible mimetic polymorphism. Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/evolinnean/kzad005

Stewart, A. L., Pietsch, T. W., Moore, J., & Peng, X. (2023). Upside‐down swimming: in situ observations of inverted orientation in Gigantactis, with a new depth record for the Ceratioidei. Journal of Fish Biology, 104(3), 887–891. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15609

Struthers, C.D., Stewart, A.L., Roberts, C.D., Schwarzhans, W., Barker, J.J., Kortet, S. (2023) Chapter 22. Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata (lancelets, hagfishes, cartilaginous & bony fishes, & fossil fishes identified from otoliths). Pp. 331–371 in: Kelly, M., Mills, S., Terezow, M., Sim-Smith, C., Nelson, W. (Eds) The Marine Biota of Aotearoa New Zealand. Updating our marine biodiversity inventory. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 136, 494 pp. 

Tennyson, A.J.D. (2023) Chapter 24. Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Aves (seabirds). Pp. 381–388 in: Kelly, M., Mills, S., Terezow, M., Sim-Smith, C., Nelson, W. (Eds) The Marine Biota of Aotearoa New Zealand. Updating our marine biodiversity inventory. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 136, 494 pp. 

Walton, K., Marshall, B.A., Spencer, H.G. (2023) Chapter 14. Kingdom Animalia, phylum Mollusca (clams, slugs, snails, cephalopods, & kin). Pp. 215–237 in: Kelly, M., Mills, S., Terezow, M., Sim-Smith, C., Nelson, W. (Eds) The Marine Biota of Aotearoa New Zealand. Updating our marine biodiversity inventory. NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 136, 494 pp.