Exciting times in the ancient DNA lab today, helping student to sample some very old Australian scats! Age, depositor and content TBC.

A favourite from my collection of signed natural history books. The inscription pretty much says it all.

Introducing the SeDNAs Members Starter Pack 🧬 Connect with fellow members of the society, grow your eDNA network, and spark new collaborations! Comment below or message to be added to the pack go.bsky.app/GBwDbax

Welcome to the world Rēkohu shelduck. You can check out our #openaccess paper about this new extinct duck from the Chatham Islands here (academic.oup.com/.../article/...) & make sure to read our @aunz.theconversation.com piece theconversation.com/the-discover... 1/4

New Zealand birds never fail to amaze. The extinct Hodgen's rail, thought to be a diminutive relative of the Australian waterhen, turns out instead to be a giant crake! link.springer.com/article/10.1... 📷: Paul Martinson, Te Papa CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Word has got around that we have a new sack of bird seed

🧬 📜 New paper alert! 📜 🧬 We review recent literature that use ancient DNA methods in the analysis of archeological artefacts. We hope this will be a useful resource to improve the inclusion of ancient DNA methods into the study of ancient artefacts. 1/🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The necessity for authentication of ancient DNA from archaeological artefacts url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/6eR1CVARMk...

Ancient DNA and morphometrics reveal a new species of extinct insular shelduck from Rēkohu Chatham Islands

Parasite extinctions in threatened species may be far more prevalent than previous estimates suggest. Our new study of kākāpō dung spanning from ~1,500 years ago to present, finds >80% of parasite species were lost as the host species declined.

Antlions have a fascinating lifecycle. Their larvae look nothing like the adults, dig pits in sand, and predate small invertebrates (hence their name).

Wonderful to be at Fowler’s Gap, NSW, for a couple of days fieldwork - a really stunning variety of landscapes.

Picking through some arid zone barn owl material today. Lots of small mammal bones, but a surprising amount of frog as well.

Fun fact: If you stretched all the DNA in a human body out into a line, then started at one end driving at 100km/hr, it would take you 68,493 years to reach the other end. Alternatively, if you traveled at light speed, you could get there in just 27.36 hours.

A laptop case and a warm lamp. What more could a cat wish for on a bleak rainy Adelaide day.

The more we learn about the Nullarbor's landscape, biodiversity and history, the clearer it becomes that this is a unique and special place. Somewhere worthy of protection, not just for Australia, but for the world. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Impressive work - The number of recognised genera of Australo-Papuan treefrogs has just been increased from 3 to 35! academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

Stoked to finally see this one out in the wide world: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... Tube-nosed #seabirds in #Aotearoa #NewZealand have been largely driven extinct on the mainland, since the arrival of humans. Our paper shows just how dramatic this collapse likely was...(1/4)

The FIRST International Conference on Palaeogenomics will happen in Stockholm, Sweden, June 23-26, 2026! Topics will encompass all corners of ancient DNA research, from humans to wildlife and sediments🧬🦣💀🦠 Save the dates ✅ Check the website icp2026.palaeogenomics.org and follow us for updates!

Burrowing Into the Past: Extending Niche Space Models of Procellariiform Breeding Grounds by Merging Fossil and Historic Data doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

🧬 Introducing Environmental DNA, a free event for those in industry, government, and NGOs who are new to eDNA. 📍 National Wine Centre of Australia, Adelaide 📅 Thursday, 26th June 2025, 9am – 5pm 🎟 Free (limited spots available) Register now: lnkd.in/gpTepqzF

Why did the processionary caterpillars cross the road?

Central Australia fieldwork

Ornithological-themed toilet wall graffiti in Alice Springs

Did you know the extinct Hunter Island Penguin (Tasidyptes hunteri) never actually existed? DNA testing of its bones showed they came from a mixture of different living penguin species. #worldpenguinday #worlddnaday

Back in 2010 I sequenced DNA of a penguin bone from the Chatham Islands - 9 years later it was formally described as a new species, and a year after that it was minted as a coin! #worldpenguinday

Left it till the very end to check out Chihuly in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens at night - very impressive!

By pooping the equivalent mass of >48,000 school buses per year, New Zealand's seabirds once transported vast quantities of nutrients from the ocean to land. Seabird extinctions and population declines have had major impacts for terrestrial ecosystems. Fascinating talk by @andrebellve.bsky.social.

Exploration of the past 6,000 years of Adélie penguin ecology in the Ross Sea highlights past population dynamics and diets, offering insights into biodiversity changes in one of Earth's last intact marine ecosystems. The researchers take you behind their Nature Communications paper. 🧪

Sedimentary ancient DNA from caves: Challenges and opportunities doi.org/10.1002/jqs.... , first publication from the PhD research of @siobhane13.bsky.social - congratulations!

It's not a dire wolf. It's a gray wolf clone with 20 dire-wolf gene edits, and with some dire wolf traits. And here's my story! Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/s...

Species #382 for our section: Diaphonia xanthopyga

Incredible longevity in New Zealand geckos - an individual marked in 1967 found alive and well!

Scientists have teamed up with cave divers on a perilous mission – to reach exceptional fossils and learn more about Australia’s past

Once widespread, now critically endangered: New study shows kākāpō are the 4th most common bird in NZ's late-Quaternary deposits (>1351 individuals from 274 sites), and occupied all forests and adjacent habitats, on the NZ mainland prior to human settlement authors.elsevier.com/c/1klUo-4PSD...

Job alert! @katerinad.bsky.social and I are looking for an archaeologist/archaeological scientist to join us on a 4 year post-doc, helping to manage and participate in field and lab work on 2 ERC grants in our group. We would love to hear from you via the link! 👇 jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Postdoct...

Thread 1/5: PREPRINT: A major milestone on #Paleoproteomics? Sciex 6600 TripleTOF analyses 99-million-year-old arthropods 🕷️ in amber. Study identifies proteins from #Cretaceous #Holothyrida mites & #Cornupalpatum ticks! de la Fuente et al. (2025) www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-6...

For those in Adelaide and interested in eDNA, come along to the SAGC/FAME Seminar – Beyond Detection: The Future of eDNA Research, on 26 March www.eventbrite.com.au/e/sagcfame-s...

Build your own accurate DNA fluorometer for just $38.24 in parts!

"Absurd claims about mammoth resurrection are a textbook case of science miscommunication & hubris. At a time when US scientists are under attack from their own government, the illiteracy around these fantasies is not just vexing but dangerous." @adamrutherford.bsky.social debunks colossal hype.🧪

Ancient DNA analysis from Antarctic sediments has traced 6,000 years of Adélie penguin history, revealing shifts in diet and interactions with other species due to environmental changes. doi.org/g865p9

New ancient DNA research on Adélie penguin poo in Antarctica shows how several species respond to environmental change over time, including southern elephant seals.

Go behind the scenes of our new paper on sedimentary ancient DNA from Adélie penguin colonies go.nature.com/3ExdVul

Thrilled to share this research finally! Our team used sedimentary ancient DNA to reconstruct fauna from Antarctica’s Ross Sea over the last 6,000 years, focusing on Adélie penguin populations and diet, but with a surprise discovery of the elephant seal kind! Read more here: doi.org/10.1038/s414...