Paul Scofield 

Here we report the results of extensive additional sampling resulting in a total of 16,500 fish otoliths from the early Miocene palaeolake Manuherikia in Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand, a prime source for reconstructing the terrestrial and freshwater biota of past Zealandia. Otoliths of fishes that once lived in this lake system were first described in 2012.

Schwarzhans W, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJ, Worthy JP, Worthy TH. 2023. The ‘Gulliver’ fish fauna of an early Miocene freshwater system of New Zealand; new insights from otoliths from the Bannockburn Formation. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 66(1): 102–129.

A collaborative study using moult scores from 86 Brown Skuas (Stercorarius antarcticus lonnbergi), a large predatory seabird breeding on the Chatham Islands, Aotearoa New Zealand to model both the timing and duration of primary feather moult. Also analysed stable isotope values (δ13C and δ15N) from 62 modern (2014–16) and ten museum tail feathers.

Schultz H, Battley PF, Bury SJ, Chang K, Ismar-Rebitz SM, Gaskett AC, Dennis TE, Hohnhold RJ, Taylor GA, Scofield RP. 2023. Non-breeding behaviour in the Brown Skua (Stercorarius antarcticus lonnbergi): insights from modelling moulting patterns and stable isotope analyses. Emu-Austral Ornithology 123(1): 49–59.

Recently molecular studies have shown that the giant honeyeaters of the Pacific deserve recognition at a generic level but no name is available for this group. Here we coin a new name.

Andersen MJ, Gregory SM, Dickinson EC, Watling D, Scofield RP. 2022. A new genus-group name for Gymnomyza Reichenow, 1914 (Passeriformes: Meliphagidae) a preoccupied name in Diptera. Avian Systematics 1(2): 27

Here we describe two new taxa from France, based on partial humeri, which we refer to Turnicidae gen. et sp. indet. The oldest record stems from deposits from the latest Oligocene, which are part of the Saint-Gérand-le-Puy fossil sites. The younger record is from the early-middle Miocene fissure filling of Vieux-Collonges.

De Pietri VL, Mayr G, Costeur L, Scofield RP. 2022. New records of buttonquails (Aves, Charadriiformes, Turnicidae) from the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe. Comptes Rendus Palevol 21(11): 235–244.

We report new avian remains from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of the Fisher/Sullivan site in Virginia, USA. The fossil material includes the first records of the Messelasturidae, Psittacopedidae, and Zygodactylidae from the Nanjemoy Formation, with these taxa being widespread and fairly common in coeval North American and European sites.

Mayr G, De Pietri V, Scofield RP. 2022. New bird remains from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia (USA), including the first records of the Messelasturidae, Psittacopedidae, and Zygodactylidae from the Fisher/Sullivan site. Historical Biology 34(2): 322–334

A large fossil anserine-like anatid (Aves, Anatidae, Notochen bannockburnensis gen. et sp. nov.) is described based on a distal humerus from the lower Bannockburn Formation, early Miocene (19–16 Ma), St Bathans Fauna from New Zealand.

Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Hand SJ, De Pietri VL, Archer M. 2022. A swan-sized fossil anatid (Aves: Anatidae) from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand. Zootaxa 5168(1): 39–50.

Two new neoavian landbirds are reported from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna from New Zealand: Aegotheles zealandivetus sp. nov. an owlet nightjar and Zealandornis relictus gen. et sp. nov. which is placed in the new family Zealandornithidae, tentatively among the ‘higher landbirds’ Telluraves, with most similarity to coliforms.

Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Salisbury SW, Hand SJ, De Pietri VL, Archer M. 2022. Two new neoavian taxa with contrasting palaeobiogeographical implications from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand. Journal of Ornithology 163(3): 643–658.

We describe Manuherikia primadividua nov. sp., the fourth species in the genus from the highly diverse non-marine vertebrate assemblage derived from the lower Miocene (19–16 Ma) Bannockburn Formation exposed in Central Otago, New Zealand.

Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Salisbury SW, Hand SJ, De Pietri VL, Blokland JC, Archer M. 2022. A new species of Manuherikia (Aves: Anatidae) provides evidence of faunal turnover in the St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand. Geobios 70: 87–107.

We describe a new species of Polynesian sandpiper from Henderson Island, Prosobonia sauli sp. nov., based on multiple Holocene fossil bones collected during the Sir Peter Scott Commemorative Expedition to the Pitcairn Islands (1991–1992).

De Pietri VL, Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Cole TL, Wood JR, Mitchell KJ, Cibois A, Jansen JJ, Cooper AJ, Feng S. 2021. A new extinct species of Polynesian sandpiper (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae: Prosobonia) from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Group, and the phylogenetic relationships of Prosobonia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 192(4): 1045–1070.

The stomach contents of Eight surface-feeding and diving seabirds from the South Pacific Ocean were used as a proxy to determine potential patterns of removal of marine plastic debris, and three hypotheses were tested in relation to their feeding habits and nesting areas.

Hidalgo‐Ruz V, Luna‐Jorquera G, Eriksen M, Frick H, Miranda‐Urbina D, Portflitt‐Toro M, Rivadeneira MM, Robertson CJ, Scofield RP, Serratosa J. 2021. Factors (type, colour, density, and shape) determining the removal of marine plastic debris by seabirds from the South Pacific Ocean: Is there a pattern? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 31(2): 389–407.

Here, we built correlative species distribution models using presence records from contemporary and Holocene records of Tuatara to enable estimations of climatically suitable area under current and future climate scenarios.

Jarvie S, Worthy TH, Saltré F, Scofield RP, Seddon PJ, Cree A. 2021. Using Holocene fossils to model the future: Distribution of climate suitability for tuatara, the last rhynchocephalian. Journal of Biogeography 48(6): 1489–1502.

We describe a partial skeleton of a small-sized pelagornithid from the early Paleocene of New Zealand. Protodontopteryx ruthae gen. et sp. nov. is the oldest record of the clade, the smallest known species, and the first pre-Eocene pelagornithid from the Southern Hemisphere.

Mayr G, De Pietri VL, Love L, Mannering A, Scofield RP. 2021. Oldest, smallest and phylogenetically most basal pelagornithid, from the early Paleocene of New Zealand, sheds light on the evolutionary history of the largest flying birds. Papers in Palaeontology 7(1): 217–233.

We compared the osteology of the late Eocene to early Miocene penguin-like Plotopteridae from the North Pacific Basin with that of Paleocene stem group representatives of the Sphenisciformes and identified previously unrecognized similarities and differences.

Mayr G, Goedert JL, De Pietri VL, Scofield RP. 2021. Comparative osteology of the penguin‐like mid‐Cenozoic Plotopteridae and the earliest true fossil penguins, with comments on the origins of wing‐propelled diving. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 59(1): 264–276.

The holotype specimen of Alexandronectes zealandiensis in the Canterbury Museum Collection was analyzed using digital reconstruction based on CT scans. Additional information regarding internal anatomy or obscured details were added.

O'Gorman JP, Otero RA, Hiller N, O'Keefe RF, Scofield RP, Fordyce E. 2021. CT-scan description of Alexandronectes zealandiensis (Elasmosauridae, Aristonectinae), with comments on the elasmosaurid internal cranial features. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41(2): e1923310.

Combined data from DNA and biology support the recognition of the extant populations of this seabird as different subspecies. Previous names for these taxa exist, thus Cook’s Petrel from Little Barrier Island becomes Pterodroma cookii cookii and Cook’s Petrel from Codfish Island becomes P. c. orientalis. Furthermore, we suggest that both genetic and non-genetic data should be taken into consideration when planning future mainland translocations.

Rayner MJ, Van Loenen AL, Shepherd LD, Cubrinovska I, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJ, Bunce M, Steeves TE. 2021. Comprehensive evidence for subspecies designations in Cook’s Petrel Pterodroma cookii with implications for conservation management. Bird Conservation International 31(1): 1–13.

The conservation status of 491 taxa of birds recorded in Aotearoa New Zealand since first human contact was assessed using the New Zealand Threat Classification System criteria. Since the last assessment in 2016, eight taxa have been added to the list – five as a result of new distribution records and three as newly described extinct species. Four taxa were removed from the assessment process due to one taxonomic revision and reassessment of the validity of records of three vagrant or introduced species. In total, 80 taxa were assessed as being Threatened, 98 as At Risk, 37 as Not Threatened, and 212 as Non-resident, Coloniser, or Introduced and Naturalised.

Robertson HA, Baird KA, Elliott G, Hitchmough R, McArthur N, Makan T, Miskelly C, O'Donnell CF, Sagar PM, Scofield RP. 2021. Conservation status of birds in Aotearoa New Zealand 2021. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 36. Wellington: Department of Conservation.

We generated a near complete mitochondrial genome and nuclear SNP dataset for the holotype of Southern Brown Kiwi and compared these with living kiwi populations. Our results definitively assign the holotype to the Stewart Island population of brown kiwi which until now was recognized as a distinct subspecies Apteryx australis lawyri (Rothschild, 1893). This leads us to synonymize Apteryx lawryi Rothschild, 1893 within Apteryx australis Shaw, 1813.

Scofield R, Wood J, de Nascimento L, Robertson H, Colbourne R, De Pietri V, Innes J, Weir J. 2021. Identification of the type locality of the South Island Brown Kiwi Apteryx australis: A nomenclatural framework for the Southern Tokoeka and an insight into the movements of sealers in the early 19th century. Conservation Genetics 22(4): 645–652.

David Lyall (1849–1911) is credited with the discovery of the world’s only flightless songbird, the extinct Lyall’s Wren (Traversia lyalli). The hitherto undocumented lives of David Lyall and his family are investigated and the roles of David Lyall’s sons, Andrew Lyall (b. 1879) and William Mail Lyall (b. 1882) are discussed. Andrew Lyall, who died in 1972, is here credited with being the last person to have seen Lyall’s Wren alive.

Scofield RP. 2021. “Mr Lyall’s boy”: the Lyall family and the Stephens Island Wren. Records of the Canterbury Museum 35: 169–175.

The extinct Haast's Eagle or Harpagornis (Hieraaetus moorei) is the largest known eagle. Historically, it was first considered a predator, then a scavenger, but most recent authors have favoured an active hunting ecology. To infer feeding capability and behaviour in harpagornis, we used geometric morphometric and finite-element analyses to assess the shape and biomechanical strength of its neurocranium, beak and talons in comparison to five extant scavenging and predatory birds. Results are consistent with the proposition that, unlike living eagles, Harpagornis habitually killed prey larger than itself, then applied feeding methods typical of vultures to feed on the large carcasses.

Van Heteren A, Wroe S, Tsang L, Mitchell D, Ross P, Ledogar J, Attard M, Sustaita D, Clausen P, Scofield R. 2021. New Zealand's extinct giant raptor (Hieraaetus moorei) killed like an eagle, ate like a condor. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 288(1964): 20211913.

Carneiro AP, Pearmain EJ, Oppel S, Clay TA, Phillips RA, Bonnet‐Lebrun AS, Wanless RM, Abraham E, Richard Y, Rice, J. … Scofield RP, … Dias MP. 2020. A framework for mapping the distribution of seabirds by integrating tracking, demography and phenology. Journal of Applied Ecology 57(3): 514–525.

De Pietri VL, Mayr G, Scofield RP. 2020. Becassius charadriioides, an early Miocene pratincole-like bird from France: with comments on the early evolutionary history of the Glareolidae (Aves, Charadriiformes). PalZ 94(1): 107–124.

De Pietri VL, Scofield RP, Zelenkov N, Boles WE, Worthy TH. 2020. Correction to ‘The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae’ (vol 3, 150635, 2016). Royal Society Open Science 7(11): 201430.

Mayr G, De Pietri VL, Love L, Mannering A, Scofield RP. 2020. Leg bones of a new penguin species from the Waipara Greensand add to the diversity of very large-sized Sphenisciformes in the Paleocene of New Zealand. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 44(1): 194–201.

Mayr G, De Pietri VL, Love L, Mannering AA, Bevitt JJ, Scofield RP. 2020. First complete wing of a stem group sphenisciform from the Paleocene of New Zealand sheds light on the evolution of the penguin flipper. Diversity 12(2): 46.

Rule JP, Adams JW, Marx FG, Evans AR, Tennyson AJ, Scofield RP, Fitzgerald EM. 2020. First monk seal from the Southern Hemisphere rewrites the evolutionary history of true seals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287(1938): 20202318.

Steeves T, Rayner M, van Loenen A, Shepherd L, Cubrinovska I, Tennyson A, Bunce M, Scofield R. 2020. Comprehensive evidence for subspecies designations in Cook’s petrel (Pterodroma cookii) with implications for conservation management. Bird Conservation International 31(1):1–13.

Thomas DB, Ksepka DT, Holvast EJ, Tennyson AJ, Scofield P. 2020. Re-evaluating New Zealand’s endemic Pliocene penguin genus. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 63(3): 324–330.

Thomas DB, Tennyson AJ, Scofield RP, Heath TA, Pett W, Ksepka DT. 2020. Ancient crested penguin constrains timing of recruitment into seabird hotspot. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287(1932): 20201497.

Bishop PJ, Scofield RP, Hocknull SA. 2019. The architecture of cancellous bone in the hindlimb of moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes), with implications for stance and gait. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 43(4): 612–628.

Blokland JC, Reid CM, Worthy TH, Tennyson AJ, Clarke JA, Scofield RP. 2019. Chatham Island Paleocene fossils provide insight into the palaeobiology, evolution, and diversity of early penguins (Aves, Sphenisciformes). Palaeontologia Electronica 22(3): 1–92.

Boast AP, Chapman B, Herrera MB, Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJ, Houde P, Bunce M, Cooper A, Mitchell KJ. 2019. Mitochondrial genomes from New Zealand’s extinct adzebills (Aves: Aptornithidae: Aptornis) support a sister-taxon relationship with the Afro-Madagascan Sarothruridae. Diversity 11(2): 24.

Cole TL, Rawlence NJ, Dussex N, Ellenberg U, Houston DM, Mattern T, Miskelly CM, Morrison KW, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJ. 2019. Ancient DNA of crested penguins: Testing for temporal genetic shifts in the world’s most diverse penguin clade. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 131: 72–79.

Knapp M, Thomas JE, Haile J, Prost S, Ho SY, Dussex N, Cameron-Christie S, Kardailsky O, Barnett R, Bunce M. 2019. Mitogenomic evidence of close relationships between New Zealand’s extinct giant raptors and small-sized Australian sister-taxa. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 134: 122–128.

Mather EK, Tennyson AJ, Scofield RP, De Pietri VL, Hand SJ, Archer M, Handley WD, Worthy TH. 2019. Flightless rails (Aves: Rallidae) from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna, Otago, New Zealand. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 17(5): 423–449.

Mayr G, De Pietri VL, Scofield RP, Smith T. 2019. A fossil heron from the early Oligocene of Belgium: the earliest temporally well‐constrained record of the Ardeidae. Ibis 161(1): 79–90.

Rawlence NJ, Rayner MJ, Lovegrove TG, Stoddart D, Vermeulen M, Easton LJ, Tennyson AJ, Scofield RP, Kennedy M, Spencer H. 2019. Archival DNA reveals cryptic biodiversity within the Spotted Shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus) from New Zealand. The Condor 121(3): duz029.

Rawlence NJ, Scofield RP, McGlone MS, Knapp M. 2019. History repeats: large scale synchronous biological turnover in avifauna from the Plio-Pleistocene and Late Holocene of New Zealand. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 158.

Rawlence NJ, Tennyson AJ, Cole TL, Verry AJ, Scofield RP. 2019. Evidence for breeding of Megadyptes penguins in the North Island at the time of human arrival. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 46(2): 165–173.

Scofield RP. 2019. The systematist and the starlet: the mystery of the honourees in Tom Iredale’s scientific names’. Records of the Canterbury Museum 33: 23–29.

Tizard J, Patel S, Waugh J, Tavares E, Bergmann T, Gill B, Norman J, Christidis L, Scofield P, Haddrath O. 2019. DNA barcoding a unique avifauna: an important tool for evolution, systematics and conservation. BMC Evolutionary Biology 19: 1–13.

Verry AJ, Scarsbrook L, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJ, Weston KA, Robertson BC, Rawlence NJ. 2019. Who, where, what, wren? Using ancient DNA to examine the veracity of museum specimen data: a case study of the New Zealand rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 7: 496.

Worthy TH, Hand SJ, Archer M, Scofield RP, De Pietri VL. 2019. Evidence for a giant parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand. Biology Letters 15(8): 20190467.

Worthy TH, Scofield RP. 2019. Meet the ‘Hercules parrot’ from prehistoric New Zealand – the biggest ever discovered. The Conversation 7 August.

De Pietri VL, Scofield RP, Prideaux GJ, Worthy TH. 2018. A new species of lapwing (Charadriidae: Vanellus) from the late Pliocene of central Australia. Emu-Austral Ornithology 118(4): 334–343.

Easton LJ, Rawlence NJ, Worthy TH, Tennyson AJ, Scofield RP, Easton CJ, Bell BD, Whigham PA, Dickinson KJ, Bishop PJ. 2018. Testing species limits of New Zealand’s leiopelmatid frogs through morphometric analyses. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 183(2): 431–444.

Hand SJ, Beck RM, Archer M, Simmons NB, Gunnell GF, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJ, De Pietri VL, Salisbury SW, Worthy TH. 2018. A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand. Scientific Reports 8(1): 235.

Mayr G, De Pietri VL, Scofield RP, Worthy TH. 2018. On the taxonomic composition and phylogenetic affinities of the recently proposed clade Vegaviidae Agnolín et al., 2017‒neornithine birds from the Upper Cretaceous of the Southern Hemisphere. Cretaceous Research 86: 178–185.

Rawlence NJ, Kardamaki A, Easton LJ, Tennyson AJ, Scofield RP, Waters JM. 2018. Native or not? Ancient DNA rejects persistence of New Zealand's endemic black swan: A reply to Montano et al. Evolutionary Applications 11(3): 376–377.

Rowe LK, Scofield RP, Taylor GA, Barker RJ. 2018. An estimate of the Hutton’s shearwater (Puffinus huttoni) population in the Kaikōura region using colour-marking in 2002 and 2014. Notornis 65(4): 196–201.

Seersholm FV, Cole TL, Grealy A, Rawlence NJ, Greig K, Knapp M, Stat M, Hansen AJ, Easton LJ, Shepherd L. 2018. Subsistence practices, past biodiversity, and anthropogenic impacts revealed by New Zealand-wide ancient DNA survey. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(30): 7771–7776.

An overview of our research, in which we aim to develop a comprehensive fossil record of marine birds from the Waipara Greensand to enhance our understanding of their taxonomic diversity and paleobiology. Improving stratigraphic control of the collected specimens will be essential for deciphering key evolutionary relationships and revealing the extent and timing of early diversification events in different seabird lineages.

Scofield RP, De Pietri VL, Crouch E, Love L, Mannering A, Mayr G, Reid C. 2022. Marine Avian Diversity in the Paleocene of New Zealand. Geoscience Programme & Abstracts Volume Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 161A. Wellington: Society of New Zealand; p123.

A partial ichthyosaur skeleton, GS15687, encased within a concretion from the Swale Member the of Split Rock Formation (99-97Ma) in North Canterbury provides an opportunity to describe a New Zealand taxon to a species level. The concretionary blocks were CT scanned, and segmentation of the CT data allowed the digital reconstruction and rendering of the concretion and the fossils within.

Young G, Scofield RP, Reid C, Mannering A, Crampton J. 2022. A Cretaceous ichthyosaur from North Canterbury. Geoscience Programme & Abstracts Volume Geoscience Society of New Zealand Miscellaneous Publication 161A. Wellington: Society of New Zealand; p123.