Science

Botany, fishes, birds, insects, fossils, molluscs – read about Te Papa's scientific research and stories from leading experts.

Captain Cook’s 150-year-old kōwhai specimens uncover Rapa Nui (Easter Island) secrets

Captain Cook’s 150-year-old kōwhai specimens uncover Rapa Nui (Easter Island) secrets

A single specimen of toromiro – a close relative of our own kōwhai and extinct in the wild – has been discovered in our botany collection, where it’s been kept safe for 150 years.

Te Papa Blog
Moa vs Superman: Poignant extinction lessons via a 1970s comic

Moa vs Superman: Poignant extinction lessons via a 1970s comic

Lots of us can list a handful of Superman’s foes – Lex Luthor, General Zod, Doomsday – but few know of the time that Superman fought a giant moa. That’s right, New Zealand’s own moa! Science researcher Rodrigo Salvador tells us more.

Te Papa Blog
Crabeater seals and their mysterious attraction to the Hutt River (the sequel)

Crabeater seals and their mysterious attraction to the Hutt River (the sequel)

About three years ago, vertebrate curator Colin Miskelly made the ‘rash’ claim that the best bet for seeing a crabeater seal in New Zealand was to visit the mouth of the Hutt River in Wellington Harbour – and wait approximately 25 years. But one showed up in July 2019.

Te Papa Blog
New Zealand’s most popular spiders

New Zealand’s most popular spiders

Spiders! They're the most popular things on Collections Online. Identification is the most common reason for looking them up. Read on for the most popular spiders of the 2010s.

Te Papa Blog
Save Wellington’s unique snail from extinction

Save Wellington’s unique snail from extinction

Wellington has its very own snail species, Potamopyrgus oppidanus, found nowhere else in the world – and it’s smaller than a grain of rice. But their numbers are alarmingly decreasing due to bikers and weeds.

Te Papa Blog
Caring for our whale bones

Caring for our whale bones

Lots of us care about saving the whales, but not many get as hands-on as technician Stephanie Ho. She’s spent the last nine months caring for whale bones in Te Papa’s collections. It’s a messy, smelly and painstaking job, but it’s protecting these important specimens for the future.

Te Papa Blog
Fiordland’s Breaksea Sound: 30 years after the rats

Fiordland’s Breaksea Sound: 30 years after the rats

How has the wildlife on these islands responded to more than 30 years without rats? Vertebrates Curator Colin Miskelly reports on a recent field trip to find out.

Te Papa Blog
A new liverwort species for Wellington

A new liverwort species for Wellington

A new species of liverwort has just been identified in Wellington and named after local amateur botanist Rodney Lewington (1935–2018). Botanist Lara Shepherd tells us more about liverworts and Rodney’s contribution to New Zealand botany.

Te Papa Blog

Identify New Zealand’s common tree ferns: ponga, mamaku, kātote, whekī, and whekī ponga

Identify New Zealand’s common tree ferns: ponga, mamaku, kātote, whekī, and whekī ponga

Skirts, scales, hexagons, and colour. There are many differences you can look out for if you want to learn how to identify tree ferns.
New Zealand Mosquito Census
New Zealand Mosquito Census

We need your help tracking New Zealand’s native and introduced mosquito species so we can get a better understanding of which species live where and how they’re spreading. Simply catch it, freeze it, and send it!
Listen: The Politics of Collecting – from Banks and Solander to Today

Listen: The Politics of Collecting – from Banks and Solander to Today

Hear botanists and researchers discuss the shifting politics of collecting and classifying plants, from both Māori and Pākehā perspectives.
The Current
The Current

Nature debate: Add your voice to The Current and help solve New Zealand’s toughest nature challenges.
- The Current – accessible version
A 10-year hunt for a tiny parasitic ghost orchid

A 10-year hunt for a tiny parasitic ghost orchid

Would you have the patience to spend 10 years trying to find something practically invisible? Botanist Carlos Lehnebach recently discovered his ‘holy grail’ – a collection of tiny ghost orchids in the Wellington region.
Extinct tiny albatross species discovered in Taranaki

Extinct tiny albatross species discovered in Taranaki

The most complete fossil albatross skull ever found. Curator of vertebrates Alan Tennyson tells us more.
Over-looked for a century: Macquarie Island shag added to the New Zealand list

Over-looked for a century: Macquarie Island shag added to the New Zealand list

‘Presumably no-one bothered to check till now whether Ogilvie-Grant knew one shag from another.’ Curator Colin Miskelly shares his research resulting in the addition of a new (or old) bird to the official New Zealand bird list.
Community stories: Taking action for nature

Community stories: Taking action for nature

River cleaners, tree planters, possum trappers, and climate crusaders. Explore stories from around Aotearoa of communities taking care of their natural environment.
Science for Lunch talks

Science for Lunch talks

From deep-sea creatures to earthquake hazards, hear about the latest scientific discoveries in and around Aotearoa, straight from the experts.
Reassembling bones: How to build a Hector’s dolphin

Reassembling bones: How to build a Hector’s dolphin

Navigating brittle bones and teeth the size of rice, Thomas Schultz, Collection Manager Science, reflects on putting a Hector’s dolphin back together for an exhibition that would tour North America for ten years.
ShakerMod: Earthquake Encounters

ShakerMod: Earthquake Encounters

ShakerMod – play an educational Minecraft mod which simulates earthquakes and creates an experiential and playful approach to understanding how to protect our homes against them – Fix. Fasten. Don’t Forget!
Colossal squid
Colossal squid

All you’d want to know about the colossal squid – from its anatomy, to how it was found.
The biting truth about white-tailed spiders

The biting truth about white-tailed spiders

Whitetails are blamed for lots of nasty symptoms, and have developed something of a bad reputation, but is it deserved? Bug expert Phil Sirvid sorts fact from fiction.
Ancient colossal penguin bones discovered in Otago

Ancient colossal penguin bones discovered in Otago

What do you do when you discover what is possibly the largest penguin ever? You name it after your mum. This is what Curator Vertebrates Alan Tennyson – who has a paper on the discovery out today – did.
Martinborough’s cave of bones: How thousands of flightless birds met their end

Martinborough’s cave of bones: How thousands of flightless birds met their end

Fossilised bird grave sites are common in New Zealand, but one particular cave in Martinborough has revealed thousands of bones of flightless birds who plunged to their deaths.
Cross-pollination experiments with one of New Zealand’s rarest trees

Cross-pollination experiments with one of New Zealand’s rarest trees

When an incredibly rare native tree – the Bartlett’s rātā – flowered for the first time in a quarter-century, Botany curator Carlos Lehnebach was ready with his tweezers.
Discovering the mola tecta, a new species of sunfish

Discovering the mola tecta, a new species of sunfish

Read the story about how a sunfish washing up on our beaches and lying in our store rooms, has become the first new species of sunfish to be described in 100 years.
Podcasts about whales: Attitudes, research, first encounters

Podcasts about whales: Attitudes, research, first encounters

Get up close and personal with, and learn about cultural attitudes towards, the whale.
Science Express podcasts

Science Express podcasts

Listen to a range of podcasts covering topics such as climate change, Ebola, radiation therapy, alpine fault drilling, and forensics.
Quiz: How well do you know your New Zealand birds?

Quiz: How well do you know your New Zealand birds?

Do you know the difference between a hihi and a huia? Or how many species of kiwi there are in NZ? Put your native bird knowledge to the test.
How to build a BugBot

How to build a BugBot

Learn some robot-making skills by building your own BugBot at home.
A right continental fuss: Zealandia explained

A right continental fuss: Zealandia explained

Dr Hamish Campbell, Te Papa’s geologist in residence from GNS Science, talks about the news that intrigued the world in February 2017 – that it can legitimately be claimed that Zealandia is a distinct continent.
In photos: Giant eggs, tiny eggs, and the eggceptionally rare

In photos: Giant eggs, tiny eggs, and the eggceptionally rare

Bird expert Colin Miskelly highlights some of the treasures in our egg collection, including those thought to be held only by Te Papa – as well as giant moa eggs, tiny rifleman eggs, and eggs that were acquired during dramatic events in New Zealand’s conservation history.
Sunfish: Dissecting and preserving an ocean giant

Sunfish: Dissecting and preserving an ocean giant

A series of photographs showing our fish scientists carry out research on a 243kg sunfish.
Fantastic water bears and how to photograph them

Fantastic water bears and how to photograph them

Jean-Claude explains why photographing a water bear is such a ‘bugbear’ and bug expert Phil Sirvid fills us in on exactly what a water bear is, and why they are one of the most indestructible creatures on the planet.
The global hunt for the original wandering albatross

The global hunt for the original wandering albatross

Vertebrate Curator Alan Tennyson explores the history of the name of the wandering albatross and the hunt for the original specimens.
Watch: Rediscovering the 'extinct' takahē in 1948

Watch: Rediscovering the 'extinct' takahē in 1948

We've resurfaced colour footage not seen since the 1940s. One of New Zealand's greatest wildlife stories – the rediscovery of the 'extinct' takahē in 1948, found alive in Fiordland.
Meet Audrey Eagle, botanical artist

Meet Audrey Eagle, botanical artist

Botanical artist Audrey Eagle, author of the Montana medal-winning ‘Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand’, talks about her remarkable life and work.
Kingdom of the Birds: An Expedition to Solander Island

Kingdom of the Birds: An Expedition to Solander Island

The remote Snares Islands are teeming with rare wildlife – including tomtits, albatross, and penguins. They seldom have human visitors. In late 2013, four Te Papa scientists spent two weeks on the Snares, carrying out a range of seabird and plant research projects.
Expedition to Snares Island

Expedition to Snares Island

In late 2013, four Te Papa scientists spent two weeks on the Snares, carrying out a range of seabird and plant research projects. Watch a series of videos about the expedition.
How big is a sunfish?

How big is a sunfish?

Sunfish are the heaviest bony fish species alive today. Find out how large different species grow and how to weigh one.
The genius of bugs
The genius of bugs

You name it, bugs can do it. Over millions of years, they’ve adapted to make the most of every habitat on Earth. We’re only just beginning to discover their secrets.
Filming the elusive kiwi in the 1940s

Filming the elusive kiwi in the 1940s

Bird expert, Colin Miskelly, comments on recently rediscovered 1940s footage of a kiwi, and explains how far wildlife documentaries have come in the last 70 years.
Halting the jolts: How Te Papa resists earthquakes

Halting the jolts: How Te Papa resists earthquakes

How did Te Papa survive the Kaikoura earthquake nearly unscathed?
Your bug questions answered
Your bug questions answered

Do spiders sleep? Why are cicadas so loud? Te Papa's bug expert Phil Sirvid answers some of your more unusual questions.

Share

Science

Captain Cook’s 150-year-old kōwhai specimens uncover Rapa Nui (Easter Island) secrets

Moa vs Superman: Poignant extinction lessons via a 1970s comic

Crabeater seals and their mysterious attraction to the Hutt River (the sequel)

New Zealand’s most popular spiders

Save Wellington’s unique snail from extinction

Caring for our whale bones

Fiordland’s Breaksea Sound: 30 years after the rats

A new liverwort species for Wellington

Identify New Zealand’s common tree ferns: ponga, mamaku, kātote, whekī, and whekī ponga

New Zealand Mosquito Census

Listen: The Politics of Collecting – from Banks and Solander to Today

The Current

A 10-year hunt for a tiny parasitic ghost orchid

Extinct tiny albatross species discovered in Taranaki

Over-looked for a century: Macquarie Island shag added to the New Zealand list

Community stories: Taking action for nature

Science for Lunch talks

Reassembling bones: How to build a Hector’s dolphin

ShakerMod: Earthquake Encounters

Colossal squid

The biting truth about white-tailed spiders

Ancient colossal penguin bones discovered in Otago

Martinborough’s cave of bones: How thousands of flightless birds met their end

Cross-pollination experiments with one of New Zealand’s rarest trees

Discovering the mola tecta, a new species of sunfish

Podcasts about whales: Attitudes, research, first encounters

Science Express podcasts

Quiz: How well do you know your New Zealand birds?

How to build a BugBot

A right continental fuss: Zealandia explained

In photos: Giant eggs, tiny eggs, and the eggceptionally rare

Sunfish: Dissecting and preserving an ocean giant

Fantastic water bears and how to photograph them

The global hunt for the original wandering albatross

Watch: Rediscovering the 'extinct' takahē in 1948

Meet Audrey Eagle, botanical artist

Kingdom of the Birds: An Expedition to Solander Island

Expedition to Snares Island

How big is a sunfish?

The genius of bugs

Filming the elusive kiwi in the 1940s

Halting the jolts: How Te Papa resists earthquakes

Your bug questions answered