Fossils of ancient birds and frogs found in New Zealand cave
Scientists just uncovered fossils of 12 bird species and 4 frog species in a Waitomo cave, dating back over a million years.
These remains, trapped between layers of volcanic ash, reveal what New Zealand's wildlife looked like long before humans showed up.
Meet the ancient crew
Highlights include Strigops insulaborealis—a newly identified ancestor of the kakapo that may have been able to fly—plus an extinct takahe relative and a bronzewing-style pigeon.
These discoveries show off the rich forests and shrublands that once covered New Zealand.
Why does this matter?
This find bridges a huge 15-million-year gap in New Zealand's fossil record.
As lead author Trevor Worthy put it, "This is a newly recognized avifauna for New Zealand, one that was replaced by the one humans encountered a million years later,"
that gives us a fresh baseline for understanding what prehistoric life here was really like—way before people or modern animals arrived.