Nic Rawlence
@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social
Associate Professor, palaeoecologist, and science communicator @Otago Ancient Ecology Lab Mātai Hauropi Tawhito using ancient DNA and palaeontology to reconstruct past ecosystems.
We live in an era of increasingly warped reality: ChatGPT-generated articles, deepfake videos, fake journals, AI slop, and phenotypic facsimiles offered as evidence of successfully resurrected extinct species. www.rnz.co.nz/news/science...
Can we de-extinct the moa and more importantly, should we?
Colossal Biosciences calls itself an advanced genetics company that's developing the science that will save us all.
rnz.co.nz
Kind of sucks that we killed off all of the Northern Hemisphere's flightless seabirds.
Nic Rawlence@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 21h agoCheck out the preprint of our new ancient DNA paper on the evolutionary history of the large, extinct Spectacled Cormorant and whether it was part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
I'm super excited about this. Been fascinated with these birds since I spent 4 summers in the Aleutians, and especially now that I look after 2 of the 6 specimens in existence!
Nic Rawlence@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 21h agoCheck out the preprint of our new ancient DNA paper on the evolutionary history of the large, extinct Spectacled Cormorant and whether it was part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Check out the preprint of our new ancient DNA paper on the evolutionary history of the large, extinct Spectacled Cormorant and whether it was part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Many miners in the Yukon have a great relationship w/Dr. Zazula (Yukon paleontologist) & report their finds to him. Another amazing find was a young wolf pup. @yukonberingia.bsky.social gizmodo.com/canadian-gol...
Canadian Gold Miner Finds 57,000-Year-Old Wolf Pup Still Covered in Fur
Her life was short. Scientists estimate she lived for about six or seven weeks in the underground den, before it collapsed around her. This tragedy and
gizmodo.com
Sonya 🇨🇦@icedsnowberry.bsky.social · yesterdayThe other day I randomly met the miner who discovered this baby woolly mammoth in the Yukon a few years ago. Imagine digging for gold and instead finding the mummified remains of an Ice Age animal 🦣
Check out the preprint of our new ancient DNA paper on the evolutionary history of the large, extinct Spectacled Cormorant and whether it was part of the North Pacific kelp-associated fauna www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Drew Scanlon Blinking Eyes Meme Reaction
ALT: Drew Scanlon Blinking Eyes Meme Reaction
static.klipy.com
Nic Rawlence@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 4d ago@itiscolossal.bsky.social says it is not appropriate for it to comment on whether it has consulted widely enough, that is "a judgement for Māori to make" and it recognises consultation is "not a box to check once" situation. This is such a cop out answer www.rnz.co.nz/news/science... 1/3
Given our rich archaeological & fossil record, dynamic coastline, & impacts of climate change, I'm amazed that there isn't a dedicated Ministry of Culture and Heritage fund for rescue excavations like this . 2/2
One of the most significant archaeological finds in Aotearoa & Polynesia is in desperate need of rescue excavation before it's lost, & the government, which is legally required to save it, won't cough up the $$$ to do so. Guess it shows where their priorities lie www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/04/a... 1/2
Ancient waka left buried – Moriori warn delays could lose it to the sea
1News understands the Ministry for Culture and Heritage has plans to resume excavation of the buried waka, but not until late 2027.
1news.co.nz
NZ needs a properly funded natural history museum. We may not have the popn base but our biodiversity (past & present) is unique. It would also be an ideal opportunity to develop globally focused exhibitions on evolution of life thru the fossil record, human evolution, and touring exhibitions.
Phil Garnock-Jones@theobrominated.eurosky.social · 2d agoI’d love to see all the collections amalgamated into a national natural history museum dedicated to research on our biodiversity and properly funded for that mission. Taxonomy is essential for all biological research but gets sidelined in competitive funding.
It’s always ‘fuck Colossal Biosciences’ here, folks.
Nic Rawlence@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 4d ago@itiscolossal.bsky.social says it is not appropriate for it to comment on whether it has consulted widely enough, that is "a judgement for Māori to make" and it recognises consultation is "not a box to check once" situation. This is such a cop out answer www.rnz.co.nz/news/science... 1/3
NZ needs a properly funded natural history museum. We may not have the popn base but our biodiversity (past & present) is unique. It would also be an ideal opportunity to develop globally focused exhibitions on evolution of life thru the fossil record, human evolution, and touring exhibitions.
Phil Garnock-Jones@theobrominated.eurosky.social · 2d agoI’d love to see all the collections amalgamated into a national natural history museum dedicated to research on our biodiversity and properly funded for that mission. Taxonomy is essential for all biological research but gets sidelined in competitive funding.
One of the most significant archaeological finds in Aotearoa & Polynesia is in desperate need of rescue excavation before it's lost, & the government, which is legally required to save it, won't cough up the $$$ to do so. Guess it shows where their priorities lie www.1news.co.nz/2026/09/04/a... 1/2
Ancient waka left buried – Moriori warn delays could lose it to the sea
1News understands the Ministry for Culture and Heritage has plans to resume excavation of the buried waka, but not until late 2027.
1news.co.nz
www.critic.co.nz/news/article...
OUSA Confirms University Bookshop Under New Ownership
The Otago University Students’ Association has announced that the University Bookshop (UBS) has been sold to John Brenssell, with plans for the bookshop to continue operating as an independent booksto...
critic.co.nz
Based on our widespread engagement around ancient DNA, there's little to no support across Ngāi Tahu rūnanga (incl. Ngāi Tūāhuriri members) for @itiscolossal.bsky.social colonialist moa de-extinction project & no support from any of the iwi in Te Tau Ihu @ top of Sth Is bsky.app/profile/nicr... 1/3
Nic Rawlence@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 4d ago@itiscolossal.bsky.social says it is not appropriate for it to comment on whether it has consulted widely enough, that is "a judgement for Māori to make" and it recognises consultation is "not a box to check once" situation. This is such a cop out answer www.rnz.co.nz/news/science... 1/3
@itiscolossal.bsky.social, Canterbury Museum & the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre need to stop saying they represent the iwi when they are sampling moa bones for de-extinction found outside the rohe of Ngāi Tūāhuriri. This is just trampling over the wishes & lack of support from other rūnanga 2/3
The decision to 'de-extinct' a Sth Is giant moa needs to be a Ngāi Tahu-wide decision, not a single research centre's. Better still it needs to be a Sth Is-wide one with iwi from Te Tau Ihu, & for other moa an Aotearoa-wide one, not just bc of Indigenous concerns around GE & data sovereignty. 3/3
Pretty stoked that the mātuhituhi Stead's bush wren made an appearance on Radio New Zealand's Critter of the Week. This sadly and recently extinct (only 1972!) songbird helped shape modern conservation practice in NZ & is a poignant reminder of what's at stake www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
Attention Philadelphia! We're hosting a rally to demand that Drexel University maintain The Academy of Natural Sciences Museum open to the public. Join us on Tuesday morning at 10am in front of the academy. Please spread the word, we need all hands on deck! RSVP here: luma.com/1qwnrqz2
Pretty stoked that the mātuhituhi Stead's bush wren made an appearance on Radio New Zealand's Critter of the Week. This sadly and recently extinct (only 1972!) songbird helped shape modern conservation practice in NZ & is a poignant reminder of what's at stake www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
🚨🚨🚨'increasingly rely on knowledge/generosity of retired experts' is describing a state of emergency. 🚨🚨🚨 This is what decades of under funding followed by outright attacks on public research leads to. And there are almost no jobs for those finishing PhDs. Why not? 🤔 #ResearchIsWork #NZPOl 🇳🇿
Matt Buys@mattbuys.bsky.social · 2d agoWe welcomed Eric McKenzie to the National Forest Fungarium at @bioeconomyscience.bsky.social. BioCollections increasingly rely on the knowledge/generosity of retired experts to keep collection-based science thriving. With Eric is Pam Taylor, NZFRIM Collection's Manager. #Mycology #Biocollections 🧪
I’ll be damned—it’s only one study with only two very specific scenarios—but the moral hazard of #DeExtinction may be less than I expected… www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Quote: "These are essentially smear campaigns designed to silence critics. The most famous example is when the tobacco industry went after public health experts, or when oil and gas companies seeded doubt around climate change." outsideinradio.org/shows/scient...
Scientists spoke up against a de-extinction company. Then the smears began. — Outside/In
What happens when academics spar with a multibillion dollar corporation?
outsideinradio.org
See this webinar by Dr. Nic Rawlence for a thorough de-bunking of these claims. Nic was awarded the Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize this year for Myth Busting.
Myth Busting De-Extinction - Recorded Webinar - Genomics for Aotearoa New Zealand
Myth Busting De-Extinction - Recorded Webinar. What's the truth about de-extinction? - A New Zealand perspective.
genomics.nz
If I did this with money, watches, IDs, medicine, etc., I would go to prison for counterfeiting. Because of our casino economy, Colossal gets to call it “de-extinction” and dupe dumb-dumbs who invested in digital apes. People associated with this grift is why science is dying in the US.
Mike Dickison@adzebill.bsky.social · 5d agoIn a decade, when there is a distinct lack of (modified-emu-fake-)moa running around, the handful of researchers who sacrificed their reputations to back up this scam will have to ask if the money was worth it. www.rnz.co.nz/news/science...
I keep seeing people talking about de-extincting the thylacine - and I would love to see us rectify the tragedy that was killing them - but they’re not a good case. This thread about them shows a bunch of the reasons why.
c0nc0rdance@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2y agoThe tragedy of the thylacine: they survived long enough for us to have videos of what we lost. The last thylacine died only 2 months after being granted 'Protected' status, on 7 September 1936 at Beaumaris Zoo in Hobart, Tasmania. There were >5,000 when Europeans arrived in Tasmania ~1804.
Based on our widespread engagement around ancient DNA, there's little to no support across Ngāi Tahu rūnanga (incl. Ngāi Tūāhuriri members) for @itiscolossal.bsky.social colonialist moa de-extinction project & no support from any of the iwi in Te Tau Ihu @ top of Sth Is bsky.app/profile/nicr... 1/3
Nic Rawlence@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social · 4d ago@itiscolossal.bsky.social says it is not appropriate for it to comment on whether it has consulted widely enough, that is "a judgement for Māori to make" and it recognises consultation is "not a box to check once" situation. This is such a cop out answer www.rnz.co.nz/news/science... 1/3
www.critic.co.nz/news/article...
OUSA Confirms University Bookshop Under New Ownership
The Otago University Students’ Association has announced that the University Bookshop (UBS) has been sold to John Brenssell, with plans for the bookshop to continue operating as an independent booksto...
critic.co.nz
Congrats to @paulinabarry.bsky.social on the publication of the first #openaccess paper from her MSc in Sci Comm (www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....), detailing the journey of the fantastic Legendary Birds mural she did @zoologyotago.bsky.social. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this mahi.
Congrats to @paulinabarry.bsky.social on the publication of the first #openaccess paper from her MSc in Sci Comm (www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....), detailing the journey of the fantastic Legendary Birds mural she did @zoologyotago.bsky.social. Thanks for inviting me to be a part of this mahi.