A History Lesson
A newly discovered extinct duck that lived in ancient Aotearoa New Zealand could be key to dating other finds from an ancient lake bed uncovered in St Bathans, Central Otago. The new species, a small diving duck researchers have named Manuherikia primadividua, lived between 16 and 19 million years ago on a huge paleolake called Lake Manuherikia.
Researchers are excited by the discovery because M. primadividua is the first animal found at St Bathans that could help them narrow down dates for other finds. This discovery underpins the importance of knowing exactly which layer a fossil derives from. ‘You might think, “Oh, it’s just another dead duck,” but it’s an important step in building up a picture of how the animals and plants living on this ancient lake changed over time,’ explains Dr Paul Scofield, Senior Curator of Natural History at Canterbury Museum.
Fossils of animals that lived in the sea are relatively common in New Zealand, but the remains of ancient land-based animals are extremely rare. The ancient lake bed preserved at the St Bathans site is the most significant known deposit of landbased animal fossils in the country.