first thought was of his late mother.
And so the newly discovered extinct duck was named Catriona’s shelduck.
"My mum inspired my love of natural history.
"I grew up in Nelson and Golden Bay, surrounded by caves full of moa bones.
"Mum loved hearing stories of my outdoor adventures, wanting full reports on what had been found.
"She would have been excited by this discovery," he said.
The discovery was made by a team of researchers from the University of Otago’s departments of zoology, anatomy and geology, as well
as Massey University and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
Researchers have been working in the fossil-rich area of St Bathans for more than 20 years, uncovering animals which lived millions of years ago.
"The St Bathans fauna is about 15 million to 19 million years old and opens a window into a Miocene wonderland that, until recently, we knew relatively little about," Dr Rawlence said.
Based on the large wing bone of the Catriona’s shelduck which was found in an eroding creek bank, he believed it would have looked similar to today’s paradise shelduck, only bigger.
Te Papa vertebrates curator Alan Tennyson said the area was one of the richest faunas of fossil ducks in the world, and Catriona’s shelduck was the largest of all the ducks discovered there.
He said they probably died out because of the dramatic tectonic and climatic changes which later affected the area, and eventually caused the disappearance of the lake.
The duck may also have evolved into a modern species and its descendants were still with us, he said.
"The discovery further underscores the global importance of St Bathans fossils for understanding the evolution of ducks and their relatives," he said.
