Bird's eye view of ancient Pacific life

2 March 2026

Pacific, Education and society, Doctoral, Faculty of Arts and Education, Future of the planet

Piecing together how birds and humans interacted in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia hundreds of years ago is the focus of a new study that uses state-of-the-art lab technology to identify ancient DNA.

Picture of a flesh-footed shearwater in flight across a blue ocean.
The flesh-footed shearwater is one of the species Pillay's study identified using ancient bird bone DNA. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Anthropology PhD candidate Patricia Pillay and her transdisciplinary team at the University of Auckland have used advanced lab technology to analyse the DNA of tiny, ancient bird bone fragments from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.

The team has successfully identified two species of shearwater, now extinct in the Marquesas, and one red-tailed tropicbird, prized for its long, red tail feather that was often featured in ceremonies and exchanges.

The red-tailed tropicbird is still plentiful today in the islands and cohabited alongside humans as far back as 500 years ago.

The study is published in the March issue of Quaternary International.

Read more in this SPECIAL FEATURE

 

Media contact

Julianne Evans | Media adviser
M: 027 562 5868
E: julianne.evans@auckland.ac.nz

 

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