Alan Tennyson
@atennyson.bsky.social
Curator of Vertebrates, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Birds, palaeontology, conservation & general natural history. https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/learn/research/natural-history-research/natural-history-team
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Our little buddy Eudyptula wilsonae made BBC's Wildlife Magazine's 10 Cutest Prehistoric Animals Ever list!
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
January 7, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Our little buddy Eudyptula wilsonae made BBC's Wildlife Magazine's 10 Cutest Prehistoric Animals Ever list!
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
shorturl.at/svdjo
Reconstruction of this fossil fluffball by Simone Giovanardi.
Here's the original paper by Daniel Thomas, @atennyson.bsky.social, Felix Marx & myself:
shorturl.at/BSGYF
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing? www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing?
The bioscience startup has attracted billions in investment – and a flurry of criticism, but founder tells the Guardian plans to bring back the woolly mammoth will not be derailed
www.theguardian.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:43 PM
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing? www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Colossal Biosciences wins 2025 The Screamers Award for science hype on incorrect dire wolf de-extinction claim ipscell.com/2025/12/colo... #genetics #stemcells #scicomm
Colossal Biosciences wins 2025 The Screamers Award for science hype on dire wolf de-extinction claim - The Niche
Biologist awards Colossal Biosciences as the winner of the 2025 The Screamers science hype award for their dire wolf de-extinction claims.
ipscell.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Colossal Biosciences wins 2025 The Screamers Award for science hype on incorrect dire wolf de-extinction claim ipscell.com/2025/12/colo... #genetics #stemcells #scicomm
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
No, the dire wolf has not been brought back from extinction – and I even got Colossal’s chief scientist to admit as much in interview with me. In response, the company put out a statement reiterating its claims 3/
www.newscientist.com/article/2481...
www.newscientist.com/article/2481...
Colossal scientist now admits they haven’t really made dire wolves
Despite a huge media fanfare in which Colossal Biosciences claimed to have resurrected the extinct dire wolf, the company's chief scientist now concedes that the animals are merely modified grey wolve...
www.newscientist.com
December 31, 2025 at 1:04 PM
No, the dire wolf has not been brought back from extinction – and I even got Colossal’s chief scientist to admit as much in interview with me. In response, the company put out a statement reiterating its claims 3/
www.newscientist.com/article/2481...
www.newscientist.com/article/2481...
Rare pigeon rediscovered... The world's largest avian extinction event has occurred in the Pacific due to introduced predators. With mammal control, there is still hope for the manumea but it needs to start right now www.independent.co.uk/news/science....
Dodo’s closest living relative spotted in remote South Pacific rainforest
Manumea’s first sighting since 2013 raises hope critically endangered species can be saved from extinction
www.independent.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Rare pigeon rediscovered... The world's largest avian extinction event has occurred in the Pacific due to introduced predators. With mammal control, there is still hope for the manumea but it needs to start right now www.independent.co.uk/news/science....
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Faking it without making it: The de-extinction disinfo campaign manager’s history of hype. How Colossal Biosciences’ CEO Ben Lamm keeps the hype cycle going. gmwatch.org/en/106-news/...
December 11, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Faking it without making it: The de-extinction disinfo campaign manager’s history of hype. How Colossal Biosciences’ CEO Ben Lamm keeps the hype cycle going. gmwatch.org/en/106-news/...
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
‘Incredible’ carved canoe dates back to first settlement of islands near New Zealand | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Incredible’ carved canoe dates back to first settlement of islands near New Zealand
Fibers found on waka in Chatham Islands roughly align in age with earliest known human arrival
www.science.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:58 AM
‘Incredible’ carved canoe dates back to first settlement of islands near New Zealand | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Michael Archer, no stranger to media hype (see: resurrecting thylacines), has invented the "drop croc" based on the solid palaeotological evidence of…fossil eggshell. There's no evidence that any terrestrial croc could climb, let alone drop out of trees like a leopard. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Evidence of ancient tree-climbing 'drop crocs' found in Australia
Scientists say the crocodiles hunted like leopards by climbing trees and killing prey below.
www.bbc.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Michael Archer, no stranger to media hype (see: resurrecting thylacines), has invented the "drop croc" based on the solid palaeotological evidence of…fossil eggshell. There's no evidence that any terrestrial croc could climb, let alone drop out of trees like a leopard. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
The irony here is that academics don’t just write the articles for free—we also referee and edit for them for free. Something is deeply broken.
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Universities in 'battle of the century' with journal publisher Elsevier
One New Zealand university told its staff all universities in New Zealand and Australia would "lose some degree of access" to the publisher's 1600 titles from the start of next year.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 15, 2025 at 5:50 AM
The irony here is that academics don’t just write the articles for free—we also referee and edit for them for free. Something is deeply broken.
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Just a reminder that Elizabeth Holmes once featured on TIME's 100 Most Influential People list. Incidentally, TIME's unbridled hymn of praise for Lamm comes courtesy of George Church who is, of course, the co-founder with Lamm of #ColossalBio.
September 30, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Just a reminder that Elizabeth Holmes once featured on TIME's 100 Most Influential People list. Incidentally, TIME's unbridled hymn of praise for Lamm comes courtesy of George Church who is, of course, the co-founder with Lamm of #ColossalBio.
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
You have to laugh at some of the quotes in this piece about the smear campaign against critics of @itiscolossal.bsky.social. George Church says Ben Lamm "has faced technical hurdles and skeptics with respect & humor" www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/... 1/2
Dark PR attacks on critics of 10-billion-dollar biotech Goliath
Debunkers of de-extinction disinformation hit by vicious campaign of intimidation. Report: Jonathan Matthews
www.gmwatch.org
October 30, 2025 at 9:28 PM
You have to laugh at some of the quotes in this piece about the smear campaign against critics of @itiscolossal.bsky.social. George Church says Ben Lamm "has faced technical hurdles and skeptics with respect & humor" www.gmwatch.org/en/106-news/... 1/2
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
I wouldn't call @itiscolossal.bsky.social CEO Ben Lamm's tweet respectful or funny, & certainly not his comments calling critics, like @devoevomed.bsky.social, lying tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorists with mental health problems who are stalkers. Seriously WTF. What planet is Colossal on? 2/2
October 30, 2025 at 9:28 PM
I wouldn't call @itiscolossal.bsky.social CEO Ben Lamm's tweet respectful or funny, & certainly not his comments calling critics, like @devoevomed.bsky.social, lying tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorists with mental health problems who are stalkers. Seriously WTF. What planet is Colossal on? 2/2
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
🦴New fossil alert🦴 Introducing Aeviperditus gracilis, a possible bowerbird from the Miocene of New Zealand. My first fossil description!
Artwork by the amazing Sasha Votyakova (Te Papa CC-BY-SA) (🧵1/11)
Artwork by the amazing Sasha Votyakova (Te Papa CC-BY-SA) (🧵1/11)
October 23, 2025 at 8:55 AM
🦴New fossil alert🦴 Introducing Aeviperditus gracilis, a possible bowerbird from the Miocene of New Zealand. My first fossil description!
Artwork by the amazing Sasha Votyakova (Te Papa CC-BY-SA) (🧵1/11)
Artwork by the amazing Sasha Votyakova (Te Papa CC-BY-SA) (🧵1/11)
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Super chuffed to have been awarded $40,000 in the latest @universityofotago.bsky.social Research Grant round to continue our palaeontological research at St Bathans - with @palaeocharlie.bsky.social, @atennyson.bsky.social, Ross Thompson, Malcom Reid, Amy Adams, & Gerry Closs.
October 26, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Super chuffed to have been awarded $40,000 in the latest @universityofotago.bsky.social Research Grant round to continue our palaeontological research at St Bathans - with @palaeocharlie.bsky.social, @atennyson.bsky.social, Ross Thompson, Malcom Reid, Amy Adams, & Gerry Closs.
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Check out our @aunz.theconversation.com article covering the St Bathans #bowerbird story!
theconversation.com/a-tiny-fossi...
@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social @atennyson.bsky.social @plubbe.bsky.social
theconversation.com/a-tiny-fossi...
@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social @atennyson.bsky.social @plubbe.bsky.social
A tiny fossil suggests bowerbirds once lived in ancient New Zealand – new research
New Zealand’s ancient bowerbird was smaller and more slender than the species living in Australia and New Guinea today.
theconversation.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Check out our @aunz.theconversation.com article covering the St Bathans #bowerbird story!
theconversation.com/a-tiny-fossi...
@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social @atennyson.bsky.social @plubbe.bsky.social
theconversation.com/a-tiny-fossi...
@nicrawlencenz.bsky.social @atennyson.bsky.social @plubbe.bsky.social
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
Team effort from @fieldpalaeo.bsky.social @plubbe.bsky.social @nicrawlencenz.bsky.social Alex Brown and @atennyson.bsky.social between Cambridge Uni, Otago Uni and Te Papa Tongarewa.
Find the paper here www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @historicalbiology.bsky.social (🧵2/11)
Find the paper here www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @historicalbiology.bsky.social (🧵2/11)
A possible early bowerbird from the Miocene of New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to several endemic passerine bird lineages that likely dispersed from Australia between the Eocene and Miocene. Although the Australian pre-Pleistocene passerine fossil...
www.tandfonline.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Team effort from @fieldpalaeo.bsky.social @plubbe.bsky.social @nicrawlencenz.bsky.social Alex Brown and @atennyson.bsky.social between Cambridge Uni, Otago Uni and Te Papa Tongarewa.
Find the paper here www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @historicalbiology.bsky.social (🧵2/11)
Find the paper here www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @historicalbiology.bsky.social (🧵2/11)
Reposted by Alan Tennyson
You can check out our @aunz.theconversation.com article on this new discovery here theconversation.com/a-tiny-fossi.... 8/9
A tiny fossil suggests bowerbirds once lived in ancient New Zealand – new research
New Zealand’s ancient bowerbird was smaller and more slender than the species living in Australia and New Guinea today.
theconversation.com
October 22, 2025 at 8:44 PM
You can check out our @aunz.theconversation.com article on this new discovery here theconversation.com/a-tiny-fossi.... 8/9