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Florida Museum Science

David Steadman

five fossil bones

Life on Earth

Extinct Caribbean bird’s closest relatives hail from Africa, South Pacific

March 16, 2021

In a genetic surprise, ancient DNA shows the closest family members of an extinct bird known as the Haitian cave-rail…Read More

A bird specimen label

Collections

Top killers of Florida birds: Trauma on land, starvation at sea

December 21, 2020

An analysis of birds that died at Florida wildlife rehabilitation clinics found songbirds and other land-dwelling species were most often…Read More

lineup of leg bones

Evolution

Giant, fruit-gulping pigeon eaten into extinction on Pacific islands

July 22, 2020

A large fruit-eating bird from Tonga joins the dodo in the lineup of giant island pigeons hunted to extinction. Fossils…Read More

hutia skull

Cultural Heritage

Hungry for hutia? Our taste for Bahamas’ ‘most peaceable rodent’ shaped its diversity

January 28, 2020

The Bahamian hutia, a large Caribbean rodent with a blissed-out disposition, presents a curious case study in how human food…Read More

ocellated turkey

Collections

How we stuff a turkey at the Florida Museum

November 25, 2019

The Florida Museum of Natural History added its own stuffed turkey to the estimated 45 million birds about to be…Read More

fossil bird skull

Life on Earth

Extinct Caribbean bird yields DNA after 2,500 years in watery grave

August 15, 2019

Scientists have recovered the first genetic data from an extinct bird in the Caribbean, thanks to the remarkably preserved bones…Read More

box with two fossil bones

Fieldwork

Museum volunteers discover new species of extinct heron at North Florida fossil site

May 16, 2019

When the bones of an ancient heron were unearthed at a North Florida fossil site, the find wasn’t made by…Read More

yellow-bellied sea snake

Life on Earth

Why are there no sea snakes in the Atlantic?

November 29, 2017

Sea snakes are an evolutionary success story. With about 70 species, they’re the most diverse reptile group in the ocean,…Read More

extinct tortoise fossil shell

Evolution

Extinct tortoise yields oldest tropical DNA

February 8, 2017

An extinct tortoise species that accidentally tumbled into a water-filled limestone sinkhole in the Bahamas about 1,000 years ago has…Read More

David holding alligator fossil skull

Evolution

A reptilian anachronism

September 19, 2016

New study also shows American alligator shared ancient Florida with giant crocodiles From climate to the peninsula’s very shape, not…Read More

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Contact Info

Florida Museum of Natural History
Gainesville, FL 32611

Media inquiries:
Jerald Pinson, Science Writer

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