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Research News

Michelle LeFebvre

Two parrot specimens arranged on a white surface above a box full of parrot fossils

Life on Earth

Caribbean parrots thought to be endemic are actually relicts of millennial-scale extinction

September 25, 2023

In a new study published in PNAS, researchers have extracted the first ancient DNA from Caribbean parrots, which they compared…Read More

Rodent fossils arranged on a white background

Life on Earth

Rodent extinctions in Hispaniola may have been caused by humans

January 10, 2023

The island of Hispaniola once had among the highest rodent diversity in the Caribbean, supporting 11 species that coexisted for…Read More

Satellite map of Fort Myers and surrounding islands

Grants & Initiatives

Archaeologists awarded NSF grant to survey Florida cultural heritage sites damaged by Hurricane Ian

December 19, 2022

The National Science Foundation has awarded emergency funding to archaeologists at three institutions to survey cultural heritage sites damaged by…Read More

Cultural Heritage

The persistent effects of colonialism in Caribbean science

June 1, 2022

Prior to the first world war, sprawling European empires collectively controlled roughly 80% of Earth’s landmass. Following WWII, that percentage…Read More

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

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

bones on black background

Cultural Heritage

Ancient bone protein reveals which turtles were on the menu in Florida, Caribbean

November 4, 2019

Thousands of years ago, the inhabitants of modern-day Florida and the Caribbean feasted on sea turtles, leaving behind bones that…Read More

A female scientist holding a large, white shell

Hires & Promotions

Michelle LeFebvre appointed South Florida Archaeology and Ethnography’s assistant curator

October 11, 2019

The Florida Museum of Natural History has appointed archaeologist Michelle LeFebvre as assistant curator of the South Florida Archaeology and…Read More

jaw bones of various animals in boxes

Cultural Heritage

New data platform illuminates history of humans’ environmental impact

May 13, 2019

The human environmental footprint is not only deep, but old. Ancient traces of this footprint can be found in animal…Read More

Contact Info

Florida Museum of Natural History
Gainesville, FL 32611

Media inquiries:
Jerald Pinson, Science Writer

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