Nine To Noon Trevor Worthy on a career of fossil finding
Mar 1, 2026
Trevor Worthy, a world-leading paleozoologist who has named over 100 vertebrate species, recounts a career born in Waitomo caves. He discusses discoveries from Waitomo and St Bathans, the stunning Miocene fauna, precise dating with tephra and stalagmites, and how large-scale sieving and collaborations revealed unexpected diversity and climate clues.
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Caving Sparked A Career In Fossils
- Trevor Worthy got hooked on fossils while caving with the Waikato University caving group and finding moa and bird bones in Waitomo caves.
- He began mapping and collecting fossils during university trips, which launched his paleozoology career.
St Bathans Reveals A 20 Million Year Old Fauna
- The St Bathans sites preserve a terrestrial vertebrate fauna from about 19–16 million years ago, giving rare insight into New Zealand's early Miocene animals.
- The deposits include birds, lizards, frogs and crocodiles, revealing ecosystems unlike the much younger Holocene record.
Upscaling Excavations Uncovered Hundreds Of Specimens
- After teaming with Australian colleagues, Worthy's team expanded excavations and recovered hundreds of specimens from St Bathans.
- The project now documents over 80 species including 40+ birds, lizards, frogs, tuatara and turtles from layered beds.