Trevor Henry Worthy (born 3 January 1957) is an Australia-based paleozoologist from New Zealand, known for his

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

on moa and other

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

vertebrates Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain. The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...

Biography

Worthy grew up in Broadwood, Northland, and went to Whangarei Boys' High School. He began his career as a largely self-taught palaeontologist, after becoming interested in fossils through caving. Worthy completed his BSc and MSc at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

, then did a second Master's degree at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

. In 1987, Worthy described three new leiopelmatid frog species from cave subfossils: the Aurora frog ('' Leiopelma auroraensis''), Markham's frog (''Leiopelma markhami''), and the Waitomo frog (''Leiopelma waitomoensis''). In the 1990s, he discovered several fossil bird species new to science, including the long-billed wren (''Dendroscansor decurvirostris'') in 1991, Scarlett's shearwater (''Puffinus spelaeus'') in 1991, and the Niue night heron (''Nycticorax kalavikai'') in 1995. In 1991, he also described the Northland skink, a fossil skink species new to science. In 1998, Worthy excavated subfossil bones in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, where he found remains of the flightless Viti Levu giant pigeon (''Natunaornis gigoura''), the Viti Levu scrubfowl (''Megapodius amissus''), the Viti Levu snipe (''Coenocorypha miratropica''), the giant Fiji ground frog (''Platymantis megabotoniviti''), and the small freshwater crocodile '' Volia athollandersoni''. The holotypes of these species were deposited in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. For years, Worthy has been involved in the excavation of Miocene fossils (the Saint Bathans Fauna) from a prehistoric lake in Central Otago, including the oldest known moa bones, the oldest

tuatara The tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') is a species of reptile endemic to New Zealand. Despite its close resemblance to lizards, it is actually the only extant member of a distinct lineage, the previously highly diverse order Rhynchocephal ...

bones, and the first known fossil land mammal from New Zealand.Fossils reveal New Zealand's indigenous 'mouse'
. ''New Scientist''. 11 December 2006. Worthy's research, based in

Waitomo Caves Waitomo is a rural community in the King Country region of New Zealand's North Island. There are several solutional cave systems in the area around the village, which are popular tourist attractions. Restaurants and accommodation are centred in ...

Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...

, Nelson, and Te Papa, had been funded by grants from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology since 1991, but in 2005 his funding was cut by the Foundation. From 2005 to 2009, he was at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, where he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 2008. He received a

Doctor of Science A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

from the University of Waikato in 2011. He was at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

from 2009 to 2011, back at the University of Adelaide during 2012, and has been at

Flinders University Flinders University, established as The Flinders University of South Australia is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across a number of locations in South Australia and ...

since 2013. In May 2019, he ended his 30-year research association with Te Papa at protest to the staff restructuring controversy. Worthy is author or co-author of numerous research papers about prehistoric life in New Zealand. For the book ''The Lost World of the Moa'' (2002), he and Richard Holdaway received the D. L. Serventy Medal from the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in 2003 for an outstanding published work about

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

n avifauna. Below is a list of taxa that Worthy has contributed to naming:

References

External links

Personal page at Flinders UniversityCanterbury University
– short biography
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa collections associated with Trevor Worthy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthy, Trevor New Zealand paleontologists 20th-century New Zealand zoologists Paleozoologists Living people 1957 births University of Adelaide alumni 21st-century New Zealand zoologists People from the Northland Region People educated at Whangarei Boys' High School University of Waikato alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa