Dr Richard Noel Holdaway

Phone: +64 3 364 2987 ext. 7073
Office: Biological Sciences 422

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Fields of Research

• Isotope analysis
• Palaeobiology
• Restoration and management ecology

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Researcher Summary

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Subject Area: Disciplines

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Research Groups

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Publications

• Christian, M.L., Holdaway, R.N., Smith, J.L. and Coyne, P.D. (2012) A Comparative Atlas of Bird Distribution in the Norfolk Island Group: South West Pacific Ocean. Burnt Pine, Norfolk Island: Christian, M.L., Holdaway, R.N., Smith, J.L., Coyne, P.D. 96pp. (Authored Book)

• Allentoft, M.E., Scofield, R.P., Oskam, C., Hale, M.L., Holdaway, R.N. and Bunce. M. (2012) A molecular characterisation of a newly discovered megafaunal fossil site in North Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 42(4): 241-256. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2011.574821. (Journal Article)

• Oskam, C.L., Allentoft, M.E., Walter, R., Scofield, R.P., Haile, J., Holdaway, R.N., Bunce, M. and Jacomb, C. (2012) Ancient DNA analyses of early archaeological sites in New Zealand reveal extreme exploitation of moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) at all life stages. Quaternary Science Reviews 52: 41-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2012.07.007. (Journal Article)

• Williams, M.J., Holdaway, R.N. and Rogers, K.M. (2012) Feeding environments of New Zealand's extinct merganser revealed by stable isotope analyses. Wildfowl 62: 190-203. (Journal Article)

• Nobes, D.C., Johnston, A.G., Holdaway, R.N. and Horton, T.W. (2012) Ground penetrating radar imaging of the late Quaternary Pyramid Valley lake deposit, North Canterbury, New Zealand: Correlation with paleoclimatic records and the stratigraphic sequence. Shanghai, China: 14th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR2012), 4-8 Jun 2012. 591-594. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ICGPR.2012.6254932. (Conference Contribution - Paper in published proceedings)

• Allentoft, M.E., Collins, M., Harker, D., Haile, J., Oskam, C.L., Hale, M.L., Campos, P.F., Samaniego, J.A., Gilbert, M.T.P., Willerslev, E., Zhang, G., Scofield, R.P., Holdaway, R.N. and Bunce, M. (2012) The half-life of DNA in bone: measuring decay kinetics in 158 dated fossils. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279(1748): 4724-4733. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.1745. (Journal Article)

• Jones, C., Montelle, C., Pratt, A., Pickles, K., Rack, U., Holdaway, R.N., Pelser, P.B. and Sykes, W.R. (2011) Exploration & Discovery. In C. Jones, B. Matthews and J. Clement (Ed.), Treasures of the University of Canterbury Library: 187-217, 247-248. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. (Chapter in Book)

• Holdaway, R.N., Hawke, D.J., Bunce, M. and Allentoft, M.E. (2011) Identification of an optimal sampling position for stable isotopic analysis of bone collagen of extinct moa (Aves: Emeidae). Notornis 58(1): 1-7. (Journal Article)

• Allentoft, M.E., Oskam, C., Houston, J., Hale, M.L., Gilbert, M.T.P., Rasmussen, M., Spencer, P., Jacomb, C., Willerslev, E., Holdaway, R.N. and Bunce, M. (2011) Profiling the Dead: Generating Microsatellite Data from Fossil Bones of Extinct Megafauna-Protocols, Problems, and Prospects. PLoS ONE 6(1): e16670. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016670. (Journal Article)

• Horton, T.W., Holdaway, R.N., Zerbini, A.N., Hauser, N., Garrigue, C., Andriolo, A. and Clapham, P.J. (2011) Straight as an arrow: humpback whales swim constant course tracks during long-distance migration. Biology Letters 7(5): 674-679. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0279. (Journal Article)

• Allen, M.S. and Holdaway, R.N. (2010) Archaeological avifauna of Harataonga, Great Barrier Island, New Zealand: implications for avian palaeontology, Maori prehistory, and archaeofaunal recovery techniques. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 40(1): 11-25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03036751003641719. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N., Thorneycroft, J.M., McClelland, P. and Bunce, M. (2010) Former presence of a parakeet (Cyanoramphus sp.) on Campbell Island, New Zealand subantarctic, with notes on the island's fossil sites and fossil record. Notornis 57(1): 8-18. (Journal Article)

• Oskam, C.L., Haile, J., McLay, E., Rigby, P., Allentoft, M.E., Olsen, M.E., Bengtsson, C., Miller, G.H., Schwenninger, J-L., Jacomb, C., Walter, R., Baynes, A., Dortch, J., Parker-Pearson, M., Gilbert, M.T.P., Holdaway, R.N., Willerslev, E. and Bunce, M. (2010) Fossil avian eggshell preserves ancient DNA. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277(1690): 1991-2000. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2019. (Journal Article)

• Allentoft, M.E., Bunce, M., Scofield, R.P., Hale, M.L. and Holdaway, R.N. (2010) Highly skewed sex ratios and biased fossil deposition of moa: ancient DNA provides new insight on New Zealand's extinct megafauna. Quaternary Science Reviews 29(5-6): 753-762. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.022. (Journal Article)

• Steeves, T.E., Holdaway, R.N., Hale, M.L., McLay, E., McAllan, I.A.W., Christian, M., Hauber, M.E. and Bunce, M. (2010) Merging ancient and modern DNA: Extinct seabird taxon rediscovered in the North Tasman Sea. Biology Letters 6(1): 94-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2009.0478. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N. and Christian, M. (2010) Stopping the fourth wave: Conservation and restoration of the Norfolk Island ecosystem. The State of Australia's Birds 2010: Islands and Birds 20(4): 30-35. (Journal Article)

• Allentoft, M.E., Schuster, S.C., Holdaway, R.N., Hale, M.L., McLay, E., Oskam, C., Gilbert, M.T.P., Spencer, P., Willerslev, E. and Bunce, M. (2009) Identification of microsatellites from an extinct moa species using high throughput (454) sequence data. BioTechniques 46(3): 195-200. http://dx.doi.org/10.2144/000113086. (Journal Article)

• Thomsen, P.F., Elias, S., Gilbert, M.T.P., Haile, J., Munch, K., Kuzmina, S., Froese, D.G., Sher, A., Holdaway, R.N. and Willerslev, E. (2009) Non-destructive sampling of ancient insect DNA. PLoS ONE 4(4): e5048. (Journal Article)

• Hawke, D.J. and Holdaway, R.N. (2009) Nutrient sources for forest birds captured within an undisturbed petrel colony, and management implications. Emu 109: 163-169. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MU08035. (Journal Article)

• Bunce, M., Worthy, T.H., Phillips, M.J., Holdaway, R.N., Willerslev, E., Haile, J., Shapiro, B., Scofield, R.P., Drummond, A., Kamp, P.J.J. and Cooper, A. (2009) The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(49): 20646-20651. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0906660106. (Journal Article)

• Haile, J., Holdaway, R.N., Oliver, K., Bunce, M., Gilbert, M.T.P.. Nielsen., R., Munch., K., Ho., S.Y.W., Shapiro., B., Willerslev. and E. (2007) Ancient DNA chronology within sediment deposits: are palaeobiological reconstructions possible and is DNA leaching a factor? Molecular biology and evolution 24(4): 982-989. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msm016. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N., Hawke, D.J., Hyatt, O.M. and Wood, G.C. (2007) Stable isotopic (δ15N, δ13C) analysis of wood in trees growing in past and present colonies of burrow-nesting seabirds in New Zealand. I. δ15N in two species of conifer (Podocarpaceae) from a mainland colony of Westland petrels (Procellaria westlandica), Punakaiki, South Island. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 37(2): 75-84. (Journal Article)

• Harrow, G., Hawke, D.J. and Holdaway, R.N. (2006) Surface soil chemistry at an alpine procellariid breeding colony in New Zealand, and comparison with a lowland site. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 33(2): 165-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2006.9518441. (Journal Article)

• Bunce, M., Szulkin, M., Lerner, H.R.L., Barnes, I., Shapiro, B., Cooper, A. and Holdaway, R.N. (2005) Ancient DNA provides new insights into the evolutionary history of New Zealand's extinct giant eagle. PLoS Biology 3: 44-46. (Journal Article)

• Hawke, D.J. and Holdaway, R.N. (2005) Avian assimilation and dispersal of carbon and nitrogen brought ashore by breeding Westland petrels (Procellaria westlandica): a stable isotope study. Journal of Zoology 266(4): 419-426. doi: 10.1017/S0952836905007065,. (Journal Article)

• Turvey, S.T., Green, O.R. and Holdaway, R.N. (2005) Cortical growth marks reveal extended juvenile development in New Zealand moa. Nature 435: 940-943. (Journal Article)

• Turvey, S.T. and Holdaway, R.N. (2005) Postnatal ontogeny, population structure and extinction of the giant moa Dinornis. Journal of Morphology 265(1): 70-86. (Journal Article)

• Harding, J.S., Hawke, D.J., Holdaway, R.N. and Winterbourn, M.J. (2004) Incorporation of marine-derived nutrients from petrel breeding colonies into stream food webs. Freshwater Biology 49(5): 576-586. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2004.01210.x. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N., Jones, M.D. and Beavan Athfield, N.R. (2003) Establishment and extinction of a population of South Georgian diving petrel (Pelecanoides georgicus) at Mason Bay, Stewart Island, New Zealand, during the late Holocene. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 33(3): 601-622. (Journal Article)

• Worthy, T.H., Holdaway, R.N., Alloway, B.V., Jones, J., Winn J. and Turner, D. (2002) A rich Pleistocene-Holocene avifaunal sequence from Te Waka #1: terrestrial fossil vertebrate faunas from inland Hawke's Bay, North Island, New Zealand, Part 2. Tuhinga (Records of the Museum of New Zealand) 13: 1-38. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N., Jones, M.D. and Beavan Athfield, N.R. (2002) Late Holocene extinction of Finsch’s duck (Chenonetta finschi), an endemic, possibly flightless, New Zealand duck. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 32(4): 629-651. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N., Jones, M.D. and Beavan Athfield, N.R. (2002) Late Holocene extinction of the New Zealand owlet-nightjar Aegotheles novaezealandiae. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 32(4): 653-667. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N., Roberts, R.G., Beavan-Athfield, N.R., Olley, J.M. and Worthy, T.H. (2002) Optical dating of quartz sediments and accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating of bone gelatin and moa eggshell: a comparison of age estimates for non-archaeological deposits in New Zealand. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 32(3): 463-505. (Journal Article)

• Worthy, T.H. and Holdaway, R.N. (2002) The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Bloomington/Christchurch: Indiana University Press/Canterbury University Press. 718 pp. (Authored Book)

• Holdaway, R.N., Worthy, T.H. and Tennyson, A.J.D. (2001) A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 28: 119-187. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N. and Worthy, T.H. (2001) Publication of supplementary data for 14C AMS ages. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 31(2): 453-456. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N. and Anderson, A.J. (2001) The avifauna of the Emily Bay archaeological site, Norfolk Island, South-west Pacific: a preliminary account. Records of the Australian Museum Special issue(Supplement 27): 87-102. (Journal Article)

• Holdaway, R.N. and Jacomb, C. (2000) Rapid extinction of the Moas (Aves: Dinornithiformes): Model, test, and implications. Science 287(5461): 2250-2254. (Journal Article)

• Worthy, T.H. and Holdaway, R.N. (2000) Terrestrial fossil vertebrate faunas from inland Hawke's Bay, North Island, New Zealand. Part 1. Records of the Canterbury Museum 14: 89-154. (Journal Article)