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- Position title:
- Curator of Land Vertebrates
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- Section:
- Natural Sciences
- Email:
- Contact Matt
About Matt
I am a child of Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), having been born and raised beside and on the Waitemata Harbour but also travelling widely with my research that is focused in the Pacific.
As Curator of Land Vertebrates, I provide expertise to grow a biological collection of over 23, 000 specimens. I also specialise in public science communication of the fauna of New Zealand and am particularly focussed on raising public awareness of the decline of New Zealand’s marine and coastal environments.
Research interests and projects
My research speciality sits within the fields of conservation ecology, animal behaviour and evolution. Active study sites include New Zealand offshore islands (The Noises, Mokohinau Islands, and Te Hauturu o Toi Little Barrier Island) and international field collaborations in Australia and the tropical Pacific (Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea).
A range of national and international projects occupy my time including:
- Studying the effects of ecosystem change on New Zealand bird communities through isotopic analysis of contemporary and Museum specimens.
- Advocating for marine protection in the Hauraki Gulf as a means of achieving holistic land sea protection of this declining ecosystem.
- Studying the biology of poorly known endangered species.
- Researching the phylogeography and taxonomy of tube nosed seabirds.
- Supporting a range of students, and I would welcome those considering or conducting their own research to make contact to share ideas.
- For a full list of Matt's publications click here.
Selected research publications
• Rayner M.J., Loenen, A, Shepherd L.D., Cubrinovska, I., Scofield R.P., Tennyson A.J.D., Bunce M., and Steeves T.E., (In review) Human mediated extinctions across a species’ historic range revealed by ancient DNA reinforces taxa boundaries and elevates the threat status in a New Zealand endemic seabird.
• Rawlence, N.J., Rayner, M.J., Lovegrove, T. G., Stoddart, D., Oliver, M., Easton, L.J., Tennyson, A.J.D., Scofield, R.P., Kennedy, M., Spencer, H., and Waters, J.M. (In review) Ancient DNA reveals cryptic biodiversity and possible impending extinction of a unique lineage of Spotted Shags.
• Berg, M, Linnebjerg, J.F., Ismar, S.M.H., Gaskin, C.P., and Rayner, M.J. (2017) Emu - Austral Ornithology, 118:2, 173-182, DOI: 10.1080/01584197.2017.1366831
• Rayner, M.J.; Young, M.K.; Gaskin, C.G.; Mitchel, C.; Brunton, D.H. 2017. The breeding biology of northern white-faced storm petrels (Pelagodroma marina maoriana) and results of an in-situ chick translocation. Notornis 64(2): 76-86.
• Rayner, M.J., Taylor, G.A., Gaskin, C.P. & Dunphy, B.J. (2017) Seasonal activity and unpredicted polar front migration of northern New Zealand common diving petrels. Emu: 1-9
• Ranjard, L. Reed, B.S., Landers, T.J., Rayner, M.J., Freisen, M.R., Sagar, R.L., and Dunphy, B.J. (2016) MatlabHTK: a simple interface for bioacoustics analyses using hidden Markov models. Methods in Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/2041-210X.12688.
• Rayner, M.J., Carlile, N., Priddel, D., Bretagnolle, V., Miller, M., Phillips, Ranjard, L, Bury, D.J., & Torres, L.G. (2016) Wintering in the sun: niche partitioning by three nonbreeding Pterodroma petrel species in the equatorial Pacific Ocean . Marine Ecology Progress Series 549: 217-229.
• Ismar, S., Gaskin, C., Fitzgerald, N., Taylor, G., Tennyson A. & Rayner, M. (2015). Evaluating on-land capture methods for monitoring a recently rediscovered seabird, the New Zealand Storm-Petrel Fregetta maoriana. Marine Ornithology, 43: 255–258.
• Rayner, M., Gaskin, C., Fitzgerald, N., Landers, T., Scofield, P., Ismar, S., Tennyson, A. & Taylor, G. (2015). At-sea radio telemetry to understand endangered seabird biology: a study of the New Zealand storm petrel Fregetta maoriana;. IBIS, 4: 754-66.
• Dunphy, B., Taylor, G., Landers, T., Sagar, R., Chilvers, B., Ranjard, L., & Rayner, M. (2015). Comparative seabird diving physiology: first measures of haematological parameters and oxygen stores in three New Zealand Procellariiformes. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 523: 187-198.
• Sagar R., Dunphy B. J., Hunt K., Nagakawa K. & Rayner M. (2015). Preparing for translocation: feeding frequency, meal size and chick growth in mottled petrel, Pterodroma inexpectata. Emu, 115: 137-145.
See Matt's full list of published research
Explore the collection
Read articles by Matt.
Auckland Museum has over 300 bird wings in its collection and now with digital photography we are allowing the public to learn more about this exquisitely complex piece of avian anatomy and how it relates to a bird’s lifestyle, air-miles and feeding habits.
Hawai'i's elaborate Ahu’ula, which are made up of thousands of bird feathers, serve as a sad reminder of the number of birds that have been winked out of existence.
It's night on Te Hauturu o Toi, Little Barrier Island, and a half moon glows softly behind the clouds. A movement off to our left alerts us and we dive into the brush and extract our prize - a baby North Island brown kiwi (Apteryx mantelli).
One of our most remarkable exhibits - a three-metre tall female giant moa reconstruction - has turned 100 years old. Built in 1913, she tells a unique (but ultimately tragic) evolutionary tale.
These small seabirds are one of the most amazingly engineered creatures on the face of the planet, capable of movement above and below the seas surface that we can only dream of.
It's a common misconception that New Zealand has no snakes, but it's not the truth. Marine snakes, or sea snakes, are seen regularly in the waters around northern New Zealand.
In a country known globally for its unique bird diversity and the tragic loss of its birdlife following human arrival, no species resonates more in the stories of the formation of our nation than the huia.
These small seabirds are one of the most amazingly engineered creatures on the face of the planet, capable of movement above and below the seas surface that we can only dream of.
The Land Vertebrate collection at Auckland Museum has more than three thousand bones from mammals, reptiles and birds. But why are bones important?