Podcasts Culture Bishop Museum Podcasts Recreating the Lost Worlds of the Past: From the Mauritius Dodo to the Blind Duck of Hawaii

Recreating the Lost Worlds of the Past: From the Mauritius Dodo to the Blind Duck of Hawaii

Published: June 26, 2019, 2:26 a.m.

With Dr. Julian Hume, paleontologist at the Natural History Museum, London

Recorded on Tuesday, June 25, 2019 in the Atherton H\u0101lau.

Island birds have been subject to spectacular evolutionary events and it is only now that science is beginning to understand the processes involved. The importance of paleontology and ancient DNA have been paramount in research, which has resulted in some extraordinary discoveries. Julian Hume is a self-taught artist specializing in reconstructing extinct species, who completed an undergraduate degree in paleontology at the University of Portsmouth, followed by a PhD on the extinct birds of the Mascarenes at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London. Using a combination of art and science, Dr. Hume presents some of his works on island bird evolution, and the recreation of some of the lost worlds of the past.

This program is coordinated by the Bishop Museum Natural Sciences Department to celebrate the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawai\u02bbi and the Pacific.