UC Research Profile - University of Canterbury

Vanesa De Pietri

Contact

Department: School of Earth and Environment

Email: vanesa.depietri@canterbury.ac.nz

Direct Dial: +64 3 3690789

Office: Beatrice Tinsley Rm 215

Languages: English, German, Spanish

About

Research / Creative works

Supervision

Networks

Projects

Fields of Research

Avian Palaeontology and Evolution
Vertebrate Palaeontology
Comparative Morphology
Palaeobiology
Evolutionary Biology

Researcher Summary

I have a background in evolutionary biology, palaeontology, and vertebrate comparative anatomy. I use the fossil record to determine the past composition of bird faunas, focusing on research questions on the palaeobiology, functional morphology, phylogenetic relationships, and other aspects of the evolutionary history of different avian lineages, especially shorebirds, seabirds, and other aquatic and semi-aquatic birds. My work is currently focused on understanding the links between patterns in avian evolution, ecology, and extinction, and environmental changes driven by climate fluctuations during the pre-Quaternary (before 2.5 million years ago), particularly in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Subject Area: Disciplines

Earth Sciences: Palaeontology
Biology: Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour: Evolution ; Palaeobiology ; Systematics

Research/Scholarly/Creative Works

Journal Articles

Mayr G., De Pietri VL. and Kitchener AC. (2023) Narrow-beaked trogons from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). Journal of Ornithology 164(4): 749-764. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10336-023-02071-x.

Worthy TH., De Pietri VL., Scofield RP. and Hand SJ. (2023) A new Eocene species of presbyornithid (Aves, Anseriformes) from Murgon, Australia. Alcheringa http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2023.2184491.

De Pietri VL., Mayr G., Costeur L. and Paul Scofield R. (2022) New records of buttonquails (Aves, Charadriiformes, Turnicidae) from the Oligocene and Miocene of Europe. Comptes Rendus - Palevol (11): 235-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/cr-palevol2022v21a11.

Mayr G., De Pietri V. and Paul Scofield R. (2022) New bird remains from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia (USA), including the first records of the Messelasturidae, Psittacopedidae, and Zygodactylidae from the Fisher/Sullivan site. Historical Biology 34(2): 322-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2021.1910820.

WORTHY TH., Scofield RP., HAND SJ., DE PIETRI VL. and Archer M. (2022) A swan-sized fossil anatid (Aves: Anatidae) from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand. Zootaxa 5168(1): 39-50. http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.3.

Worthy TH., Scofield RP., Salisbury SW., Hand SJ., De Pietri VL. and Archer M. (2022) Two new neoavian taxa with contrasting palaeobiogeographical implications from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand. Journal of Ornithology 163(3): 643-658. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10336-022-01981-6.

Worthy TH., Scofield RP., Salisbury SW., Hand SJ., De Pietri VL., Blokland JC. and Archer M. (2022) A new species of Manuherikia (Aves: Anatidae) provides evidence of faunal turnover in the St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand. Geobios 70: 87-107. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2021.08.002.

De Pietri VL., Worthy TH., Scofield RP., Cole TL., Wood JR., Mitchell KJ., Cibois A., Jansen JJFJ., Cooper AJ. and Feng S. (2021) A new extinct species of Polynesian sandpiper (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae: Prosobonia) from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Group, and the phylogenetic relationships of Prosobonia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 192(4): 1045-1070. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa115.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL., Love L., Mannering A. and Scofield RP. (2021) Oldest, smallest and phylogenetically most basal pelagornithid, from the early Paleocene of New Zealand, sheds light on the evolutionary history of the largest flying birds. Papers in Palaeontology 7(1): 217-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1284.

Mayr G., Goedert JL., De Pietri VL. and Scofield RP. (2021) Comparative osteology of the penguin-like mid-Cenozoic Plotopteridae and the earliest true fossil penguins, with comments on the origins of wing-propelled diving. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 59(1): 264-276. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12400.

Scofield RP., Wood JR., de Nascimento L., Robertson HA., Colbourne RM., De Pietri VL., Innes J. and Weir JT. (2021) Identification of the type locality of the South Island Brown Kiwi Apteryx australis : A nomenclatural framework for the Southern Tokoeka and an insight into the movements of sealers in the early 19th century. Conservation Genetics 22(4): 645-652. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10592-021-01349-y.

De Pietri VL., Mayr G. and Scofield RP. (2020) Becassius charadriioides, an early Miocene pratincole-like bird from France: with comments on the early evolutionary history of the Glareolidae (Aves, Charadriiformes). PalZ 94(1): 107-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12542-019-00469-8.

Ksepka DT., Balanoff AM., Smith NA., Bever GS., Bhullar BAS., Bourdon E., Braun EL., Burleigh JG., Clarke JA. and Colbert MW. (2020) Tempo and Pattern of Avian Brain Size Evolution. Current Biology 30(11): 2026-2036.e3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.060.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL., Love L., Mannering A. and Scofield RP. (2020) Leg bones of a new penguin species from the Waipara Greensand add to the diversity of very large-sized Sphenisciformes in the Paleocene of New Zealand. Alcheringa 44(1): 194-201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2019.1641619.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL., Love L., Mannering AA., Bevitt JJ. and Scofield RP. (2020) First complete wing of a stem group sphenisciform from the paleocene of New Zealand sheds light on the evolution of the penguin flipper. Diversity 12(2) http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d12020046.

Mather EK., Tennyson AJD., Scofield RP., De Pietri VL., Hand SJ., Archer M., Handley WD. and Worthy TH. (2019) Flightless rails (Aves: Rallidae) from the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna, Otago, New Zealand. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 17(5): 423-449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2018.1432710.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL., Scofield RP. and Smith T. (2019) A fossil heron from the early Oligocene of Belgium: the earliest temporally well-constrained record of the Ardeidae. Ibis 161(1): 79-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12600.

Worthy TH., Hand SJ., Archer M., Paul Scofield R. and De Pietri VL. (2019) Evidence for a giant parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand. Biology Letters 15(8) http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0467.

De Pietri VL., Scofield RP., Prideaux GJ. and Worthy TH. (2018) A new species of lapwing (Charadriidae: Vanellus) from the late Pliocene of central Australia. Emu 118(4): 334-343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2018.1464373.

Hand SJ., Beck RMD., Archer M., Simmons NB., Gunnell GF., Scofield RP., Tennyson AJD., De Pietri VL., Salisbury SW. and Worthy TH. (2018) A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand. Scientific Reports 8(1) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18403-w.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL., Scofield RP. and Worthy TH. (2018) On the taxonomic composition and phylogenetic affinities of the recently proposed clade Vegaviidae Agnolín et al., 2017 ‒ neornithine birds from the Upper Cretaceous of the Southern Hemisphere. Cretaceous Research 86: 178-185. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2018.02.013.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL. and Paul Scofield R. (2017) A new fossil from the mid-Paleocene of New Zealand reveals an unexpected diversity of world’s oldest penguins. Science of Nature 104(3-4) http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-017-1441-0.

Mayr G., De Pietri VL., Love L., Mannering AA. and Scofield RP. (2017) A well-preserved new mid-paleocene penguin (Aves, Sphenisciformes) from the Waipara Greensand in New Zealand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37(6) http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2017.1398169.

Mayr G., Scofield RP., De Pietri VL. and Tennyson AJD. (2017) A Paleocene penguin from New Zealand substantiates multiple origins of gigantism in fossil Sphenisciformes. Nature Communications 8(1) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01959-6.

Scofield RP., Mitchell KJ., Wood JR., De Pietri VL., Jarvie S., Llamas B. and Cooper A. (2017) The origin and phylogenetic relationships of the New Zealand ravens. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 106: 136-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.022.

Wood JR., Mitchell KJ., Paul Scofield R., De Pietri VL., Rawlence NJ. and Cooper A. (2017) Phylogenetic relationships and terrestrial adaptations of the extinct laughing owl, Sceloglaux albifacies (Aves: Strigidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 179(4) http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zoj.12483.

Worthy TH., De Pietri VL. and Scofield RP. (2017) Recent advances in avian palaeobiology in New Zealand with implications for understanding New Zealand’s geological, climatic and evolutionary histories. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 44(3): 177-211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2017.1307235.

Zelenkov NV., Panteleyev AV. and De Pietri VL. (2017) Late Miocene rails (Aves: Rallidae) from southwestern Russia. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 97(4): 791-805. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12549-017-0276-1.

De Pietri VL., Scofield RP., Hand SJ., Tennyson AJD. and Worthy TH. (2016) Sheathbill-like birds (Charadriiformes: Chionoidea) from the Oligocene and Miocene of Australasia. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 46(3-4): 181-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2016.1194297.

De Pietri VL., Scofield RP., Tennyson AJD., Hand SJ. and Worthy TH. (2016) Wading a lost southern connection: Miocene fossils from New Zealand reveal a new lineage of shorebirds (Charadriiformes) linking Gondwanan avifaunas. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14(7): 603-616. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2015.1087064.

de Pietri VL., Scofield RP., Zelenkov N., Boles WE. and Worthy TH. (2016) The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: The youngest record of Presbyornithidae. Royal Society Open Science 3(2) http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150635.

De Pietri VL., Camens AB. and Worthy TH. (2015) A Plains-wanderer (Pedionomidae) that did not wander plains: A new species from the Oligocene of South Australia. Ibis 157(1): 68-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12215.

Torres CR., De Pietri VL., Louchart A. and van Tuinen M. (2015) New cranial material of the earliest filter feeding flamingo Harrisonavis croizeti (Aves, Phoenicopteridae) informs the evolution of the highly specialized filter feeding apparatus. Organisms Diversity and Evolution 15(3): 609-618. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13127-015-0209-7.

Wood JR. and De Pietri VL. (2015) Next-generation paleornithology: Technological and methodological advances allow new insights into the evolutionary and ecological histories of living birds. Auk 132(2): 486-506. http://dx.doi.org/10.1642/AUK-14-257.1.

de Pietri VL. and Mayr G. (2014) Reappraisal of early Miocene rails (Aves, Rallidae) from central France: Diversity and character evolution. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 52(4): 312-322. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jzs.12074.

De Pietri VL. and Mayr G. (2014) The enigmatic Ibidopodia from the early Miocene of France - The first Neogene record of Cariamiformes (Aves) in Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(6): 1470-1475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2014.860151.

De Pietri VL. and Mayr G. (2014) The phylogenetic relationships of the Early Miocene stork Grallavis edwardsi, with comments on the interrelationships of living Ciconiidae (Aves). Zoologica Scripta 43(6): 576-585. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12074.

De Pietri VL. and Scofield RP. (2014) The earliest European record of a Stone-curlew (Charadriiformes, Burhinidae) from the late Oligocene of France. Journal of Ornithology 155(2): 421-426. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1022-8.

Mayr G. and De Pietri VL. (2014) Earliest and first Northern Hemispheric hoatzin fossils substantiate Old World origin of a "neotropic endemic". Naturwissenschaften 101(2): 143-148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-014-1144-8.

De Pietri VL. (2013) Interrelationships of the Threskiornithidae and the phylogenetic position of the Miocene ibis 'Plegadis' paganus from the Saint-Gérand-le-Puy area in central France. Ibis 155(3): 544-560. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12062.

De Pietri VL., Mourer-Chauviré C., Menkveld-Gfeller U., Meyer CA. and Costeur L. (2013) An assessment of the Cenozoic avifauna of Switzerland, with a description of two fossil owls (Aves, Strigiformes). Swiss Journal of Geosciences 106(2): 187-197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00015-013-0127-7.

Mayr G. and De Pietri VL. (2013) A goose-sized anseriform bird from the late Oligocene of France: The youngest record and largest species of Romainvilliinae. Palaontologische Zeitschrift 87(3): 423-430. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12542-013-0165-5.

De Pietri VL. and Mayr G. (2012) An assessment of the diversity of early Miocene Scolopaci (Aves, Charadriiformes) from Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, France). Palaeontology 55(6): 1177-1197. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01182.x.

De Pietri VL., Costeur L., Güntert M. and Mayr G. (2011) A revision of the Lari (Aves, Charadriiformes) from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, France). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31(4): 812-828. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2011.586663.

De Pietri VL., Manegold A., Costeur L. and Mayr G. (2011) A new species of woodpecker (Aves; Picidae) from the early Miocene of Saulcet (Allier, France). Swiss Journal of Palaeontology 130(2) 307 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13358-011-0021-8.

De Pietri VL., Berger JP., Pirkenseer C., Scherler L. and Mayr G. (2010) New skeleton from the early oligocene of Germany indicates a stem-group position of diomedeoidid birds. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 55(1): 23-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.4202/app.2009.0069.

Other

Worthy TH., Hand SJ., Archer M., Scofield RP. and De Pietri VL. (2021) Erratum: Correction to 'Evidence for a giant parrot from the Early Miocene of New Zealand' (Biology letters (2019) 15 8 (20190467)). Biology letters 17(12) http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0608.

De Pietri VL., Scofield RP., Zelenkov N., Boles WE. and Worthy TH. (2020) Correction to 'The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae'.. R Soc Open Sci 7(11): 201430. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201430.

De Pietri VL., Scofield RP., Zelenkov N., Boles WE. and Worthy TH. (2020) Erratum: The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: The youngest record of Presbyornithidae (R. Soc. Open Sci. (2016) 3 (150635) DOI:10.1098/rsos.150635). Royal Society Open Science 7(11) http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201430.

Student Supervision

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Current

Masters - Kelly S: Fossil procellariiforms from the Pliocene of Taranaki, New Zeland

Editorial Work

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Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology ( 2017 - 2023)

Research Projects

Avian diversity in the aftermath of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) mass extinction: Zealandia as a hub for the evolution of marine birds