Recent News

Discovering the beauty of the ocean
Thursday, June 15, 2017

Catlin Kids made a big splash as a Bermuda Zoological Society environmental programme completed its fifth successful year.


New format for the popular Natural History Course
Friday, June 09, 2017

January saw the re-launch of the Natural History Couse.  


Report Sea Turtle Nesting Events
Friday, June 09, 2017

Be a part of our Citizen Science Volunteer Programme... take a walk and report sea turtle nesting events


Saul left an indelible impression in my heart
Thursday, June 01, 2017

The passing of David Saul hit me like a ton of bricks because he was one of the first few people I met after I moved to Bermuda in 2005.


HSBC staff donates $10,000 to charities
Monday, May 29, 2017

HSBC Bermuda staff raised $10,000 for charities of their choice by volunteering across the island.



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Latest News

All the latest updates and news from the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum, and Zoo, one of Bermuda's leading visitor attractions!

Cahow Fossils Excavated In Southampton
Bernews
Monday, March 10, 2014

The most recent newsletter of the Bermuda Zoological Society outlined the recent excavation of Cahow fossils in Southampton.

The site was uncovered by Dr. Robbie Smith, curator of the Natural History Museum, assisted by Jeremy Maderios and Peter Drew.

According an article by Dr Smith in the newsletter, “Bermuda has a fascinating history over the past 1 million years of its existence as a land mass and fossils reveal much about who was living on the islands in the past.

“I recently had the opportunity to excavate a set of fossil bird bones from a construction site in Southampton, assisted by Jeremy Maderios and Peter Drew.

“We found about seven complete sets of bird bones all mixed together in a very small area. Luckily for me Jeremy was able to verify that they were all cahows. What is most unusual was their location, well up on a hill and away from the coast, entombed in an old sand dune, probably about 70 to 80,000 years ago.

BN_140310_1a.jpg
The Southampton Cahow fossils [photo courtesy BZS newsletter]

“The arrangement and number of sets of bones tells us that they were not trapped in a nesting burrow [you would only have one or two skeletons from a nesting pair] and so they must have died in a catastrophic accident. What could have caused their deaths?

“Well, we will never know the cause of their demise, but we can use the date and location of this discovery to add another piece to a very incomplete puzzle of who was alive at that particular period of time.

“For that many birds to have died simultaneously implies that there was a large population of cahows present. We had thought this was the case but this one discovery helps to confirm our assumption.

“We still have a very incomplete picture of past life on our islands and these fossils provide a rare and valuable view into ancient Bermuda.”