Blog archive: AMRI

AMRI

What can we learn about wombat habitats from their poo?

Microbes that live in the guts of mammals can be critical to their health and survival, yet we know little about the microbes that inhabit our unique Australian marsupials. Scientists from the University of Adelaide and the Australian Museum studied the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat to learn more.

AMRI

Myth or museum specimen? The animals that are more fact than fiction

Famously featured in George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones franchise, the dire wolf is far more than a popular legend. A recent study in Nature has discovered how genetically distinct this prehistoric carnivore actually was. Read more about the study, and other animals thought to be pure myth.

AMRI

A rainforest tree by the sea — Who are the pollinators?

In Australia there are over 40 species of mangroves; despite their key role in coastal ecosystem function, we know relatively little about their reproductive ecology. Learn more about the pollinators involved, in this recent and pivotal study.

AMRI

Is a deadly disease impacting amphibians on Vietnam’s highest mountains?

Scientists from the Australian Museum, Indo-Myanmar Conservation and ZSL London Zoo search for frogs and the world’s worst wildlife disease in the mountains of northern Vietnam.

AMRI

Australia: home of the (prehistoric) crocs

Opalised fossils help tell the story of a small crocodile that lived among the dinosaurs.

AMRI

Welcome new fanged friend: A new species of Fanged Frog discovered in Cambodia

From the forests of northeastern Cambodia, another frog species new to science is scientifically named!

AMRI

Why we need to get taxonomy right

Taxonomy and systematics comprise the describing, naming and classifying the natural world. By classifying the natural world, we can understand a species origins and interrelationships. So how do we get it right, and how do we get it wrong? We explore the world of marine invertebrates for more.

AMRI

Rare snail species found alive on Norfolk Island after 130 years

The tiny, enigmatic snail was last collected in 1889 and is currently listed as extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). So, we were very excited to find Nancibella quintalae alive on Norfolk Island!

AMRI

This month in Archaeology: Aboriginal heritage as ecological proxy in south-eastern Australia: a Barapa wetland village

Dr Amy Way discusses a recently published paper by Pardoe and Hutton in the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, examining how Aboriginal people traditionally lived in large groups around ecological ‘hotspots.’

AMRI

Bridging the Gap: Using DNA from museum specimens to unlock the secrets of the Bass Strait Island Fauna

Did you know that there are over 50 islands in the Bass Strait, the 240 km stretch of ocean that separates mainland Australia and Tasmania? But what of its fauna? Scientists have recently extracted DNA from museum specimens to better understand the evolutionary history of Bass Strait island fauna.

AMRI

The lives of creatures obscure, misunderstood, and wonderful: A volume in honour of Ken Aplin 1958–2019

Kenneth Peter Aplin (1958–2019) was one of Australia’s leading vertebrate systematists, well known as an anatomist, mammalogist, herpetologist, palaeontologist, and archaeologist – he was an altogether unique and admired man.

AMRI

Meet the spectacular Red Wide-bodied Pipefish: Australia's newest endemic fish species

Australian Museum scientists have identified a new pipefish species under the waves of our biggest city. Australia’s newest endemic fish species was found hiding in plain sight at a popular Sydney dive spot!

AMRI

The unique frogs of the Solomon Islands: free from a deadly fungus?

The amphibian chytrid fungus, responsible for causing frog declines around the world, may not yet have reached the Solomon Islands.

AMRI

The importance of museums in species discovery: five newly described species

How is a new species described? And what role do museums play? As highlighted by the recent discovery of the Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa), Natural History Museums are essential in species discovery: find out how, and more about our newly described species by AM scientists and associates.

AMRI

The FrogID dataset: over 126,000 FrogID open-access records now online!

Just in time for FrogID Week 2020, the second annual release of FrogID data is now available to advance frog ecology and conservation in Australia.