Blog archive: AMRI

AMRI

What was Eric's last supper?

What did the most complete, opalised vertebrate fossil in Australia eat? In an Australian first, PhD candidate Joshua White & co-authors used a micro-CT scanner to examine the stomach contents of the Australian Museum’s ‘Eric the plesiosaur'. Learn how they reconstructed this unique reptile's diet.

AMRI

Researchers discover new plant species on recent Norfolk Island expedition

A team from the Australian Institute of Botanical Science has collected about 400 plant specimens on the recent Australian Museum-led expedition to Norfolk Island, helping the community identify new weeds that potentially could cause havoc to local ecosystems.

AMRI

What do a cat, a dingo, and a goanna have in common? It’s in the iDNA

A cat, dingo and goanna in Namadgi National Park were the latest animals recorded via DNA from an insect’s belly. Tim Cutajar at the Australian Museum and Dr Stephanie Pulsford tell us how!

AMRI

Spotting fossil anomalies

Russell Bicknell, our 2021/22 Australian Museum Foundation/Australian Museum Research Institute Visiting Research Fellow, recently explored the trilobites in the Australian Museum palaeontology collection. Russell tells us more about spotting fossil anomalies!

AMRI

Gobsmacking goby fish species found in museums

An exquisite new species of goby has just been described – and it was found in a museum! A new publication co-authored by Dr Yi-Kai Tea, the Australian Museum’s Chadwick Biodiversity Research Fellow, describes these showstopping fishes and highlights the importance of taxonomic research in museums.

AMRI

FrogID Week 2022 – over 32,000 frog records gathered for research and conservation

FrogID Week has once again rapidly gathered data for frog conservation, receiving more than 3 frog records per minute and gathering more than 32,000 frog records from over 4,600 concerned citizen scientists. We are also excited to announce our Top Frogger of 2022!

AMRI

Banana blood worms invade the deep sea

Blood worms occur in estuarine areas and are commonly used for bait by recreational fishers all around the world. In a world first, three new species of blood worm have been found in deep sea sunken vegetation, off the coast of Papua New Guinea. So how did these species evolve?

AMRI

Our time at sea: Discovering the biodiversity of the Indian Ocean Territories

A team of scientists from the Australian Museum, CSIRO, Museums Victoria Research Institute and Western Australian Museum have recently completed their voyage on CSIRO’s research vessel (RV) Investigator. Find out how this expedition helped uncover secrets of the deep seamounts of the IOT.

AMRI

Out now! New book to identify abundant, diverse and striking decapod crustaceans

Crabs, lobsters and prawns are familiar to most people as seafood but are also very important at all steps in the food chain. Few realise just how many different types there are and how difficult it can be to identify them. A newly published book with provides tools for the task!

AMRI

Catching prawns in the abyss

The deep sea is the most common habitat on our planet – but we know more about the moon than our own ocean. Dr Penny Berents, Senior Fellow at the Australian Museum, who was recently onboard the CSIRO research vessel (RV) Investigator, delves into the complexities of sampling in the deep sea.

AMRI

A picture is worth a thousand words

Photos and videos are a powerful tool when documenting the natural world where often, there is an awful lot to say. But once we capture the moment, how do we use images effectively for science? And why should we collect them?

AMRI

An Australian origin story? Turning mammalian theory on its head

It has long been asserted that ancestors of the placental and marsupial mammals originated in the northern hemisphere – but a new study by Prof Tim Flannery and Prof Kris Helgen at the Australian Museum has rewritten the origin story of modern mammals.

AMRI

News from LIRS: Big coral spawning event in 2022

Each month, a selected blog from the Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation (LIRRF) is featured at the Australian Museum. LIRRF supports scientific research and education at the AM’s Lizard Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef. This month, we feature: Big coral spawning event in 2022.

AMRI

FrogID, Atlassian Foundation and Engage4Good

The Australian Museum collaborated with Atlassian Foundation through the Engage4Good program, a program designed to connect subject matter experts with a real-world challenge.

AMRI

Meet Kai the Fish Guy: Australian Museum's Chadwick Biodiversity Research Fellow

The Chadwick Biodiversity Research Fellowship provides a recent PhD graduate an opportunity to establish a career in biodiversity research. Dr Yi-Kai Tea is our newly appointed Fellow in the AM's Ichthyology division – we sat down with Kai to hear about his first few months, and future plans.