Museum news

Scientific discoveries, ground-breaking expeditions, jaw-dropping exhibitions and Australia's biggest museum collection.

Announcing the 2020 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists

51 entries were shortlisted for 17 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes.

29 September 2020

FrogID reveals frogs resilient through Black Summer

We have made a big leap in our understanding of how frogs respond to fire, thanks to citizen scientists across Australia!

28 September 2020

Newly discovered trilobite (Gravicalymene bakeri)

Extremely rare fossils of ancient sea life found in Tasmania

Australian scientists, Dr. Patrick M. Smith, Australian Museum (AM) and Dr. Malte C.Ebach , University of NSW (UNSW), have named a newly discovered trilobite after the actor Tom Baker, aka Doctor Who.

23 September 2020

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DigiVol - Butterfly - Junonia octavia sesamus

Conservationists on the couch

Since COVID restrictions were announced, DigiVol has been catapulted to a whole new level. Two million transcriptions have been made over the last six months!

8 October 2020

Picture perfect: Tim and kelp

Professor Tim Flannery has been featured in the 2020 Archibald Prize portrait, “Tim and kelp” by artist Tianli Zu, inspired by Professor Tim Flannery’s idea to use seaweed to combat climate change.

09 October 2020

Do frogs have accents?

Citizen scientists enable us to understand just how much frog calls change over time and space.

8 October 2020

Frogs surviving the flames: Citizen scientists reveal frogs calling across the fire zone

We have made a big leap in our understanding of how frogs respond to fire, thanks to citizen scientists across Australia!

28 September 2020

Central panel of rock art showing hand and axe stencils (photo credit: Amy Way)

This month in Archaeology: Blue Mountains rock art galleries threatened by fire

Less than 100 km to the west of Sydney, a phenomenal rock art record survives in thousands of Blue Mountains rock shelters. These rock art sites hold significant cultural and heritage values and high research potential.

1 July 2020

Western Foxfish (Bodianus frenchii) observed along the south coast of Western Australia

Moving south: how fishes are adapting to climate change

Moving south may be the best protection for marine fish in the face of rising ocean temperatures, but how far south can they go?

29 January 2020

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Australian Museum Research Institute

Gravicalymene bakeri sp. nov., A near complete paratype specimens (left) and a life reconstruction of the animal (right).

Newly discovered fossil species named after Doctor Who

A newly discovered trilobite species has been named after Doctor Who actor Tom Baker, by Australian Museum and University of New South Wales scientists, honouring his legacy encouraging young people into careers in STEM.

30 September 2020

The tube anemone Pachycerianthus fiordlandensis

Tears of the gods in a tube!

A recent study of AMRI collections has led to a revision of records from the southwest Pacific and the recognition of a new species.

8 September 2020

Red-crowned Toadlet (Pseudophryne australis)

Hopping to it: 200,000 frog records in three years of FrogID

With the help of citizen scientists, a 3 cm-sized threatened Sydney frog has been verified as the 200,000th record for the Australian Museum’s national FrogID project.

25 August 2020

Whose history: the role of statues and monuments in Australia

The removal of statues of racists, such as Cecil Rhodes or statues that celebrate racist history in the United States, England and Africa has created discussions in Australia around what should be done its statues and monuments of invaders and colonists.

8 May 2020

Newly established conservation areas, Malaita, Solomon Islands

Four conservation areas successfully mapped in Malaita, Solomon Islands and Bougainville

Three conservation areas in Malaita and one in Bougainville have been mapped by local community members, a move that is pivotal to protecting the biodiversity of the Solomon Islands.

7 February 2020

Tim Flannery reconciliation July 2018, Malaita, Solomon islands

Remarkable reconciliation ceremony in the Solomon Islands paves way for future partnerships

Decades of tension in Malaita were finally put to rest following an important and influential reconciliation involving the AM and the Kwaio in July 2018

7 January 2020