News from the Australian Museum

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

Cane Toad (Rhinella marina) in the leaflitter

Toad-ally understandable: Unravelling the secrets of Cane Toad calls

Help us understand how Cane Toad calls differ across Australia and around the world. By studying these differences, we can learn more of how they have been able to spread so successfully!

Julie Ellmers - Acting Director of AMRI and Professor Shane Ahyong - Acting Chief Scientist of the AM

Australian Museum announces new Chief Scientist (Acting) and AMRI Director (Acting)

Professor Shane Ahyong and Julie Ellmers to lead Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI).

3 April 2025

LIRS Co-Directors Dr Emily Howells and Dr David Abrego

Australian Museum Lizard Island Research Station welcomes new Co-Directors Dr Emily Howells and Dr David Abrego

Outgoing Co-Directors Dr Anne Hoggett AM and Dr Lyle Vail AM retire after 35 years of service.

23 March 2025

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Preserved polychaete specimens borrowed from AM and provided to practise identifications.

How to know your worms: A workshop run by AM worm wizards

AMRI researchers ran a two-day workshop (11–12 March 2025) at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, aimed to provide the skills required to recognise Australian polychaete families.

Professor Kristofer Helgen, Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI)

Australian Museum farewells Chief Scientist Professor Kris Helgen

Today the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Hawaii announced that Professor Kristofer Helgen has been appointed as its new President and CEO.

3 April 2025

Russell Briggs - Director, Engagement, Exhibitions & Cultural Connection

Australian Museum farewells Chief Experience Officer, Russell Briggs

The Australian Museum (AM) announced today that Chief Experience Officer Russell Briggs will leave the AM on July 11, 2025, stepping away from full-time work to pursue consulting opportunities.

2 April 2025

Biologists search for new species in west Arnhem Land
ABC News
May 6, 2025
Why ‘pretty’ Tasmanian semi-slug is named after David Attenborough
The Mercury
April 10, 2025
This is the heartbeat of efforts to save a global icon. Is it too late?
The Sydney Morning Herald
March 23, 2025
‘It’s a history lesson’: fossil fish up to 16m years old found perfectly preserved in central NSW
The Guardian
March 18, 2025
Mysterious and vulnerable: the secret lives of Australia’s giant worms
The Guardian
March 3, 2025

Australian Museum Research Institute

Australian Museum announces new Chief Scientist (Acting) and AMRI Director (Acting)

Professor Shane Ahyong and Julie Ellmers to lead Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI).

3 April 2025

Male Sydney Pygmy Pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri

Museum collections show us how diversely biodiverse Gamay (Botany Bay) really is

Savvy travellers will tell you that the best seat to sit in when you fly into Sydney is the window seat on the left-hand side of the plane.

FrogID Week 2024: Citizen Scientists Capture Over 34,000 Frog Records Nationwide

The seventh annual FrogID Week has once again gathered a vital snapshot for frog conservation thanks to tens of thousands of citizen scientists.

Vaka (Canoe) 'Tai Tokelau' made entirely from the Kanava tree in Tokelau featured in Wansolmoana, Australian Museum's Pasifika Gallery.

The Australian Museum celebrates deep cultural connections with the Pacific in its new permanent gallery: Wansolmoana

Exploring themes of Deep connections, Identity, Disruption and Climate Change, Wansolmoana has been made possible by a generous gift from The Macdoch Foundation.

19 October 2023

From the Director: Let’s celebrate beautiful Bilas body adornment

The Australian Museum's exhibition Bilas: Body Adornment from Papua New Guinea is woven straight from the spirit of a community’s lore and showcased by way of physical adornment.

18 July 2023

Barka: The Forgotten River

Explore the magnificent Barka (Darling River) and its plight in a free exhibition opening at the Australian Museum Thursday 16 March 2023.

16 March 2023

Cynthia Houniuhi is President of the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC)

The Talbot Oration: Taking Climate to the World’s Highest Court

Renowned Pacific climate champion, Cynthia Houniuhi, tells her story of fighting for change in the world's highest court at Australian Museum’s Talbot Oration.

Live at the AM
13 June 2024

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