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From Flinders University media Frogs are amphibians – the most endangered group of species on the planet. Two out of every five amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction, and this figure is rising.In a bid to help save a threatened Australian frog species – and potentially other amphibian species – scientists led by Flinders […]

A scientist from James Cook University says unusual ocean upwelling events could be putting some marine animals at risk of mass die-off. Climate change is likely pushing shifts in pressure systems and ocean currents that cause such events.   But rather than being a cause of animal deaths due to the general phenomenon of warming […]

An Australian project which “all but eliminated dengue fever” in Far North Queensland has been successfully extended to Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu. The program uses a naturally occurring bacteria called Wolbachia that modifies the ability of mosquitoes to carry the dengue virus. If the mosquitoes can’t carry the dengue virus, then they can’t transmit it […]

There’s new hope today for the future of the globe’s amphibians which are being wiped out by a devastating disease. The fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd, causes the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis. The pathogen causes the disease in susceptible amphibian species through heavy skin infection that can result in death due to osmotic imbalance and electrolyte […]

The largest and most complete study of modern bird genomes to date has resulted in the reconstruction of the bird family tree, challenging traditional views on the evolutionary history of birds. The study published in the journal Nature combines the genomic data of more than 360 bird species with data from nearly 200 bird fossils. […]

While some of us are still asking “why did the chicken cross the road?” an international team of researchers has been answering a different question: when did humans begin raising them for eggs? In a new paper published in Nature Communications, scientists have presented the earliest clear evidence of people raising chickens for egg production from […]

A University of Queensland-led study has shed light on how some lizards have evolved to resist deadly neurotoxins from Australia’s most venomous snakes. The research, led by UQ’s Professor Bryan Fry, focused on the interactions between venomous Australian snakes such as death adders, and the varanid lizard species which includes Komodo dragons and goannas. “Our research […]

A couple of red-tailed coral snakes have been caught on camera battling it out over a tasty meal in the first documented wild case of “food theft” in elapid snakes. Kleptoparasitism, or food theft, is a well-documented behaviour in many animal species – particularly birds – but rarely is it reported in snakes in the […]

A subterranean vault within Melbourne Museum contains millions of cryogenically frozen living cells. The unusual collection includes some 50,000 samples of blood, feathers, tail tips and ear snips from mammals, reptiles, birds and marine creatures, all carefully preserved in 2mL tubes. Like a safe deposit box for biodiversity, the Ian Potter Australian Wildlife BioBank – […]

An Australian researcher has stumbled upon a striking new genus of longhorn beetle that appears to be covered in white, fluffy hairs. The discovery was made completely by accident by PhD candidate James Tweed, who was camping in a rainforest in the Gold Coast hinterland, in southeastern Queensland. “I was walking through the campsite at Binna […]

Researchers in Australia have developed a rapid test which can identify genes that can trigger resistance to stem rust disease in wheat, which might lead to much more timely and effective response for the grains industry.  The CSIRO’s Dr Peter Dodds describes the new tool as: “a breakthrough in molecular plant pathology” enabling new genetic […]

Evolutionary biologists have identified a gene that encodes the visual preference for selecting a mate in tropical Heliconius butterflies. Species in the Heliconius genus are known for their striking colour patterns, which not only deter predators – warning they are poisonous and distasteful to birds – but also play an important role in attracting and […]

Researchers have found the fossilised skull of the largest ever river dolphin. While found in the Peruvian Amazon, the ancient dolphin’s closest living relatives are in South Asia. Pebanista yacuruna would have measured between 3 and 3.5 m. The skull of the extinct animal was found in 2018 along the Rio Napo near Peru’s border […]

Do women prefer drummers? Among a population of rare bird drummers in relict rainforest in Far North Queensland, the debate is settled: they most definitely do. Male Palm Cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) of Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park manufacture percussion instruments which they use to drum on trees to impress potential mates, says Professor Robert Heinsohn […]

An ancient amphibian ancestor found in Texas has been named Kermitops gratus in honour of iconic Muppet, Kermit the Frog. The animal is known from a fossil skull which was in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. It is described as a new species of proto-amphibian in a paper published in […]

Joshua Reed, Macquarie University; Leslie New, Ursinus College; Peter Corkeron, Griffith University, and Rob Harcourt, Macquarie University It sounds like a crime show episode at sea: In late January 2024, federal regulators learned that a dead female North Atlantic right whale had been sighted near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The whale was towed to shore, where […]

One of the great signs of spring in Washington, D.C., is the herds of middle schoolers who arrive, on trips to Learn About America. I got to partake in this annual migration in a small way myself this year; a friend from college had brought her very own eighth grader to town for spring break. […]

An annual, independent assessment of Australia’s environment has found several silver linings amid longer-term declines exacerbated by climate change. The 2023 Australia’s Environment report, jointly prepared by the Australian National University and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), scores the impact of environmental conditions on the nation’s ecosystems and natural resources. Using a relative scoring system, […]

Researchers who for years have puzzled over the unique urination habits of cicadas, have made observations they say might help with – of all things – robotics. Unlike most other small insects and mammals, which tend to excrete urine in sprinkling droplets, cicadas emit high speed jets of pee. Studying the process isn’t easybut a […]

From James Cook University With a mass coral bleaching event unfolding across the Great Barrier Reef, scientists from James Cook University have documented coral bleaching around six islands in the far north of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The latest in-water surveys follow the team’s reports in early February at the Keppel Islands at […]

Joshua Reed, Macquarie University; Leslie New, Ursinus College; Peter Corkeron, Griffith University, and Rob Harcourt, Macquarie University It sounds like a crime show episode at sea: In late January 2024, federal regulators learned that a dead female North Atlantic right whale had been sighted near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. The whale was towed to shore, where […]

Fossilised remains of a giant freshwater turtle which lived between 40,000 and 9,000 years ago have been found in the Brazilian Amazon. It’s shell, or carapace, measured about 1.8 m, making it one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. Peltochephalus maturin lived during the late Pleistocene period (2.58 million to 11,700 years ago) […]

The Australian state of New South Wales is to become the first jurisdiction in the world to outlaw two invasive medical research methods used mainly on mice and rats. Amendments to the state’s Animal Research Act – passed by the NSW Parliament on Thursday – prohibit researchers from carrying out the forced swim test or […]