• News from LIRS: Outcomes of the Polychaete Workshop eight years on

    Each month, a selected blog from Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation (LIRRF) is featured at the AM. LIRRF supports scientific research & education at the AM’s Lizard Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef. For this month, we feature: Outcomes of the Polychaete Workshop eight years on.

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    Scaleworms (Family Polynoidae) are polychaetes that often live in association with other animals. This one, photographed during the workshop, is on a starfish and remains unidentified.
  • The Flowering of Australia’s Rainforests

    Invertebrates are essential in pollinating our rainforests – but how do climate change, fire, fragmentation, invasive species and destructive pathogens impact pollination networks? Dr Geoff Williams OAM, AM, explores how in this Second Edition of The Flowering of Australia’s Rainforests.

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    Calodema regale (Buprestidae)
  • What do you call one of the world’s most beautiful frogs?

    Are some spectacular tree frogs from China and Vietnam two, remarkably similar species, or only one? An international team of herpetologists, including the AM’s Dr Jodi Rowley, solves this mystery once and for all!

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    The Splendid Torrent Frog
  • Do you see what I see?

    For effective conservation and fisheries management, we need data – but with limited funding and resources, there are gaps in our monitoring programs. This is where our fabulous citizen scientists come in! Our scientists, with CSIRO and NSW DPI, studied data from the Australasian Fishes Project.

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    Eastern Blue Groper (Achoerodus viridis)
  • A beautiful new cryptic fish species endemic to Aotearoa, New Zealand: The Manaia Pygmy Pipehorse

    Scientists from the Auckland Museum & Australian Museum have identified a new genus and species of pygmy pipehorse from Aotearoa, New Zealand. The new species was named in collaboration with the Ngātiwai – this is also the first species of syngnathid reported from New Zealand since 1921!

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    Cylix tupareomanaia in situ, female, Tu Pare o Huia or Home Point, North Island, New Zealand, at 13 m depth.
  • News from LIRS: Changing reefs

    Each month, a selected blog from Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation is featured at the AM. For this month, we feature Changing reefs.

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    Sterling Tebbett at Lizard Island.
  • Egyptian mummy masks: Conservation project introduction - part 1

    Melissa Holt, project conservator at the Australian Museum, tells us about the conservation treatment of four Ancient Egyptian Cartonnage coverings, including three masks! Read part one, in this special AM blog series.

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    E021583-005_front view_BT_July 2021
  • Out of the ashes: Post-bushfire lessons on how we can better manage our fauna

    In September 2021, the Royal Zoological Society of NSW held their annual forum online – receiving more registrations than ever before, with a tremendous range of talks focused on the impacts of the 2019-20 megafires and post-bushfire management.

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    This was the cover photo for the Royal Zoological Society of NSW forum flyer. Three months after extensive, high severity fire in Kiwarrack State Forest, near Taree. Most of these trees have subsequently resprouted via epicormic buds.
  • Russian dolls and shark snacks

    What are in shark guts? And what can the contents tell us? The results can be confusing – as we find prey, within prey. To decipher this ‘Russian doll effect’, scientists from the University of Sydney, Australian Museum and NSW Department of Primary Industries tell us more.

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    Russian Dolls
  • News from LIRS: The rise and fall of turf-algae empires

    Each month, a selected blog from Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation is featured at the AM. For biodiversity month, we feature the rise and fall of turf-algae empires.

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    Small fish find shelter among the branches of live coral.
  • The diverse world of Annelida: an international consideration

    Annelida, a common and diverse group of marine invertebrates, populate habitats all over the world. However, many questions around their evolutionary relationships remain unanswered - AM scientists invited international colleagues to help!

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    Coloured plate showing the diversity of annelids
  • Do Pobblebonks sing to suit their surrounds? Calling all citizen scientists to help solve this mystery!

    If a frog calls in a forest, would anyone actually hear it? This may sound like a philosophical question, but it is a genuine concern for frogs – like ‘pobblebonks’ – living in forested habitats. Find out how you can help using the FrogID app!

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    Eastern Banjo Frog  (Limnodynastes dumerilii)
  • News from LIRS: Deconstructing coral colonies

    Each month, a selected blog from Lizard Island Reef Research Foundation is featured at the AM. For this month, we feature Deconstructing Coral Colonies.

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    Kyle completing coral surveys on Loomis Reef, March 2021.
  • One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish

    Examination of historical museum specimens, in both Australian and Indonesian collections, resolve a 170-year taxonomic conundrum.

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    Cirrhilabrus solorensis is presently misapplied to several fishes, its true taxonomic identity shrouded in confusion.
  • Reaching new heights: A new species of frog found on the second highest mountain in Vietnam

    A species new to science has been discovered by an international team of scientists, including Australian Museum Amphibian and Reptile curator, Dr Jodi Rowley. This new species of tiny frog, at only 2-3 cm in body length, can be found in the mountainous forest on Mount Pu Ta Leng, Vietnam.

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    A female of the new species, Mount Pu Ta Leng leaf-litter frog (Leptobrachella graminicola).