Blog archive:
AMRI

Dr Amy Way discusses a recently published paper by Pardoe and Hutton in the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, examining how Aboriginal people traditionally lived in large groups around ecological ‘hotspots.’

Did you know that there are over 50 islands in the Bass Strait, the 240 km stretch of ocean that separates mainland Australia and Tasmania? But what of its fauna? Scientists have recently extracted DNA from museum specimens to better understand the evolutionary history of Bass Strait island fauna.

Kenneth Peter Aplin (1958–2019) was one of Australia’s leading vertebrate systematists, well known as an anatomist, mammalogist, herpetologist, palaeontologist, and archaeologist – he was an altogether unique and admired man.

Australian Museum scientists have identified a new pipefish species under the waves of our biggest city. Australia’s newest endemic fish species was found hiding in plain sight at a popular Sydney dive spot!

The amphibian chytrid fungus, responsible for causing frog declines around the world, may not yet have reached the Solomon Islands.

How is a new species described? And what role do museums play? As highlighted by the recent discovery of the Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa), Natural History Museums are essential in species discovery: find out how, and more about our newly described species by AM scientists and associates.

Just in time for FrogID Week 2020, the second annual release of FrogID data is now available to advance frog ecology and conservation in Australia.

Every year, The Royal Zoological Society of NSW acknowledges the outstanding publications that significantly increase our knowledge of the fauna of the Australasian region with particular emphasis on its conservation. This year was no exception; however, the awards were held online.

Dr Jeff Leis, Senior Fellow at the Australian Museum, has recently become an Honorary Member of the Ichthyological Society of Japan (ISJ).

Archaeologists in Iraq have discovered a Neanderthal skeleton which appears to have been deliberately buried around 65,000 years ago; Dr Amy Way discusses this recent study.

The Australian Museum’s spectacular, gemmy Broken Hill rhodonite from the Albert Chapman collection has been featured on the front cover of Mineral Collections in Australia, the Sept/Oct Supplement to the renowned global publication, Mineralogical Record.

Citizen scientists help us understand just how much Australian frogs call during the day.

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.

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

Recently published research in Australian Archaeology has vastly extended the known timeline of Aboriginal occupation in the Riverland region of South Australia, Dr Amy Way discusses.