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Australian Museum

The Australian Museum is a dynamic source of reliable scientific information and a touchstone for informed debate about some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges facing our region: the loss of biodiversity, a changing climate and the search for cultural identity.

Underpinning its research is an irreplaceable collection of international standing – more than 18 million objects representing a timeline of the environmental and cultural histories of the Australian and Pacific regions.

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Wayne Lawler / Australian Wildlife Conservancy / AAP

Australia has hundreds of mammal species. We want to find them all – before they’re gone

A new list of 404 Australian mammal species is a crucial conservation step in the face of the ongoing extinction crisis.
A Homo erectus skull from Java, Indonesia. This pioneering species stands at the root of a fascinating evolutionary tree. Scimex

Evolutionary study suggests prehistoric human fossils ‘hiding in plain sight’ in Southeast Asia

The ancestors of modern-day people living on Southeast Asian islands likely interbred with a prehistoric species called Denisovans - raising the possibility of fresh and intriguing fossil discoveries.
Gump, who died in May, was the last known member of her species. Director of National Parks/Supplied

Vale ‘Gump’, the last known Christmas Island Forest Skink

Among the most haunting and evocative images of Australian wildlife are the black and white photographs of the last Thylacine, languishing alone in Hobart Zoo. It’s an extraordinary reminder of how close…
Garom, a sculpture made from discarded “ghost nets” in the Torres Strait. Australian Museum/Supplied

Ghostly art, made from debris that menaces marine life

With more than half a million people participating in last Sunday’s Clean Up Australia Day, it’s perhaps not surprising that some odd objects came to light. Not all the rubbish was on land, and not all…
There is only one Christmas Island Forest Skink left on Earth. Hal Cogger

Australian endangered species: Christmas Island Forest Skink

Gump has lived a cossetted life, nurtured in a cage on Christmas Island. Until last year, she had two acquaintances, but misadventure claimed them both. Now there is only Gump. She’s the last known individual…
Natural history collections hold a wealth of research potential. Stuart Humphreys/Australian Museum

Natural history collections are fine specimens of great value

Natural history collections housed in museums and herbaria are generally not on display to the public – what visitors see represents only a tiny section of the wealth held behind locked doors. What use…
Australian Museum scientists have discovered an invasive species of worm in Botany Bay - the European Fanworm (Sabella spallanzanii), which is native to the Mediterranean Sea and European Atlantic coast. Stuart Humphreys, Australian Museum

A beautiful pest: invasive marine worm spotted in Sydney

Marine scientists at the Australian Museum have sounded the alarm over an invasive underwater worm discovered in Sydney’s Botany Bay – the farthest north the pest has ever been spotted in NSW. The European…

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