A new analysis of an extinct giant kangaroo skull suggests it was adapted to eat tough, woody material - a feeding style not found in any modern marsupials.
Knew you were coming: a koala cub on the back of the mother.
Shutterstock/PARFENOV
We used to think a marsupial mum didn’t know when she was pregnant, but new research shows that’s wrong. And that could help in conservation of endangered species.
A baby eastern barred bandicoot pokes its head out of its mother’s pouch.
M. Parrott, Zoos Victoria
Rewilding is gaining popularity around the world, as a means to restore ecosystems to their ancient state. But just like Vegemite, Australian rewilding projects need to have a unique flavour.
Koalas spend a large part of the day sleeping - while their digestive enzymes get to work.
emmanueleragne/flickr
The koala genome, published today, gives us new and valuable information to aid conservation of this marsupial. It identifies special genes that evolved to adapt the koala to its unique lifestyle.
Most Australian kangaroo species, such as the bettong, are largely out of sight and out of mind.
AAP Image/EPA
A new documentary makes some controversial claims about the health of kangaroo populations. But the real threat is not to Australia’s iconic kangaroos – it’s to dozens of other, obscure species.
Gone since 1936, and ailing since long before that.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
The new Tasmanian tiger genome reveals some fascinating facts about this extinct marsupial, including why they were so similar to dogs, and how they were growing more vulnerable to genetic disease.
An artist’s impression of the Wakaleo schouteni marsupial ‘lion’ challenging a thylacine over the carcass of a kangaroo in the early Miocene rainforest of Riversleigh.
Peter Schouten
‘Marsupial lions’ aren’t really lions - but they did have teeth that formed a pair of secateur-like blades. The newly found species lived in forests of Queensland around 20 million years ago.
An impression of what it could have looked like: a giant lizard, Megalania, stalks a herd of migrating Diprotodon, while a pair of massive megafaunal kangaroos look on.
Laurie Beirne
Studies of the fossil teeth of the three-tonne Diprotodon have revealed the now-extinct beast was Australia’s only known seasonally migrating marsupial.
She must have had a successful pregnancy.
Ryan Snyder
A new evolutionary perspective on what’s been a medical paradox: Why does the body use inflammation to regulate aspects of pregnancy when inflammation is also a big threat to pregnancy?
Eastern quolls face an uphill battle to recover after climate change drove wild populations closer to extinction.
Bronwyn Fancourt
Wombats are suffering from mange, a deadly skin condition that threatens to wipe out some local populations. Frustratingly little is known about the problem, so we need a national plan to tackle it.
This furry critter could help save plenty of others, if given the chance.
Chen Wu/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons
If we brought devils back to the mainland, they could play a similar role to dingoes - keeping foxes and cats under control and potentially boosting the conservation prospects of Australia’s small mammals.
How many kangaroos is too many?
David Jenkins/Flickr
Each year rangers in the Australian Capital Territory cull kangaroos as part of the territory’s Kangaroo Management Plan. This year they killed a few over 1,500 kangaroos. Even though millions of kangaroos…
Logging has left Victoria’s mountain ash forests in danger of collapse.
David Blair
Whoever wins power in Victoria’s election tomorrow will no doubt have a long to-do list. Here’s an urgent item: protect the mountain ash forests of the state’s Central Highlands. We have discovered that…