This newly discovered ancient monk seal is challenging previous theories about how and where monachine seals evolved. It's the biggest breakthrough in seal evolution research in about 70 years.
Peretti Museum Foundation / Illustration by Stephanie Abramowicz
Joseph Bevitt, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
If albanerpetontids were around today, they'd easily fit in your hand. And although their bones are found all over the world, these unique amphibians eluded experts for a long time.
This stroke of serendipity shows how much there is still to be learned about the natural history of Australia. Surely more surprises are out there waiting for us.
The male specimen discovered in the Natural History Museum, Vienna.
Alec Moore
"I arrived in Perth and bought a foam mattress for the back of my car – my bed for half of the trip. I stocked up on tinned food, and I headed north in search of these tiny eight-legged gems."
One of the newly discovered sixgilled sawshark species (Pliotrema kajae).
Simon Weigmann
This newly discovered species is the oldest one known to resemble today's penguins in both size and leg proportions, unlike its giant co-habitants at the time.
Queensland’s January 2019 floods were so large their scale could only be accurately captured from space.
EPA/NASA Worldview
New species are being discovered all the time, which only adds to the problem of knowing how many there are on the planet today. It also helps to know what we mean by species.
An adult male “Mini mum”, one of the world’s smallest frogs, rests on a fingernail with room to spare.
Dr Andolalao Rakotoarison
With their jewel-like colours, Colombia's poison frogs are coveted by collectors. Does naming their species help protect them or make them a target for trophy hunters?
One of the four newly discovered titi monkeys from Southern Amazon, Brazil.
Diogo Afonso Silva
What drives the emergence and disappearance of species? By modeling the fundamental processes of evolution and ecology on geographical scales, new research spotlights topography and climatic shifts.
Attenborougharion rubicundus is one of more than a dozen species named after the legendary naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Simon Grove/Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.
Author Tom Iliffe leads scientists on a cave dive.
Jill Heinerth