Australian Museum

Ontogeny of rake mark scarring on common dolphins ( Delphinus delphis ): insights to aggression and affiliation?

Abstract Aggressive and affiliative interactions shape resource allocation, social structure and reproduction in social species. In delphinids, rake marks (parallel scars from tooth raking) indicate social interactions. When examined alongside ontogeny, demographic traits and sca...

On the edge: habitat patchiness and island isolation fracture the distribution of the endemic Kimberley rock-rat

We integrate demography, morphology and genetics to assess the biology and population structure of the endemic Kimberley rock-rat (Zyzomys woodwardi), a habitat specialist of the monsoonal tropics. The species is confined to the extreme north-west of the continent and 16 adjacent...

A New Genus and Two New Species of Freshwater Crab (Crustacea: Brachyura: Potamidae) with Unusual Coiled Tip of Male Second Gonopods from Yunnan, Southwestern China

n. gen. from known potamid genera. Notes on the general biology of the two new species are also included.

Potential predation impacts of invasive non-native rodents (black rats) on plant species from a Pacific Island (Lord Howe Island, Australia)

Context Invasive non-native rodents pose a significant threat to a range of plants on oceanic islands, particularly where there are high levels of endemism. Aims On Lord Howe Island in the western Pacific Ocean, prior to rodent eradication measures, we used selective caging and c...

North to south or south to north: what was the dispersal direction of two Mesozoic mammal groups?

Numerous mammalian biogeographers since the late 19th Century have envisioned that major mammalian groups originated in the Northern Hemisphere and subsequently dispersed to the Southern Hemisphere. A small number of Mesozoic mammalian fossils reported from the Southern Hemispher...

Quenched Inclusions in Uralian-Alaskan Placer Pt-Fe Nuggets, Ecuador: Rare Cu-PGM Telluride-Sulfide Parageneses

PGM (platinum-group mineral) melt inclusions set in two Pt-Fe alloy nuggets are from the Camumbi River placer, Ecuador. Inclusion bulk compositions are strongly fractionated, mutually exsolved melts Pt–Rh–Pd–Cu > Fe–Ni sulfide-rich and Pt–Cu–Rh ≈ Pd > Fe–Ni telluride-rich respect...

Environmental conditions shape the movement patterns of a marine ambush predator on homogeneous soft sediment habitat

Abstract Background Quantifying the patterns and drivers of animal movement is critical to the effective conservation and management of species across all ecosystems. Despite their importance for global commercial and recreational fisheries, the movement patterns of marine soft s...

Conservation genetics and disease status of an Endangered Population of tusked frogs (Limnodynastidae: Adelotus brevis) in eastern Australia

A population of tusked frogs (Adelotus brevis) occurring in the New England Tablelands (NET) and Nandewar (NAN) (NET/NAN) bioregions experienced drastic historical declines. The declines were most likely caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd)...

Skull morphology of the extinct Tasmanian tiger suggests unique biting style

Abstract The recently extinct thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) was the largest modern marsupial predator. It is considered a classic example of evolutionary convergence due to striking similarities with placental canids (e.g., foxes and wolves), particularly in the skull, despite ~160...

Lower Cambrian carbonate microfacies and depositional environments on Yorke Peninsula, western Stansbury Basin, South Australia

The western Stansbury Basin is a largely subsurface early–middle Cambrian sedimentary succession centred on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. The oldest carbonate units include the pervasively dolomitised Kulpara Formation, and the unconformably overlying nodular and bioclastic P...

Beyond the mountains: incorporating newly documented low-elevation records reshapes predicted habitat suitability for the threatened mountain skink Liopholis montana

The mountain skink (Liopholis montana) is an alpine–montane specialist listed as Endangered under Australian legislation, with its Victorian distribution traditionally considered restricted to elevations >900 m. However, recent discoveries have revealed repeated, disjunct low-ele...

A new genus and species of hagfish from Vietnam: A transitional lineage between Rubicundinae and Myxininae (Craniata: Myxiniformes)

Abstract Dolichostomus leucotaenia gen. et sp. nov. is described from two specimens collected from off northern Vietnam. It is characterized by a long, oval mouth opening visible from the ventral view, a feature unique among the order Myxiniformes. It also possesses a single medi...

Pit stop off the humpback highway: multi agency response to a sub-adult humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae in Sydney Harbour, Australia

The east coast Australian humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae population continues to recover post-whaling and is now estimated to be at least 50,000 individuals. The combination of population growth and increased human activities within coastal environments means there is a hi...