News from the Australian Museum

Scientific discoveries, ground-breaking expeditions, jaw-dropping exhibitions and Australia's biggest museum collection.

LIRS Co-Directors Dr Emily Howells and Dr David Abrego

Australian Museum Lizard Island Research Station welcomes new Co-Directors Dr Emily Howells and Dr David Abrego

Outgoing Co-Directors Dr Anne Hoggett AM and Dr Lyle Vail AM retire after 35 years of service.

23 March 2025

Newcastle Funnel-web Spider (Atrax christenseni) male

Sydney’s famous funnel-web spider splits into three!

Reports of unusually large Sydney Funnel-web spiders from around Newcastle led an international team of scientists to take a fresh look at the Sydney Funnel-web, Atrax robustus.

13 January 2025

Blazing the Trail

Discover what makes us human on an epic journey investigating our shared story of human evolution.

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Professor Kristofer Helgen, Chief Scientist and Director of the Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI)

Australian Museum farewells Chief Scientist Professor Kris Helgen

Today the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Hawaii announced that Professor Kristofer Helgen has been appointed as its new President and CEO.

3 April 2025

Russell Briggs - Director, Engagement, Exhibitions & Cultural Connection

Australian Museum farewells Chief Experience Officer, Russell Briggs

The Australian Museum (AM) announced today that Chief Experience Officer Russell Briggs will leave the AM on July 11, 2025, stepping away from full-time work to pursue consulting opportunities.

2 April 2025

Composite plate of worldwide volutes, giving examples of some of their diverse patterns and morphologies

More than just pretty shells: AMRI researchers study diverse family of gastropods

AMRI researchers are conducting the largest study to date on volutes, a diverse family of shelled molluscs, to expand knowledge about these species, particularly in Australia.

17 December 2024

Why ‘pretty’ Tasmanian semi-slug is named after David Attenborough
The Mercury
April 10, 2025
This is the heartbeat of efforts to save a global icon. Is it too late?
The Sydney Morning Herald
March 23, 2025
‘It’s a history lesson’: fossil fish up to 16m years old found perfectly preserved in central NSW
The Guardian
March 18, 2025
Disturbing rituals, ‘sex pots’, jewellery: The surprise relics being unearthed in Peru
WA Today
March 3, 2025
Mysterious and vulnerable: the secret lives of Australia’s giant worms
The Guardian
March 3, 2025

Australian Museum Research Institute

FrogID Week 2024: Citizen Scientists Capture Over 34,000 Frog Records Nationwide

The seventh annual FrogID Week has once again gathered a vital snapshot for frog conservation thanks to tens of thousands of citizen scientists.

Saving our koalas: using genomics to enhance conservation outcomes

Koalas in New South Wales are at risk of extinction by 2050. New research highlights the need for targeted conservation efforts to address genetic diversity and maintain habitat connectivity to ensure their survival.

22 October 2024

An adult female Coastal Lobe-lipped Bat from Western province, PNG, showing the enlarged flap or lobe formed from the outer ear margin, that is characteristic of this new species

The Coastal Lobe-lipped Bat: a new range-restricted species from the coastal lowlands of southern Papua New Guinea

The Coastal Lobe-lipped Bat (Chalinolobus orarius) is a newly named species recognised from museum specimens collected in Papua New Guinea (PNG) previously thought to represent the Hoary Bat (C. nigrogriseus) of northern Australia.

21 October 2024

Vaka (Canoe) 'Tai Tokelau' made entirely from the Kanava tree in Tokelau featured in Wansolmoana, Australian Museum's Pasifika Gallery.

The Australian Museum celebrates deep cultural connections with the Pacific in its new permanent gallery: Wansolmoana

Exploring themes of Deep connections, Identity, Disruption and Climate Change, Wansolmoana has been made possible by a generous gift from The Macdoch Foundation.

19 October 2023

From the Director: Let’s celebrate beautiful Bilas body adornment

The Australian Museum's exhibition Bilas: Body Adornment from Papua New Guinea is woven straight from the spirit of a community’s lore and showcased by way of physical adornment.

18 July 2023

Barka: The Forgotten River

Explore the magnificent Barka (Darling River) and its plight in a free exhibition opening at the Australian Museum Thursday 16 March 2023.

16 March 2023

Cynthia Houniuhi is President of the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC)

The Talbot Oration: Taking Climate to the World’s Highest Court

Renowned Pacific climate champion, Cynthia Houniuhi, tells her story of fighting for change in the world's highest court at Australian Museum’s Talbot Oration.

Live at the AM
13 June 2024

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