As part of the World Wildlife Day celebrations, experts from around the world gathered in New York to participate in the Wild Ideas panel (powered by the UN and Jackson…
The landscape spanning the border region of the eastern Australian states of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland is ecologically rich and diverse, and home to ancient rainforest. However, despite…
Fire is not natural to Australia, as incomprehensible as that may seem today. When humans first landed on the northern shores it was a very different continent. Most of Australia…
Remote islands are often held up as vestiges of pristine wilderness. In stark contrast, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Henderson Island are drowning in piles of plastic. A recent study…
The devastating wildfires in Australia that have claimed the lives of more than a billion animals, by some estimates, are just one of the effects of global climate change the…
Governments could vastly improve the efficiency of money spent on conservation if they took a hard look at the species they prioritize, according to a recent study. The research probed…
The discovery of a new-to-science species is always an awe-inspiring bit of news, filling us with hope. This year, researchers introduced us to several such species. Some were the result…
Analysts are calling the COP25 climate summit in Madrid a colossal failure — undermining the carbon reduction goals set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, leaving the world in mortal danger.
As humans continue to emit record levels of carbon dioxide, we are putting marine habitats at risk. One consequence of these emissions, ocean acidification, is a serious threat to many…
Behind the sand dunes of the Dampier Peninsula, in the far west of the Kimberley region of Australia, the landscape is alive, the air filled with the sound of great…
A newly discovered species of grouper almost became someone’s dinner before it could be described to science. Jeff Johnson, an ichthyologist with Australia’s Queensland Museum, had been asked about the…
Australia will soon ban the domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn. The country’s delegates announced the decision at the ongoing 18th meeting of the Conference of the Parties…
On the remote mountaintops of Queensland, Australia, researchers have rediscovered two species of ferns last seen more than 50 years ago. One of the ferns, Hymenophyllum whitei, was first recorded…
Marine biologists survey fish assemblages and their associated habitat to understand the ecosystem of a place, compare fish communities over time or in response to changes in management, and examine…
If there’s an iconic image of the late Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Chanel and Fendi, it’s his signature black-and-white style: white ponytail, black sunglasses, black-and-white suit with high,…
Tropical insects are wildly diverse, but most species are unstudied or unknown, even as they’re heavily impacted by deforestation, climate change and pesticides.
Any aquarist who has tried to grow a variety of the colorful Acropora coral in a hobby tank knows how delicate they are – “not for beginners.” And yet this…
The yellow-bellied three-toed skink is not your typical lizard. Vertebrates or animals with backbones usually reproduce in one of two ways: they either lay eggs or they give birth to…
A fungal disease that has been wiping out amphibians across the world may be the world's most destructive disease ever recorded, according to a new study. Biologists first described the…
The shortfin mako, the world’s fastest known shark, which can reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour (43 miles an hour), is one step closer to extinction. According…
Koalas are Australian icons, known globally for their fuzzy ears, broad wet nose, and love of eucalyptus leaves. They are also cryptic, slow-moving creatures that live high in the leafy…
Ecologists know that when we humans start tugging at the threads of a food web, the unraveling that results is often catastrophic to the connected species, paving the way for…
A silver lining of global warming is that it is forcing every nation to rethink its future, to open its mind to new possibilities. The latest IPCC report gives the…
According to Elle Bowd, a researcher with Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society, there have been very few studies about the long-term impacts of disturbances like wildfires…
You probably use it every day and don’t think once about gorillas. In today’s world, it’s almost impossible to get by without a mobile phone, but they’re wreaking havoc for…
2018 was a difficult year for the world's tropical rainforests. Below are of some of the biggest rainforest storylines for the year, but we couldn't cover everything, so if there…
You can now speak into your mobile phone and have it produce written text. Then have Google translate your words into Japanese, or Hindi. In two seconds. These examples of…
Once again this year, researchers described several new species of animals and plants after months, or even several years, of trials and tribulations. Some were tiny, like the Japan pig,…
South of Tasmania, hundreds of undersea mountains mark the deep ocean floor. Now, a monthlong survey of these seamounts in and around Australia's Huon and Tasman Fracture marine parks has…
The colors of northwestern Australia are profound. In the build-up to the wet season, the deep shades of bloodwood trees (Corymbia spp.) and red-tailed black cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus banksii) take on…
