Fri Jul 3, 2009
Embargo lifted 11:30am AEST Friday 3 July 2009 New research published in PLoS ONE on Friday describes the remains of three new species of dinosaur: two giant herbivores (sauropods) and a carnivore (theropod) found during digs in the Winton Formation of central Queensland. They are the first large Australian dinosaurs to be discovered since 1981.
Tue Jun 23, 2009
Embargo lifted 7am AEST Tuesday 23 June 2009 Australian research suggests human hunting is to blame for the extinction of the largest kangaroo ever to evolve.
Wed Feb 25, 2009
New research has shown vertebrate sex, or internal fertilisation, and live birth are more ancient and more common in the prehistoric animal world than previously thought.
Thu Nov 20, 2008
After thousands of years of extinction, the woolly mammoth has its DNA decoded this week in Nature. The study marks the first report of nuclear genome sequencing for an extinct animal. Using DNA extracted from samples of hair, the authors were able to collect together the near-complete nuclear genome of the woolly mammoth. The team [...]
Mon Aug 11, 2008
Embargo lifted on Tuesday 12 August at 7am Australian EST Australian research sheds new light on the role that our ancestors played in the extinction of Australia’s large prehistoric animals. There has been ongoing debate about whether climate change or human arrival was the major cause of the demise of Australia’s megafauna. On the Australian [...]
Thu May 29, 2008
A team of Australian scientists have uncovered the world’s oldest vertebrate mother in a newly unearthed species of fossil fish. Published in Nature, the fossil shows a single embryo connected by an umbilical cord and is the oldest evidence of an animal giving birth to live young.
Wed Mar 5, 2008
The discovery by Australian and Indonesian researchers of the remains of small human-like creatures nicknamed the ‘hobbit’ is the subject of ongoing debate. Found on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004, the discovery was announced as a new species of human known as Homo floresiensis, however some scientists believe that the ‘hobbit’ is not [...]
Thu Jun 8, 2006
Critical fossil evidence of early life must be conserved, say experts. With the finding of entire ecosystems of ancient structures formed by some of the planet’s earliest life forms in the Pilbara in WA (reported in the journal Nature on June 8), scientists are calling for serious measures to protect the area.