https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Australia is home to unusual mammals not found anywhere else—consider the platypus, Tasmanian devil or red kangaroo. But did you know our understanding of this continent's incredible mammalian diversity is still incomplete? https://phys.org/news/2026-06-museum-specimens-tiny-ferocious-australian.html Plants & Animals Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:40:04 EDT news701606402 To the scientists and ecologists working to save them, Australia's Euastacus crayfish species are fascinating, living relics from a time long ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-australia-spiny-crayfish-species-threatened.html Plants & Animals Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:40:07 EDT news700316583 A new raptor-like dinosaur from some 70 million years ago that ate fish and behaved like modern herons has been unearthed from southern Patagonia. The new species, which has been named Kank australis, was identified based on the discovery of fossil remains including teeth, vertebrae, and toe bones. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-heron-fish-dinosaur-million-years.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 28 May 2026 19:10:06 EDT news699176102 Scientists from UNSW Sydney have confirmed a reintroduced platypus population in Royal National Park has now grown to 20 known individuals, following the release of four additional animals and a new round of surveys across the park in May 2026. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-platypus-population-australia-royal-national.html Plants & Animals Fri, 22 May 2026 11:00:03 EDT news698664721 They already have the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver, lay eggs like reptiles and have venom like snakes. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-platypus-weirder-thought-scientists.html Plants & Animals Sat, 25 Apr 2026 09:10:01 EDT news693068589 Between 280 and 200 million years ago, a group of animals evolved which would eventually give rise to mammals, including humans: the therapsids. They were first described more than 150 years ago, based on fossils from South Africa. Since then, many more fossils have been discovered. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-embryo-fossil-south-africa-world.html Evolution Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:30:01 EDT news695041122 A surprising observation in the lab has revealed a remarkable ability in Stentor coeruleus, a single-celled organism about one millimeter long. Sometimes nicknamed the "platypus" of microorganisms for its trumpet-like shape, this tiny creature appears to have a distinct preference for corners. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-tiny-simply-corners-geometry-world.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 02 Apr 2026 17:40:03 EDT news694360802 The combination of a beaver-like body and duck-like bill of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is only the first of a long list of strange features on this unique creature. These odd mammals also lay eggs, have venomous spurs, sense electricity, glow under UV light, and harbor five times more sex chromosomes than many other animals. Now, a study published in Biology Letters reveals that their fur also contains melanosomes that are unlike in any other animal—and scientists can't figure out why. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-platypus-fur-strange-feature.html Plants & Animals Wed, 18 Mar 2026 11:40:07 EDT news693050820 In a dry riverbed in Brazil, in a dense forest near the Amazon, a team of paleontologists found a fossilized jawbone from an ancient animal. Over the course of their fieldwork, they found eight similar bones, each around six inches long—but no other bones that they could confidently use to complete a skeleton for one of these mystery animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ancient-eater-jaw-sideways-teeth.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 03 Mar 2026 19:10:08 EST news691774442 It's been a good few months in the press for the rakali (known as moytj in Noongar)—Australia's native water rat. These long-whiskered rodents finally received the recognition they deserve, with the ABC's National Science Week poll crowning the rakali the nation's most underrated animal. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-rats-rakali.html Plants & Animals Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:06:27 EST news690033961 We humans have long viewed ourselves as the pinnacle of evolution. People label other species as "primitive" or "ancient" and use terms like "higher" and "lower" animals. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-animal-alive-today-primitive.html Evolution Mon, 09 Feb 2026 20:50:03 EST news689869123 Millions of years of isolation have shaped Australia's extraordinary mammal fauna into species unlike anywhere else in the world, from platypus to koalas and wombats. Tragically, Australia is the world leader in mammal extinctions. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-feral-cats-foxes-driven-australian.html Plants & Animals Sun, 25 Jan 2026 11:00:01 EST news688373506 The platypus is one of evolution's lovable, oddball animals. The creature seems to defy well-understood rules of biology by combining physical traits in a bizarre way. They're egg-laying mammals with duck bills and beaver-like tails, and the males have venomous spurs on their hind feet. In that regard, it's only fitting that astronomers describe some newly discovered oddball objects as "Astronomy's Platypus." https://phys.org/news/2026-01-puzzling-platypus-jwst-hard-categorize.html Astronomy Sun, 11 Jan 2026 12:00:15 EST news687009396 Cell division is an essential process for all life on Earth, yet the exact mechanisms by which cells divide during early embryonic development have remained elusive—particularly for egg-laying species. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-mechanical-ratchet-mechanism-cell-division.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 07 Jan 2026 16:30:15 EST news687025794 After combing through NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of Missouri says they have identified a sample of galaxies that have a previously unseen combination of features. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-webb-reveals-sample-galaxies-unusual.html Astronomy Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:42:26 EST news686932922 Scientists at the University of Missouri have identified a small group of unusual objects in the early universe. Using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Haojing Yan and his team at Mizzou's College of Arts and Science spotted these strange objects, which seem like one galactic thing but have the unmistakable fingerprints of something else entirely. https://phys.org/news/2026-01-platypus-early-universe-stars-galaxies.html Astronomy Tue, 06 Jan 2026 13:10:01 EST news686927308 In most narratives, the story of evolution is the story of organisms emerging from the ocean and eventually populating the land. But for some species, that evolution also involved a return trip. Dozens of major mammal and reptile groups ultimately made their way back to the beach and into the water. A new Yale study has undertaken the task of explaining when and how this happened—and which species fully re-committed to the life aquatic. The study is published in the journal Current Biology. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-beach-evolution-animals.html Evolution Thu, 20 Nov 2025 13:20:01 EST news682866051 Islands are natural laboratories where evolution can run rampant as plants and animals adapt to new environmental conditions and vacancies in the ecosystem. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-discovery-extinct-shelduck-highlights-rich.html Ecology Thu, 14 Aug 2025 12:18:27 EDT news674392702 Scientists have discovered the fossil of a tiny mouse-sized mammal that lived in the time of the dinosaurs in Chilean Patagonia. https://phys.org/news/2025-08-scientists-million-year-mammal-fossil.html Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 12 Aug 2025 03:30:17 EDT news674188206 From the ultra-high frequency hearing of the Greater Wax Moth to the polarized light-detecting eyes of mantis shrimp, evolution by natural selection has produced a spectacular array of sensory adaptations that enhance survival. One of the most uncanny sensory adaptations found in nature is electroreception, the ability to detect faint electrical fields. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-treehoppers-spectacular-headgear-spidey-electrical.html Plants & Animals Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:40:01 EDT news672467864 For the first time, the remarkable features of Australia's unique wildlife—from platypus, bilby, kangaroo, koala and emu to mammals gone extinct—are available for all to see, via their bones and skeletons in a new free online collection. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-3d-database-virtual-access-animal.html Plants & Animals Wed, 11 Jun 2025 13:30:01 EDT news668852658 Researchers from the University of Adelaide, in collaboration with the University of Melbourne, University of Queensland and Monash University, have discovered that the genetic mechanism that determines sex in monotremes is different from that in all other mammals. https://phys.org/news/2025-06-monotreme-sex-gene-mammals.html Plants & Animals Wed, 11 Jun 2025 08:10:05 EDT news668848202 Rivers up and down the north coast of New South Wales have been hammered again, just three years after devastating floods hit the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-platypus-cane-toads-south-wales.html Ecology Wed, 28 May 2025 09:47:05 EDT news667644422 By 2050, almost 70% of the world's population will live in cities—20% more than today. As cities expand, the natural world around them contracts. Species decline faster in and around cities than almost anywhere else. But what if cities could become part of the solution—places to actively restore biodiversity rather than just areas of loss? https://phys.org/news/2025-05-urban-rewilding-brought-beavers-hornbills.html Plants & Animals Mon, 26 May 2025 08:33:04 EDT news667467182 James Cook University scientists have been trying to discover exactly why some animals glow under ultraviolet light. JCU researcher Linda Reinhold led the study, which is published in PLOS One. She said photoluminescence in mammal fur is common. https://phys.org/news/2025-05-mammals-ultraviolet.html Plants & Animals Tue, 06 May 2025 14:06:03 EDT news665759162 A small bone found 30 years ago at Dinosaur Cove in southeastern Australia could turn what we know about the evolution of echidnas and platypuses on its head. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-extremely-rare-event-bone-analysis.html Evolution Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:00:09 EDT news665050741 Giant freshwater crayfish, longer and bulkier than today's species, roamed New Zealand 20 million years ago. They would have made a perfect snack for the crocodiles and trout-sized whitebait that cruised the waters of ancient New Zealand. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-mystery-molars-discovery-giant-crayfish.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 17 Apr 2025 09:24:03 EDT news664100641 While it may be an unfamiliar sensation to humans, electroreception is relatively commonplace in the animal kingdom. Sharks, bees and even the platypus all share this ability to detect electric fields in their environment. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-scientists-fruit-fly-larvae-electric.html Cell & Microbiology Wed, 09 Apr 2025 10:35:06 EDT news663413702 Between 122 and 108 million years ago, the Australian landmass was much farther south than today. Victoria was positioned within the Antarctic Circle, separated from Tasmania by a vast rift valley rather than open sea. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-carnivorous-dinosaurs-australia-million-years.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:17:46 EST news659272661 The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) is one of Australia's most iconic animals. Belonging to a unique group of mammals called "monotremes" (with the platypus as the other prominent member). Echidnas may at first glance be mistaken for a weird-looking hedgehog, but they are in fact egg-laying mammals. https://phys.org/news/2025-01-echidna-genome-unravels-events-multiple.html Evolution Thu, 09 Jan 2025 12:36:50 EST news655648598