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Plants & Animals Sep 8, 2026

Star-fingered toads use fingertip lobules to detect prey in murky water

Surinam toads (Pipa pipa) are strange, flat frogs with minuscule eyes that live in the murky waters of the Amazon basin and carry their eggs on their backs. The way they catch prey is even weirder. They lie in wait with outstretched ...

Plants & Animals Aug 11, 2026

Rescued platypuses quickly return to normal lives after five months in captivity

Platypuses rescued during a severe drought quickly returned to their old routines after being released back into the wild, suggesting emergency rescues can help protect vulnerable populations.

Plants & Animals Jun 25, 2026

We checked 2,000 museum specimens and discovered a tiny new 'ferocious' Australian mammal

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?

Plants & Animals Jun 10, 2026

Australia adds 33 spiny crayfish species to threatened list after megafires

To the scientists and ecologists working to save them, Australia's Euastacus crayfish species are fascinating, living relics from a time long ago.

Paleontology & Fossils May 28, 2026

Heron-like, fish-eating dinosaur from 70 million years ago discovered in Argentina

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 ...

Plants & Animals May 22, 2026

Platypus population expands to 20 in Australia's Royal National Park

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 ...

Plants & Animals Apr 25, 2026

The platypus is even weirder than thought, scientists discover

They already have the bill of a duck, the tail of a beaver, lay eggs like reptiles and have venom like snakes.

Evolution Apr 12, 2026

Embryo fossil found in South Africa is world's oldest proof that mammal ancestors laid eggs

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 ...

Cell & Microbiology Apr 2, 2026

This tiny organism simply loves corners, using geometry to sense its world

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, ...

Plants & Animals Mar 18, 2026

Platypus fur adds another strange feature to an increasingly long list

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 ...

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