Category: Topics
Wildlife
Gallery: The endangered sawfish
Sharks and Rays Australia has been conducting research surveys across river systems adjacent to Queensland’s Gulf of Carpentaria aiming to find and count sawfish.
Wildlife
The future of zoos and marine parks
Clive Phillips argues in favour of a major shift away from the role of zoos as visitor attractions. He says, instead, zoos should reestablish themselves as important educational facilities.
History & Culture
Gallery: The longest running botanical magazine
Curtis’s Botanical Magazine began publication in 1787 and intended to familiarise its readers with plants from all over the Empire, which it presented as floral paintings by noted artists who, previously had only been accessible by an affluent audience. Its publication saw their work accessible by a wider audience with a growing interest in exotic species. A Celebration of Australian Flowers – Curtis’s Botanical Magazine is running at the Redbox Gallery until 30 November 2017 Mrs Macquaries Rd. The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.
Wildlife
Aussie blue beauties
Aussie animals don’t often sport shades of blue, but when they do it’s usually due to some kind of trickery.
Wildlife
Prehistoric marine creatures: monsters of the deep
Australia was a wet and wild place in the Cretaceous Period (145-65 million years ago), and not a safe spot for a dip in the sea. It was closer to the South Pole, but a warmer world meant temperate regions stretched further south than today. The Eromanga Sea covered much of Queensland; this body of water was so vast at one point that it extended into South Australia, splitting the continent. While dinosaurs held sway on the land, exotic reptiles flourished in the inland sea. Four major groups dominated. Ichthyosaurs were dolphin-like predators with four flippers and a vertical tail fin. Sea turtles were represented by four known species, one of which was a 4m giant. Plesiosaurs had four flippers, but two different body types: large-headed, small-necked forms (called pliosaurs); and small-headed, long-necked forms. Neck length was taken to extremes in one group, the elasmosaurs. Mosasaurs, which didn’t appear until about the time that ichthyosaurs became extinct and the Eromanga Sea retreated, were long-bodied predators related to snakes and monitor lizards. Of these four diverse and successful groups, only the turtles remain in the oceans. Text by Maria Zammit
Science & Environment
Your complete guide to the aurora australis
What it is, how to find it and how to shoot it.
Wildlife
The plight of our wedge-tailed eagles
We know very little about the wedge-tailed eagles’ (Aquila audax) movement across Australia’s vast arid lands. And with dramatic changes to the habitats of the native raptor, mostly caused by human activity, the more we know the better. Wedge-tailed eagle expert, Simon Cherriman has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to purchase satellite-trackers to research the movements of juvenile wedgies. Having raised enough money to fund three satellite-trackers in 2015, which were attached to wedgies in the Perth Hills area, Simon explains that our knowledge depends on following the stories of more than just a few birds. “Despite being subject to a period of extensive persecution for over a century, when hundreds of thousands of eagles were culled, the Wedge-tail is currently listed as Least Concern. However, this status is based on information collected using methods designed for small songbirds, and it does not consider the complex population structure of a large raptor,” Simon explains. To donate to Simon’s crowdfunding campaign, click HERE.
Wildlife
Australia’s albino animals
White is a rare colour in nature and it’s not surprising the unusual pale hues found in people, animals and plants affected by albinism are romanticised in literature.
Wildlife
Great Australian cockies
DARREN HAMLEY is a coordinator of gifted education at Willetton Senior High School in Western Australia. Earlier this year he asked his students to plan an expedition to photograph every species of cockatoo in Australia. They researched the best location to see each of the fourteen species and planned the trip from beginning to end researching weather, equipment, camping locations and where to actually find the birds. All but one was captured— the Palm Cockatoo, which is isolated by floodwaters.