Australian Museum

Mountain Tops and Biodiversity

Australian Museum — Mountain tops are special places for biodiversity. They often harbour endemic and diverse species of plants and animals. What is the history of the Great Dividing Range and its high diversity? What is an example of endemism and speciation on a ...More…

Mantis Shrimp - Colourful and Aggressive

Australian Museum — Mantis shrimps are highly aggressive crustaceans that capture prey using large, raptorial claws much like that of a praying mantis. Many are beautifully coloured in shades of red, green and blue. BIOINDICATORS - organisms whose presence, absence ...More…

Crested Tern

Australian Museum — The Crested Tern is the second largest of the terns found in Australia and one of the most commonly seen species. It measures 49 cm in length and has a pale yellow bill, scruffy black crest, grey wings and back, and a white neck and ...More…

Huntsman Spiders

Australian Museum — Huntsman spiders are large, long-legged spiders, measuring up to 15 cm across the legs. They are mostly grey to brown, sometimes with bands across the legs. Common Huntsman spiders have flattened bodies adapted for living under loose ...More…

Gordian Worms

Australian Museum — Gordian worms belong to a small phylum, the Nematomorpha, a name that means 'form of a thread'. Their habit of writhing and contorting themselves into knots, with one or more worms tangled together, accounts for their common name, ...More…

Concretions, Thunder Eggs and Geodes

Australian Museum — Concretions are hard, compact accumulations of mineral matter that form inside sedimentary rocks such as shale and sandstone or in soil. Concretions are hard, compact accumulations of mineral matter that grow inside sedimentary rocks such as ...More…

Cupboard or Brown House Spider

Australian Museum — At a casual glance the female Cupboard Spider could easily be mistaken for a Redback Spider - without that distinctive red stripe on the back. At a casual glance the female Cupboard Spider could easily be mistaken for a Redback Spider - without ...More…

Family Limacodidae

Australian Museum — Cup moths (Family Limacodidae) are named for the cup-like cocoons that their caterpillars spin. Their slug-like and brightly coloured caterpillars have also been given various names such as Chinese Junks, Spitfires, Battleships or Warships ...More…

Pygmy Sperm Whale

Australian Museum — The Pygmy Sperm Whale, Kogia breviceps is a small robust whale, measuring a little over 3m. The head is short and supports a bulbous snout that becomes blunter with age. The snout contains the spermaceti organ. The short narrow underslung mouth ...More…

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Australian Museum — The White-bellied Sea-Eagle has white on the head, rump and underparts and dark grey on the back and wings. In flight the black flight feathers on the wings are easily seen when the bird is viewed from below. The large, hooked bill is grey with a ...More…

Common Dolphin

Australian Museum — The Common Dolphin, Delphinus delphis is a slender streamlined dolphin with a moderately long beak, tall dorsal fin and large tapering flippers. The attractively marked flank of yellow, buff and grey patches forms a sweeping hour glass shape ...More…

Main feature: webbed hind-feet

Australian Museum — Water Rat's have one pair of distinctive chisel shaped incisors with hard yellow enamel on front surfaces. Flattened head, long blunt nose, with abundant whiskers, small eyes. Variable. Near-black, grey to brown, with white to orange belly. Thick ...More…