Many will be familiar with the Umbrella Trees, as a garden plant, growing naturally in tropical regions of Australia or as particularly large invasive weeds. Umbrella trees are native to tropical rainforests of NE & N QLD, NT New Guinea... #DowningHerbarium #PlantoftheWeek

Weeds under our feet can have value. Plantago species is not only commercially important in agriculture but informs basic research in archaeology. & has Australian relatives that can play a major role in both food & health industries. #DowningHerbarium #PlantoftheWEEK

Nine decades on, a witness to the last Tasmanian thylacine recounts her experience abc.net.au/news/2025-09-0…

No eyes, no brain, no problem: Brittle stars have traveled the world over, and scientists have figured out how. floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/no-eye…

Hmmm, these ceratopsid dinosaur cousins were always rock stars! news.artnet.com/art-world/phil…

And also, for university museum content with a natural history &/ science bent, check me out too ! 🦕🦖🌳🦴🧬

Travel by train to Katoomba, or Bundanoon to Tallong in late Oct. to Nov., & you'll be greeted by meadows of golden-yellow daisies, Coreopsis lanceolata. Not native but make a spectacular show in naturalised habitats. #PlantoftheWeek #DowningHerbarium @ zygodon.bsky.social

Volcanic eruption led to the Black Death pandemic, study suggests | CNN edition.cnn.com/2025/12/04/sci…

A legacy of genetic entanglement with wolves shapes modern dogs | PNAS (pretty sure our orange tantrum throwing cat is more wolf-like than our rottweiler x) dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2…

An ancient Egyptian crocodile relative pushes dyrosaurid evolution deeper into the past and firmly roots their origins in Africa. dx.doi.org/10.1093/zoolin… 🐊

Ancient Manatee Relative Reveals That Sea Cows Have Engineered the Arabian Gulf’s Seagrass Ecosystems for Over 20 Million Years si.edu/newsdesk/relea…

#PlantoftheWeek from #Downingherbarium Sugarcane, Saccharum officinarum... Did you know C4 photosynthesis was an Australian discovery? We take sugar for granted. Consuming 180+ million tons - every year, largely in processed foods - origins of commercial sugar are quite complex.

$1.7 Million Dinosaur Skull Joins the Smithsonian Collection news.artnet.com/art-world/pach…

The best dinosaur discoveries of 2025! theconversation.com/the-best-dinos…

Ancient African bedrock reveals the violent beginnings of life on our blue planet theconversation.com/ancient-africa…

Alaska Museum’s Mammoth Fossils Turn Out to Be Whale Bones, via artnet A mammoth misunderstanding you could say :) news.artnet.com/art-world/alas…

A Cambrian soft-bodied biota after the first Phanerozoic mass extinction, in Nature Or - how a big reduction in the ocean's dissolved oxygen gave the Cambrian biota that Sinsking feeling - 🙂 nature.com/articles/s4158…

Some interesting commentary and divergent views about exoplanet K2-18b. Will we see a university museum all about exobiology any time soon? space.com/space-explorat…