Net Zero Literacy

Australia has officially added another tiny marsupial to its family tree after scientists confirmed the Arnhem Plateau planigale as a species new to science.

Planigales are among the world’s smallest marsupials. Despite their mouse-like appearance, they are not rodents — they belong to the same broader marsupial lineage as animals such as quolls and Tasmanian devils.

The newly recognized animal lives in the rugged Arnhem Plateau of northern Australia, an ancient landscape of sandstone escarpments, rocky crevices and isolated habitats.

Scientists determined that the population represents its own species by comparing its physical features and genetics with other known planigales. What had previously been grouped with related animals turned out to have a distinct evolutionary history.

Planigales are tiny but active predators. They hunt insects, spiders and other small animals, using narrow heads and flattened skulls that allow them to squeeze into remarkably small cracks while searching for prey or shelter.

Discoveries like this do not always mean scientists have encountered an animal for the first time. Sometimes a species has been known for years, but detailed genetic and anatomical research finally reveals that it is biologically distinct from its relatives.

Recognizing it as a separate species is also important for conservation, because a species restricted to a small geographic region can face very different threats from its more widespread relatives.

The world's ocean temperatures hit 21.1 degrees Celsius on Friday and Saturday, spurred by a still-growing but already supersized natural El Niño and human-caused climate change.

It narrowly edged out the record set in March 2024, according to Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead for European climate service Copernicus.

"This is yet another sign of our climate system under strain and the ocean under immense pressure," Ms Burgess says.

Data shows ocean temperatures are likely to warm even more in the next few months.

Read more: https://ab.co/4xZPvzY