Researchers use cutting-edge technology to save elusive species: 'This work demonstrates the success'
As Phys.org reported, Dr. David Thuo of the Australian National Wildlife Collection is working with Aṉangu Rangers and the Central Land Council's Tjakuṟa Rangers to learn about the Tjakuṟa species. Also known as the great desert skink, the Tjakuṟa is a culturally significant lizard vulnerable to extinction.
The groups work together to locate the lizards' burrows and identify potential predator threats. Traditional Aṉangu knowledge guides this identification work. The researchers then collect soil, air, and scat samples to assess the eDNA in the lizards' diet and estimate the population.
Cutting-edge technology makes this work possible by comparing modern specimens with historical DNA from the 1960s. A recently deceased Tjakuṟa provides essential genetic data with which to compare a museum collection and observe how populations have evolved over time and responded to changes in the lizards' environment.
According to Phys.org, "This work demonstrates the success of eDNA techniques for studying culturally important species without disturbing them."
The researchers also sequenced the Tjakuṟa's first complete mitochondrial genome, a vital genetic study resource.
Yet, this breakthrough is even more significant because research complements local Indigenous efforts to care for the land. The Tjakuṟa is part of a traditional creation story that connects native people to the land where they live.
Rather than science and cultural traditions competing against each other, they work in tandem to create lasting impacts for the Tjakuṟa and other Australian species.
Elsewhere around the world, organizations and Indigenous communities are also collaborating to improve people's lives and the planet.
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For example, Brazil's agricultural research agency and Indigenous leaders have worked together to plant a million trees annually to promote reforestation and fight planet-warming air pollution.
An inspiring example occurred when the Nature Conservancy, InterTribal Buffalo Council, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and the World Wildlife Fund collaborated to restore buffalo habitats on tribal lands.
Meanwhile, Native Renewables, led by women, has worked with Indigenous people to increase access to affordable, off-grid solar power and promote energy independence.
Thuo commented on the multifaceted impact of the Tjakuṟa study: "The data can guide where and when to carry out Indigenous fire management, inform future translocations of Tjakuṟa to increase genetic diversity and resilience to environmental changes, and support monitoring of other Tjakuṟa populations across the desert."
Thuo's non-invasive strategy of studying the species ensures that it doesn't disrupt its behavior and aligns with Indigenous values.
He has confirmed the Tjakuṟa's diet and eating patterns based on the eDNA soil and scat extractions. Long-term species monitoring is necessary to help it thrive in its native habitat and keep traditional stories alive in the local community.
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New York Post
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- New York Post
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'It might have looked for all the world like some weird kind of mash-up between a whale, a seal and a Pokémon but they were very much their own thing.' Extinct species was an odd branch on the whale family tree The rare discovery of the partial skull, including ear bones and teeth, was made in 2019 on a fossil-rich stretch of coast along Australia's Victoria state. Jan Juc Beach, a cradle for some of the weirdest whales in history, is becoming a hotspot for understanding early whale evolution, Fitzgerald said. 4 Ruairidh Duncan examines a tooth and partial fossil skull, at left, in the palaeontology lab at Melbourne Museum in Melbourne, Australia, on Aug. 5, 2025. AP Few family trees seem stranger than that of Janjucetus dullardi, only the fourth species ever identified from a group known as mammalodontids, early whales that lived only during the Oligocene Epoch, about 34 to 23 million years ago. That marked the point about halfway through the known history of whales. 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'It's literally been the greatest 24 hours of my life,' said Ross Dullard, who discovered the skull while fossil hunting at Jan Juc Beach. After Wednesday's confirmation of the new species, the school principal walked like a rock star onto campus with 'high fives coming left, right and center,' he said. His friends and family are probably just relieved it's over. 4 Duncan (L) and Palaeontologist Erich Fitzgerald with the partial fossil skull and teeth of Janjucetus dullardi in Melbourne. MUSEUMS VICTORIA/AFP via Getty Images 'That's all they've heard from me for about the last six years,' he said. Dullard was on a regular low-tide hunt at Jan Juc the day he spotted something black protruding from a cliff. Poking it dislodged a tooth. He knew enough to recognize it was unlikely to belong to a dog or a seal. 'I thought, geez, we've got something special here,' he said. Dullard sent photos to Museums Victoria, where Fitzgerald saw them and immediately suspected a new species. Ancient whale finds are rare but significant Confirming the find was another matter. This was the first mammalodontid to be identified in Australia since 2006 and only the third on record in the country. Fossils of sufficient quality, with enough of the right details preserved to confirm uniqueness, aren't common. 'Cetaceans represent a fairly miniscule population of all life,' Fitzgerald said. Millions of years of erosion, scavengers and ocean currents take their toll on whale skeletons too. 'It's only the chosen few, the vast minority of all whales that have ever lived and died in the oceans over millions of years, that actually get preserved as fossils,' he added. Finds such as Janjucetus dullardi can unlock insights into how prehistoric whales ate, moved, behaved — and evolved. Researchers said the discoveries also helped to understand how ancient cetacean species adapted to warmer oceans, as they study how today's marine life might respond to climate change. Meanwhile, Dullard planned to host a fossil party this weekend, featuring cetacean-themed games and whale-shaped treats in jello, to celebrate his nightmare Muppet find, finally confirmed. 'That's taken my concentration for six years,' he said. 'I've had sleepless nights. I've dreamt about this whale.'
3 days ago
This prehistoric whale had razor teeth, bulging eyes and a face only evolution could love
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- Long before whales were majestic, gentle giants, some of their prehistoric ancestors were tiny, weird and feral. A chance discovery of a 25 million-year-old fossil on an Australian beach has allowed paleontologists to identify a rare, entirely new species that could unlock mysteries of whale evolution. Researchers this week officially named Janjucetus dullardi, a cartoonish creature with bulging eyes the size of tennis balls, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Unlike today's whales, the juvenile specimen was small enough to fit in a single bed. Boasting fiendish teeth and a shark-like snout, however, this oddball of the ocean was nasty, mean and built to hunt. 'It was, let's say, deceptively cute,' said Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute, and one of the paper's authors. 'It might have looked for all the world like some weird kind of mash-up between a whale, a seal and a Pokémon but they were very much their own thing.' The rare discovery of the partial skull, including ear bones and teeth, was made in 2019 on a fossil-rich stretch of coast along Australia's Victoria state. Jan Juc Beach, a cradle for some of the weirdest whales in history, is becoming a hotspot for understanding early whale evolution, Fitzgerald said. Few family trees seem stranger than that of Janjucetus dullardi, only the fourth species ever identified from a group known as mammalodontids, early whales that lived only during the Oligocene Epoch, about 34 to 23 million years ago. That marked the point about halfway through the known history of whales. The tiny predators, thought to have grown to 3 meters (10 feet) in length, were an early branch on the line that led to today's great baleen whales, such as humpbacks, blues and minkes. But the toothy ancestors with powerful jaws would have looked radically different to any modern species. 'They may have had tiny little nubbins of legs just projecting as stumps from the wall of the body,' said Fitzgerald. That mystery will remain tantalizingly unsolved unless a specimen is uncovered with more of its skeleton intact, which would be something of a miracle. Even the partial skull that allowed the initial identification this week was an astonishing discovery. Janjucetus dullardi was named by researchers after an amateur fossil hunter who doesn't mind its looks in the slightest. 'It's literally been the greatest 24 hours of my life,' said Ross Dullard, who discovered the skull while fossil hunting at Jan Juc Beach. After Wednesday's confirmation of the new species, the school principal walked like a rock star onto campus with 'high fives coming left, right and center,' he said. His friends and family are probably just relieved it's over. 'That's all they've heard from me for about the last six years,' he said. Dullard was on a regular low-tide hunt at Jan Juc the day he spotted something black protruding from a cliff. Poking it dislodged a tooth. He knew enough to recognize it was unlikely to belong to a dog or a seal. 'I thought, geez, we've got something special here,' he said. Dullard sent photos to Museums Victoria, where Fitzgerald saw them and immediately suspected a new species. Confirming the find was another matter. This was the first mammalodontid to be identified in Australia since 2006 and only the third on record in the country. Fossils of sufficient quality, with enough of the right details preserved to confirm uniqueness, aren't common. 'Cetaceans represent a fairly miniscule population of all life,' Fitzgerald said. Millions of years of erosion, scavengers and ocean currents take their toll on whale skeletons too. 'It's only the chosen few, the vast minority of all whales that have ever lived and died in the oceans over millions of years, that actually get preserved as fossils,' he added. Finds such as Janjucetus dullardi can unlock insights into how prehistoric whales ate, moved, behaved — and evolved. Researchers said the discoveries also helped to understand how ancient cetacean species adapted to warmer oceans, as they study how today's marine life might respond to climate change. Meanwhile, Dullard planned to host a fossil party this weekend, featuring cetacean-themed games and whale-shaped treats in jello, to celebrate his nightmare Muppet find, finally confirmed. 'That's taken my concentration for six years,' he said. 'I've had sleepless nights. I've dreamt about this whale.'
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This prehistoric whale had razor teeth, bulging eyes and a face only evolution could love
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Long before whales were majestic, gentle giants, some of their prehistoric ancestors were tiny, weird and feral. A chance discovery of a 25 million-year-old fossil on an Australian beach has allowed paleontologists to identify a rare, entirely new species that could unlock mysteries of whale evolution. Researchers this week officially named Janjucetus dullardi, a cartoonish creature with bulging eyes the size of tennis balls, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Unlike today's whales, the juvenile specimen was small enough to fit in a single bed. Boasting fiendish teeth and a shark-like snout, however, this oddball of the ocean was nasty, mean and built to hunt. 'It was, let's say, deceptively cute,' said Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute, and one of the paper's authors. 'It might have looked for all the world like some weird kind of mash-up between a whale, a seal and a Pokémon but they were very much their own thing.' Extinct species was an odd branch on the whale family tree The rare discovery of the partial skull, including ear bones and teeth, was made in 2019 on a fossil-rich stretch of coast along Australia's Victoria state. Jan Juc Beach, a cradle for some of the weirdest whales in history, is becoming a hotspot for understanding early whale evolution, Fitzgerald said. Few family trees seem stranger than that of Janjucetus dullardi, only the fourth species ever identified from a group known as mammalodontids, early whales that lived only during the Oligocene Epoch, about 34 to 23 million years ago. That marked the point about halfway through the known history of whales. The tiny predators, thought to have grown to 3 meters (10 feet) in length, were an early branch on the line that led to today's great baleen whales, such as humpbacks, blues and minkes. But the toothy ancestors with powerful jaws would have looked radically different to any modern species. 'They may have had tiny little nubbins of legs just projecting as stumps from the wall of the body,' said Fitzgerald, senior author of a paper about the creatures published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society on Wednesday. That mystery will remain tantalizingly unsolved unless a specimen is uncovered with more of its skeleton intact, which would be something of a miracle. Even the partial skull that allowed the initial identification this week was an astonishing discovery. For an amateur paleontologist, a life-long obsession paid off Janjucetus dullardi was named by researchers after an amateur fossil hunter who doesn't mind its looks in the slightest. 'It's literally been the greatest 24 hours of my life,' said Ross Dullard, who discovered the skull while fossil hunting at Jan Juc Beach. After Wednesday's confirmation of the new species, the school principal walked like a rock star onto campus with 'high fives coming left, right and center,' he said. His friends and family are probably just relieved it's over. 'That's all they've heard from me for about the last six years,' he said. Dullard was on a regular low-tide hunt at Jan Juc the day he spotted something black protruding from a cliff. Poking it dislodged a tooth. He knew enough to recognize it was unlikely to belong to a dog or a seal. 'I thought, geez, we've got something special here,' he said. Dullard sent photos to Museums Victoria, where Fitzgerald saw them and immediately suspected a new species. Ancient whale finds are rare but significant Confirming the find was another matter. This was the first mammalodontid to be identified in Australia since 2006 and only the third on record in the country. Fossils of sufficient quality, with enough of the right details preserved to confirm uniqueness, aren't common. 'Cetaceans represent a fairly miniscule population of all life,' Fitzgerald said. Millions of years of erosion, scavengers and ocean currents take their toll on whale skeletons too. 'It's only the chosen few, the vast minority of all whales that have ever lived and died in the oceans over millions of years, that actually get preserved as fossils,' he added. Finds such as Janjucetus dullardi can unlock insights into how prehistoric whales ate, moved, behaved — and evolved. Researchers said the discoveries also helped to understand how ancient cetacean species adapted to warmer oceans, as they study how today's marine life might respond to climate change. Meanwhile, Dullard planned to host a fossil party this weekend, featuring cetacean-themed games and whale-shaped treats in jello, to celebrate his nightmare Muppet find, finally confirmed. 'That's taken my concentration for six years,' he said. 'I've had sleepless nights. I've dreamt about this whale.'
