Interview with the Strasbourg Zoological Museum
In an interview with the Strasbourg Zoological Museum (Musée Zoologique de Strasbourg), Andrew Baird discusses why museum visits are such an essential part of taxonomic research. Watch the video on their Facebook page. Thank you Musée Zoologique de Strasbourg for having us!
October: Blastopathes medusa
Author: Jeremy Horowitz Species: Blastopathes medusa Horowitz 2020 This large (> 1 m tall) and strange yet elegant and mythology-inspiring black coral is the newest addition to the Order Antipathidae. This species is described from, and dominates sandy habitats situated adjacent to patchy shallow and mesophotic coral reefs in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. The … Continue reading October: Blastopathes medusa
[Media Release] Project Phoenix: DNA unlocks a new understanding of coral
Our core members Pete Cowman, Andrea Quattrini, Tom Bridge, and Andrew Baird have been interviewed for their recent paper introducing a new tool for phylogenomic analyses of scleractinian corals. Read the full article by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies:Project Phoenix: DNA unlocks a new understanding of coral Literature cited Cowman, P.F., … Continue reading [Media Release] Project Phoenix: DNA unlocks a new understanding of coral
September: Micromussa lordhowensis
Author: Andrew Baird Species: Micromussa lordhowensis (Veron and Pichon 1982) This a striking beautiful coral, with brightly coloured large fleshy tentacles that puff up during the day making the corallum appear plocoid, however, they retract when touched to reveal the ceroid arrangement of the corallites. This species was initially placed in the genus Acanthastrea (Veron … Continue reading September: Micromussa lordhowensis
Myrmidon Reef
Author: Andrew Baird After a 10 hour steam on the Kalinda and a quiet night full of stars; Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and then Venus were all on display, we woke to a glass out in the lagoon on Myrmidon. We were targeting topotypes of a couple of nominal species, in particular Acropora azurea Veron & … Continue reading Myrmidon Reef
The Corals of the SS Yongala
Author: Andrew Baird The SS Yongala is a world famous dive, known especially for the extraordinary fish life it supports, including large schools of giant trevally and barracuda and a couple of monstrous Queensland groupers. The Yongala is not so well known for its scleractinian corals, being a little too deep to support the abundance … Continue reading The Corals of the SS Yongala
[New paper] An enhanced target-enrichment bait set for Hexacorallia provides phylogenomic resolution of the staghorn corals (Acroporidae) and close relatives
Congratulations to Peter Cowman and co-authors for a paper just accepted in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. The paper presents a molecular approach that has the potential to provide species level resolution with the Genus Acropora – the Holy Grail for Acropora taxonomy. The results of the phylogenomic analysis are profound (see quote below) and highlight … Continue reading [New paper] An enhanced target-enrichment bait set for Hexacorallia provides phylogenomic resolution of the staghorn corals (Acroporidae) and close relatives
Project Phoenix Retreat 2020 at Puzzle Creek
The Project Phoenix Townsville Hub and collaborators has recently gathered in Puzzle Creek, Queensland for a team retreat. The purpose of this retreat was to discuss the kick-off of Project Phoenix, to have a PhD confirmation seminar, and to get to know each other better in a beautiful open-air environment. The team comprised of Project … Continue reading Project Phoenix Retreat 2020 at Puzzle Creek
[Media Release] ‘Treasure trove’ of new discoveries highlights gaps in coral knowledge
See original post by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies:‘Treasure trove’ of new discoveries highlights gaps in coral knowledge
