Tag Archives: oceania

Where Albanese and Dutton have been on the campaign trail

With the federal election fast approaching and the campaign in full swing, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are crisscrossing the country in an attempt to woo voters and secure the 76 seats they need to form government for the next three years.

Where exactly the two leaders go can provide a clue to their election strategy: which seats they believe they can pick up, and the electorates they think might be in danger of falling to their opponents.

See where the prime minister and opposition leader have visited this federal election campaign:

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Both the prime minister and opposition leader have already covered thousands and thousands of kilometres during the campaign, from Green Island off the Queensland coast all the way to Busselton in the south-west tip of the country.

With plenty more appearances still to follow, you can see exactly where Albanese and Dutton have visited in our interactive map above.

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More than 50 new species of Aussie spiders have just been identified

Arachnophobes may be alarmed to hear that scientists have identified 55 new species of Australian wishbone spiders.

Coming from the same group as tarantulas and funnel-web spiders, wishbone spiders dig burrows and line them with silk to help them catch prey.

These burrows are where the spiders get their name, as they're shaped like a wishbone or the letter Y with one leg shorter than the other.

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Aname rubrochelicera (new species) female in defensive posture.

Only one leg reaches the surface, providing an entrance to the burrow, while the other remains hidden underground and is believed to provide extra protection for the spider.

Found across mainland Australia, scientists from Queensland Museum, Western Australian Museum, and the University of Western Australia joined forces to conduct a groundbreaking two-year study on the arachnids.

The project involved extensive fieldwork in some of Australia's more remote ecosystems, which several species of whishbone spider call home, as well as cutting-edge molecular techniques used to study the spiders.

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Aname occivillosa (new species) burrow.

Now they've published a landmark research paper that includes the description of 55 species new to science.

Some of the additions to the Aname genus include A. mulgana, named for the Mulga Lands of south-western Queensland where it's found, and A. lawrenceae, named for the study's project manager Melinda Lawrence.

These additions make wishbone spiders one of the most diverse and widely distributed groups of spiders in Australia.

But lead author Dr Jeremy Wilson said more than half of the Aname genus of wishbone spiders found in Australia remained undescribed, with many only found in remote or arid parts of the country.

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Dr Jeremy Wilson in the field.

He said the two-year study has also led to "amazing observations" about the secretive spiders' burrowing habits, as well as physical differences between species.

"This work is a reminder of how much there is still to learn about our unique biodiversity, ensuring that future generations can appreciate the incredible diversity of life that calls Australia home," Queensland Museum chief executive Dr Jim Thompson said.

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