Biologist wins first round of lungfish conservation battle

18 November 2009

Internationally-recognised Macquarie University evolutionary biologist Professor Jean Joss has won her three-year battle to save the habitat of the endangered Queensland lungfish.

Last week, Environment Minister Peter Garrett announced he would scrap plans to build the Traveston dam on Queensland’s Mary River – one of only two sites where the species lives and mates in the wild.

Joss, who has a lungfish breeding and research laboratory at the University which supplies material to scientists around the world, had been campaigning against the plan and enlisted many of her international contacts to write to governments in Australia. Even the respected journal Nature wrote editorials against the planned dam.

The lungfish has survived relatively unchanged for over 300 million years. Scientists believe it arrived at a crucial moment in the history of life on Earth – just before the journey from water to land. As a result, the lungfish is neither fish nor amphibian, but rather, a strange mixture of the two. As well as four pairs of gills, the lungfish has a single lung which it uses to breathe air when it’s very active or when oxygen is low in the water. It surfaces to empty and refill its lung.

Studying lungfish genes can not only give scientists a clearer view of the evolutionary pathways taken from fish to air-breathing animals, but also help give fresh insights into the origins of human diseases.

In exchange for the dam, the Queensland state government had originally promised to contribute $35 million towards a lungfish research centre. Now Joss is pushing the government to still build the facility. Joss is also seeking to upgrade the Australian lungfish from vulnerable to endangered status under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. The centre would also conduct research in the conservation of the Mary River Cod and the Mary River Turtle.

For more information, visit the website

Featured News

• 9 February 2010 Expedition breaks new records in fight against rising oceans
• 5 February 2010 Researchers call for new approach to disaster preparedness and recovery
• 1 February 2010 Yaegl research collaboration hits new heights
• 27 January 2010 MGSM named among top 100 global business schools for MBA
• 27 January 2010 $25 million in new research funding