I thought about marketing costs, but the article specifically calls it out as developmental costs (at least before the paywall). Maybe that term bundles marketing too.

I wonder if they’re doing some Hollywood accounting because that seems way too expensive even with hundreds of staff. Maybe I’m out of touch with dev costs though.

Seems like they’re specifying non-flying mammals:

The behaviour is interesting because it shows nectar-feeding and pollination by non-flying mammals might be more widespread than currently recognised, and that the ecological significance of these lesser-known pollinators might be more important than we think,” says Lai. “It’s very exciting.