ORCID Profile
0000-0002-9958-0265
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Evolutionary Biology | Evolutionary Impacts of Climate Change | Palaeoecology | Biological Adaptation | Geochemistry | Quaternary Environments | Archaeological Science | Geochronology And Isotope Geochemistry | Speciation and Extinction | Climatology (Incl. Palaeoclimatology) | Geochronology | Palaeoclimatology | Ecology | Geology | Environmental Science and Management | Natural Resource Management | Archaeological Science | Organic Geochemistry | Forensic Biology | Isotope Geochemistry | Palaeoecology | Environmental Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | Conservation And Biodiversity
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Understanding Australia's Past | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales | Climate variability | Coastal and Estuarine Land Management | Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Land and water management | Criminal Justice | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Earth sciences | Living resources (flora and fauna) | Climate change | Coastal and Estuarine Soils | Expanding Knowledge in the Earth Sciences |
Related Links
Publications
The impact of European colonization on the late-Holocene non-volant mammals of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 24-09-2012
Abstract: Over the last 200 years Australia has suffered the greatest rate of mammal species extinction of any continent. This demands extensive bio ersity research, but unfortunately has been h ered by poor documentation of Australia’s native species at the time of European colonization. Late-Holocene fossil mammal assemblages preserved in caves, rockshelters and surface lag deposits from deflated sand dunes can provide a more complete understanding of pre-European ecological conditions than can be developed from our knowledge of present bio ersity. In South Australia, few regions have experienced greater landscape modification and bio ersity loss than Yorke Peninsula. We investigate the composition, richness, evenness and age of two owl accumulations from southeastern and southwestern Yorke Peninsula and contrast them with a surface lag deposit assemblage probably accumulated by humans. We then examine the pre-European biogeography of the fauna recovered. The three assemblages have similar species richness, but differ dramatically in composition and evenness. The biases imposed by differing accumulation agents can explain compositional differences between owl and human assemblages, but not the differences between the respective owl accumulations. We argue that key substrate differences – one area is dominated by sand and the other by calcrete – have favoured distinct vegetation communities that fostered distinctly different mammal assemblages from which raptors accumulated prey. The ecological requirements of the extant mammals appear to be reflected in the fossil assemblages, providing support for the application of uniformitarian principles and confidence in the relevance of late-Holocene fossil assemblages to modern conservation and natural resource management.
Thorough assessment of DNA preservation from fossil bone and sediments excavated from a late Pleistocene–Holocene cave deposit on Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2014
Ancient DNA from bulk bone reveals past genetic diversity of vertebrate fauna on Kangaroo Island, Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
A critical evaluation of how ancient DNA bulk bone metabarcoding complements traditional morphological analysis of fossil assemblages
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2015
Variation and pattern in the responses of mammal faunas to Late Pleistocene climatic change in southeastern South Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-01-2012
DOI: 10.1002/JQS.1563
Rapid Pliocene adaptive radiation of modern kangaroos.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 05-10-2018
Abstract: Differentiating between ancient and younger, more rapidly evolved clades is important for determining paleoenvironmental drivers of ersification. Australia possesses many aridity-adapted lineages, the origins of which have been closely linked to late Miocene continental aridification. Using dental macrowear and molar crown height measurements, spanning the past 25 million years, we show that the most iconic Australian terrestrial mammals, "true" kangaroos (Macropodini), adaptively radiated in response to mid-Pliocene grassland expansion rather than Miocene aridity. In contrast, low-crowned, short-faced kangaroos radiated into predominantly browsing niches as the late Cenozoic became more arid, contradicting the view that this was an interval of global browser decline. Our results implicate warm-to-cool climatic oscillations as a trigger for adaptive radiation and refute arguments attributing Pleistocene megafaunal extinction to aridity-forced dietary change.
An osteology-based appraisal of the phylogeny and evolution of kangaroos and wallabies (Macropodidae: Marsupialia)
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 26-07-2010
Climate change not to blame for late Quaternary megafauna extinctions in Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-01-2016
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS10511
Abstract: Late Quaternary megafauna extinctions impoverished mammalian ersity worldwide. The causes of these extinctions in Australia are most controversial but essential to resolve, because this continent-wide event presaged similar losses that occurred thousands of years later on other continents. Here we apply a rigorous metadata analysis and new ensemble-hindcasting approach to 659 Australian megafauna fossil ages. When coupled with analysis of several high-resolution climate records, we show that megafaunal extinctions were broadly synchronous among genera and independent of climate aridity and variability in Australia over the last 120,000 years. Our results reject climate change as the primary driver of megafauna extinctions in the world’s most controversial context, and instead estimate that the megafauna disappeared Australia-wide ∼13,500 years after human arrival, with shorter periods of coexistence in some regions. This is the first comprehensive approach to incorporate uncertainty in fossil ages, extinction timing and climatology, to quantify mechanisms of prehistorical extinctions.
Morphological and molecular evidence supports specific recognition of the recently extinctBettongia anhydra(Marsupialia: Macropodidae)
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 25-04-2015
A late Quaternary vertebrate deposit in Kudjal Yolgah Cave, south‐western Australia: refining regional late Pleistocene extinctions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2016
DOI: 10.1002/JQS.2877
An arid-adapted middle Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from south-central Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE05471
Abstract: How well the ecology, zoogeography and evolution of modern biotas is understood depends substantially on knowledge of the Pleistocene. Australia has one of the most distinctive, but least understood, Pleistocene faunas. Records from the western half of the continent are especially rare. Here we report on a erse and exceptionally well preserved middle Pleistocene vertebrate assemblage from caves beneath the arid, treeless Nullarbor plain of south-central Australia. Many taxa are represented by whole skeletons, which together serve as a template for identifying fragmentary, hitherto indeterminate, remains collected previously from Pleistocene sites across southern Australia. A remarkable eight of the 23 Nullarbor kangaroos are new, including two tree-kangaroos. The erse herbivore assemblage implies substantially greater floristic ersity than that of the modern shrub steppe, but all other faunal and stable-isotope data indicate that the climate was very similar to today. Because the 21 Nullarbor species that did not survive the Pleistocene were well adapted to dry conditions, climate change (specifically, increased aridity) is unlikely to have been significant in their extinction.
Late-Holocene mammal fauna from southern Australia reveals rapid species declines post-European settlement: Implications for conservation biology
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 18-12-2015
Abstract: The arrival in Australia of Europeans and the species they brought with them initiated a sharp decline in native mammalian bio ersity. Consequently, one-third of the original or pre-European terrestrial mammal fauna is now extinct or threatened with extinction. Although the distributional ranges of many Australian mammals have contracted markedly, modern distributions are frequently used as baselines for conservation management and understanding ecological requirements. However, these often poorly reflect pre-European distributions, particularly in areas where bio ersity declines were rapid and occurred soon after European arrival. Here we analyse two late Holocene mammalian assemblages from Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, and reconstruct the pre-European terrestrial non-volant mammal fauna. The region was previously estimated to have lost perhaps 30% of its original terrestrial non-volant mammal fauna, but our results indicate a loss of almost 50%. We provide the first local records of the murids Mastacomys fuscus, Pseudomys australis, P. gouldii, P. novaehollandiae and P. shortridgei, and confirm the past occurrence of the now-extinct Conilurus albipes. Our study contributes new knowledge of species biogeography and ecology and will help refine restoration targets.
Scrapheap Challenge: A novel bulk-bone metabarcoding method to investigate ancient DNA in faunal assemblages
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-11-2013
DOI: 10.1038/SREP03371
Extinctions of herbivorous mammals in the late Pleistocene of Australia in relation to their feeding ecology: No evidence for environmental change as cause of extinction
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-2004
Environmentally‐ and human‐induced body‐size responses in Macropus robustus and Macropus rufus, two widespread kangaroo species with largely overlapping distributions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2017
DOI: 10.1111/AEC.12530
New ages for the last Australian megafauna: Continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 08-06-2001
Abstract: All Australian land mammals, reptiles, and birds weighing more than 100 kilograms, and six of the seven genera with a body mass of 45 to 100 kilograms, perished in the late Quaternary. The timing and causes of these extinctions remain uncertain. We report burial ages for megafauna from 28 sites and infer extinction across the continent around 46,400 years ago (95% confidence interval, 51,200 to 39,800 years ago). Our results rule out extreme aridity at the Last Glacial Maximum as the cause of extinction, but not other climatic impacts a “blitzkrieg” model of human-induced extinction or an extended period of anthropogenic ecosystem disruption.
Functional morphology of the forelimb of living and extinct tree-kangaroos (Marsupialia: Macropodidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-05-2011
DOI: 10.1002/JMOR.10979
Abstract: Tree-kangaroos are a unique group of arboreal marsupials that evolved from terrestrial ancestors. The recent discovery of well-preserved specimens of extinct tree-kangaroo species (genus Bohra) within Pleistocene cave deposits of south-central Australia provides a unique opportunity to examine adaptive evolution of tree-kangaroos. Here, we provide the first detailed description of the functional anatomy of the forelimb, a central component of the locomotor complex, in the extant Dendrolagus lumholtzi, and compare its structure and function with representatives of other extant marsupial families. Several features were interpreted as adaptations for coping with a discontinuous, uneven and three-dimensional arboreal substrate through enhanced muscular strength and dexterity for propulsion, grasping, and gripping with the forelimbs. The forelimb musculoskeletal anatomy of Dendrolagus differed from terrestrial kangaroos in the following principal ways: a stronger emphasis on the development of muscles groups responsible for adduction, grasping, and gripping the enlargement of muscles that retract the humerus and modified shape of the scapula and bony articulations of the forelimb bones to allow improved mobility. Many of these attributes are convergent with other arboreal marsupials. Tree-kangaroos, however, still retain the characteristic bauplan of their terrestrial ancestors, particularly with regard to skeletal morphology, and the muscular anatomy of the forelimb highlights a basic conservatism within the group. In many instances, the skeletal remains of Bohra have similar features to Dendrolagus that suggest adaptations to an arboreal habit. Despite the irony of their retrieval from deposits of the Nullarbor "Treeless" Plain, forelimb morphology clearly shows that the species of Bohra were well adapted to an arboreal habitat.
A review of the late Cenozoic genus Bohra (Diprotodontia: Macropodidae) and the evolution of tree-kangaroos
Publisher: Magnolia Press
Date: 07-06-2023
DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5299.1.1
Abstract: Tree-kangaroos of the genus Dendrolagus occupy forest habitats of New Guinea and extreme northeastern Australia, but their evolutionary history is poorly known. Descriptions in the 2000s of near-complete Pleistocene skeletons belonging to larger-bodied species in the now-extinct genus Bohra broadened our understanding of morphological variation in the group and have since helped us to identify unassigned fossils in museum collections, as well as to reassign species previously placed in other genera. Here we describe these fossils and analyse tree-kangaroo systematics via comparative osteology. Including B. planei sp. nov., B. bandharr comb. nov. and B. bila comb. nov., we recognise the existence of at least seven late Cenozoic species of Bohra, with a maximum of three in any one assemblage. All tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagina subtribe nov.) exhibit skeletal adaptations reflective of greater joint flexibility and manoeuvrability, particularly in the hindlimb, compared with other macropodids. The Pliocene species of Bohra retained the stepped calcaneocuboid articulation characteristic of ground-dwelling macropodids, but this became smoothed to allow greater hindfoot rotation in the later species of Bohra and in Dendrolagus. Tree-kangaroo ersification may have been tied to the expansion of forest habitats in the early Pliocene. Following the onset of late Pliocene aridity, some tree-kangaroo species took advantage of the consequent spread of more open habitats, becoming among the largest late Cenozoic tree-dwellers on the continent. Arboreal Old World primates and late Quaternary lemurs may be the closest ecological analogues to the species of Bohra.
Description of the Pliocene marsupial Ambulator keanei gen. nov. (Marsupialia: Diprotodontidae) from inland Australia and its locomotory adaptations
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 05-2023
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.230211
Abstract: Diprotodontids were the largest marsupials to exist and an integral part of Australian terrestrial ecosystems until the last members of the group became extinct approximately 40 000 years ago. Despite the frequency with which diprotodontid remains are encountered, key aspects of their morphology, systematics, ecology and evolutionary history remain poorly understood. Here we describe new skeletal remains of the Pliocene taxon Zygomaturus keanei from northern South Australia. This is only the third partial skeleton of a late Cenozoic diprotodontid described in the last century, and the first displaying soft tissue structures associated with footpad impressions. Whereas it is difficult to distinguish Z. keanei and the type species of the genus, Z. trilobus , on dental grounds, the marked cranial and postcranial differences suggest that Z. keanei warrants genus-level distinction. Accordingly, we place it in the monotypic Ambulator gen. nov. We, also recognize the late Miocene Z. gilli as a nomen dubium . Features of the forelimb, manus and pes reveal that Ambulator keanei was more graviportal with greater adaptation to quadrupedal walking than earlier diprotodontids. These adaptations may have been driven by a need to travel longer distances to obtain resources as open habitats expanded in the late Pliocene of inland Australia.
Chronology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a L ate P leistocene to mid‐H olocene cave accumulation on K angaroo I sland,
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-05-2013
DOI: 10.1111/BOR.12015
Fossils reveal late Holocene diversity and post-European decline of the terrestrial mammals of the Murray–Darling Depression
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1071/WR16134
Abstract: Context Establishing appropriate faunal baselines is critical for understanding and abating bio ersity declines. However, baselines can be highly reliant on historical records that come from already disturbed ecosystems. This is exemplified in the Murray–Darling Depression bioregion of Australia, where European settlement (and accompanying marked land-management changes and the introduction of many species) triggered rapid declines and losses of native species, often before their documentation. Aims We aim to establish the mammal fauna present when Europeans settled the Murray Mallee and Murray–Darling Depression bioregion and determine the extent of mammal loss since European settlement. Methods We describe a dated vertebrate assemblage from Light’s Roost in the lower Murray Mallee region of South Australia. We compare our data with those of modern fauna surveys and historical records to document the extent of change in the mammal fauna since European settlement. Key results Radiocarbon ages showed that the assemblage was accumulating, at a minimum, within an interval from 1900 to 1300 years ago. Since this time, the Murray–Darling Depression has lost half of its flightless terrestrial mammals. Species lost include the mulgara (Dasycercus blythi/cristicauda), which places this taxon within only 40km of Lake Alexandrina, the hitherto-disputed type locality for D. cristicauda. Fossils provided the principal evidence for nearly half of the Murray Mallee fauna and over three-quarters of the fauna are represented in the fossil record. Conclusions Late Holocene assemblages provide important archives of species biogeography and ersity. Our revised faunal baseline indicated that the pre-European fauna of the Murray–Darling Depression was more erse than hitherto understood and its reduction appears largely caused by the impacts of European settlement. Implications Baselines for species distributions derived from historical records and modern faunal surveys are likely to be incomplete and warrant revision, particularly for smaller and more cryptic species. Deficiencies in regional records mask the extent of mammal declines caused by European colonisation and associated agricultural practices, and thus vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance.
Re-evaluating the evidence for late-surviving megafauna at Nombe rockshelter in the New Guinea highlands
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-09-2022
DOI: 10.1002/ARCO.5274
Abstract: The causes of the Late Pleistocene extinction of most larger‐bodied animals on the Australian continent have long been controversial. This is due, in no small part, to inadequate knowledge of exactly when these species were lost from different ecosystems. The Nombe rockshelter in the highlands of Papua New Guinea is one of very few sites on Sahul with as‐yet‐unrefuted evidence for the survival of megafaunal species until more recently than 40 thousand years (ka) ago. However, our understanding of the age of this site has been based on radiocarbon dating. Here we present new U–Th ages on large marsupial specimens from the deposit and identify a range of postcranial elements to species that include the diprotodontid Hulitherium tomasettii , kangaroo Protemnodon tumbuna and thylacine Thylacinus cynocephalus . Direct U–Th ages of 27–22 ka ago on faunal remains of Protemnodon tumbuna and another large unidentified macropodid are consistent with the existing radiocarbon chronology, yet are minimum ages due to the potential for post‐depositional uptake of 238 U and stratigraphic reworking. Pollen analyses indicate perhumid, montane forests dominated by Nothofagus persisted, with minimal human disturbance from at least c.26–20 ka ago up to the terminal Pleistocene. Collagen fingerprinting (ZooMS) demonstrates the potential of protein‐based identification of megafaunal remains at Nombe in the future. This study leaves open the possibility of extended coexistence between some megafaunal species in the montane rainforests of New Guinea and intermittently visiting groups of people, and underscores the need for further investigation of the Nombe deposit. Although preliminary, these findings reinforce the view that debates regarding megafaunal extinctions on Sahul require a greater appreciation of species‐specific temporalities and the degrees of human impact on erse habitats across the continent.
Single-grain TT-OSL bleaching characteristics: Insights from modern analogues and OSL dating comparisons
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
A comprehensive database of quality-rated fossil ages for Sahul’s Quaternary vertebrates
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-07-2016
Abstract: The study of palaeo-chronologies using fossil data provides evidence for past ecological and evolutionary processes, and is therefore useful for predicting patterns and impacts of future environmental change. However, the robustness of inferences made from fossil ages relies heavily on both the quantity and quality of available data. We compiled Quaternary non-human vertebrate fossil ages from Sahul published up to 2013. This, the FosSahul database, includes 9,302 fossil records from 363 deposits, for a total of 478 species within 215 genera, of which 27 are from extinct and extant megafaunal species (2,559 records). We also provide a rating of reliability of in idual absolute age based on the dating protocols and association between the dated materials and the fossil remains. Our proposed rating system identified 2,422 records with high-quality ages (i.e., a reduction of 74%). There are many applications of the database, including disentangling the confounding influences of hypothetical extinction drivers, better spatial distribution estimates of species relative to palaeo-climates, and potentially identifying new areas for fossil discovery.
A new Pleistocene tree-kangaroo (Diprotodontia: Macropodidae) from the Nullarbor Plain of south-central Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-06-2008
Archaeology and Australian Megafauna
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 05-10-2001
Timing and dynamics of Late Pleistocene mammal extinctions in southwestern Australia
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 02-12-2010
Abstract: Explaining the Late Pleistocene demise of many of the world's larger terrestrial vertebrates is arguably the most enduring and debated topic in Quaternary science. Australia lost % of its larger species by around 40 thousand years (ka) ago, but the relative importance of human impacts and increased aridity remains unclear. Resolving the debate has been h ered by a lack of sites spanning the last glacial cycle. Here we report on an exceptional faunal succession from Tight Entrance Cave, southwestern Australia, which shows persistence of a erse mammal community for at least 100 ka leading up to the earliest regional evidence of humans at 49 ka. Within 10 millennia, all larger mammals except the gray kangaroo and thylacine are lost from the regional record. Stable-isotope, charcoal, and small-mammal records reveal evidence of environmental change from 70 ka, but the extinctions occurred well in advance of the most extreme climatic phase. We conclude that the arrival of humans was probably decisive in the southwestern Australian extinctions, but that changes in climate and fire activity may have played facilitating roles. One-factor explanations for the Pleistocene extinctions in Australia are likely oversimplistic.
Application of sedimentary and chronological analyses to refine the depositional context of a Late Pleistocene vertebrate deposit, Naracoorte, South Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2011
The anterior nasal region in the Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus) suggests adaptation for thermoregulation and water conservation
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-07-2017
DOI: 10.1111/JZO.12492
The role of inhibitory dynamics in the loss and reemergence of macropodoid tooth traits
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-02-2016
DOI: 10.1111/EVO.12866
Abstract: The reversibility of phenotypic evolution is likely to be strongly influenced by the ability of underlying developmental systems to generate ancestral traits. However, few studies have quantitatively linked these developmental dynamics to traits that reevolve. In this study, we assess how changes in the inhibitory cascade, a developmental system that regulates relative tooth size in mammals, influenced the loss and reversals of the posthypocristid, a molar tooth crest, in the kangaroo superfamily Macropodoidea. We find that posthypocristid loss is linked with reduced levels of posterior molar inhibition, potentially driven by selection for lophodont, higher-crowned molar teeth. There is strong support for two posthypocristid reversals, each occurring after more than 15 million years of absence, in large-bodied species of Macropus, and two giant extinct species of short-faced sthenurine kangaroo (Procoptodon). We find that whereas primitive posthypocristid expression is linked to higher levels of posterior molar inhibition, reemergence is tied to a relative increase in third molar size associated with increasing body mass, producing molar phenotypes similar to those in mouse where the ectodysplasin pathway is upregulated. We argue that although shifts in the inhibitory cascade may enable reemergence, dietary ecology may limit the frequency of phylogenetic reversal.
A new species of Mukupirna (Diprotodontia, Mukupirnidae) from the Oligocene of Central Australia sheds light on basal vombatoid interrelationships
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 19-03-2023
What caused extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna of Sahul?
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 10-02-2016
Abstract: During the Pleistocene, Australia and New Guinea supported a rich assemblage of large vertebrates. Why these animals disappeared has been debated for more than a century and remains controversial. Previous synthetic reviews of this problem have typically focused heavily on particular types of evidence, such as the dating of extinction and human arrival, and have frequently ignored uncertainties and biases that can lead to misinterpretation of this evidence. Here, we review erse evidence bearing on this issue and conclude that, although many knowledge gaps remain, multiple independent lines of evidence point to direct human impact as the most likely cause of extinction.
Mammalian responses to Pleistocene climate change in Southeastern Australia
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Date: 2007
DOI: 10.1130/G23070A.1
Three terrestrial Pleistocene coucals (Centropus: Cuculidae) from southern Australia: biogeographical and ecological significance
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-07-2016
DOI: 10.1111/ZOJ.12387
A new species of lapwing (Charadriidae: Vanellus) from the late Pliocene of central Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 07-05-2018
Re-evaluating the Late Quaternary fossil mammal assemblage of Seton Rockshelter, Kangaroo Island, South Australia, including the evidence for late-surviving megafauna
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2015
DOI: 10.1002/JQS.2789
Taxonomic review of the late Cenozoic megapodes (Galliformes: Megapodiidae) of Australia
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 06-2017
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.170233
Abstract: Megapodes are unusual galliform birds that use passive heat sources to incubate their eggs. Evolutionary relationships of extant megapode taxa have become clearer with the advent of molecular analyses, but the systematics of large, extinct forms ( Progura gallinacea , Progura naracoortensis ) from the late Cenozoic of Australia has been a source of confusion. It was recently suggested that the two species of Progura were synonymous, and that this taxon dwarfed into the extant malleefowl Leipoa ocellata in the Late Pleistocene. Here, we review previously described fossils along with newly discovered material from several localities, and present a substantial taxonomic revision. We show that P. gallinacea and P. naracoortensis are generically distinct, describe two new species of megapode from the Thylacoleo Caves of south-central Australia, and a new genus from Curramulka Quarry in southern Australia. We also show that L. ocellata was contemporaneous with larger species. Our phylogenetic analysis places four extinct taxa in a derived clade with the extant Australo-Papuan brush-turkeys Talegalla fuscirostris , L. ocellata , Alectura lathami and Aepypodius bruijnii . Therefore, ersity of brush-turkeys halved during the Quaternary, matching extinction rates of scrubfowl in the Pacific. Unlike extant brush-turkeys, all the extinct taxa appear to have been burrow-nesters.
Cultural innovation and megafauna interaction in the early settlement of arid Australia
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2016
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE20125
Abstract: Elucidating the material culture of early people in arid Australia and the nature of their environmental interactions is essential for understanding the adaptability of populations and the potential causes of megafaunal extinctions 50-40 thousand years ago (ka). Humans colonized the continent by 50 ka, but an apparent lack of cultural innovations compared to people in Europe and Africa has been deemed a barrier to early settlement in the extensive arid zone. Here we present evidence from Warratyi rock shelter in the southern interior that shows that humans occupied arid Australia by around 49 ka, 10 thousand years (kyr) earlier than previously reported. The site preserves the only reliably dated, stratified evidence of extinct Australian megafauna, including the giant marsupial Diprotodon optatum, alongside artefacts more than 46 kyr old. We also report on the earliest-known use of ochre in Australia and Southeast Asia (at or before 49-46 ka), gypsum pigment (40-33 ka), bone tools (40-38 ka), hafted tools (38-35 ka), and backed artefacts (30-24 ka), each up to 10 kyr older than any other known occurrence. Thus, our evidence shows that people not only settled in the arid interior within a few millennia of entering the continent, but also developed key technologies much earlier than previously recorded for Australia and Southeast Asia.
Incorporating intraspecific variation into dental microwear texture analysis
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 03-04-2019
Abstract: Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) quantifies microscopic scar or wear patterns left on teeth by different foods or extraneous ingested items such as grit. It can be a powerful tool for deducing the diets of extinct mammals. Here we investigate how intraspecific variation in the dental microwear of macropodids (kangaroos and their close relatives) can be used to maximize the dietary signal inferable from an inherently limited fossil record. We demonstrate significant intraspecific variation for every factor considered here for both scale-sensitive fractal analysis and International Organization for Standardization surface texture analysis variables. Intraspecific factors were then incorporated into interspecific (dietary) analyses through the use of Linear Mixed Effects modelling, incorporating Akaike's Information Criterion to compare models, and testing models through independent cross-validation. This revealed that for each DMTA variable only a small number of intraspecific factors need to be included to improve differentiation between species. Including specimen as a random factor accounted for stochastic inter-in idual variation, and facet , incorporated effects of s ling location. Intraspecific effects of ecoregion, microscope, tooth position and wear were often but not universally important. We conclude that models of microwear data that include intraspecific variation can improve the resolution of dietary reconstructions.
Cranial adaptations of the Night Parrot (Psittaculidae: Pezoporus occidentalis), a cryptic nocturnal bird
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-03-2023
Empirical tests of harvest-induced body-size evolution along a geographic gradient in Australian macropods
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-08-2015
Criteria for assessing the quality of Middle Pleistocene to Holocene vertebrate fossil ages
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2015
Insights into the pre-European mammalian fauna of the southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1071/AM17035
Abstract: Many Australian mammal species have suffered significant declines since European colonisation. During the first century of settlement, information on species distribution was rarely recorded. However, fossil accumulations can assist the reconstruction of historical distributions. We examine a fossil vertebrate assemblage from Mair’s Cave, one of few known from the southern Flinders Ranges, South Australia. The Mair’s Cave assemblage was dominated by mammals but also included birds and reptiles. Of the 18 mammals recovered, two have not previously been recorded from the southern Flinders Ranges, at least one is extinct and seven are recognised as threatened nationally. Characteristics of the assemblage suggest that it was accumulated by a Tyto owl species. Remains of Tyto delicatula and a larger unidentified owl were recovered from the assemblage. Most mammals identified from the assemblage presently occupy Australia’s semiarid zone, but a single specimen of the broad-toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus), which primarily occurs in high-moisture, low-temperature environments was also recovered. This suggests either that the southern Flinders Ranges once experienced higher past precipitation, or that M. fuscus can tolerate a broader climatic range than its current distribution suggests. Our study contributes new knowledge on the biogeography and ecology of several mammal species, data useful for helping to refine restoration targets.
A giant armoured skink from Australia expands lizard morphospace and the scope of the Pleistocene extinctions
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 14-06-2023
Abstract: There are more species of lizards and snakes (squamates) alive today than any other order of land vertebrates, yet their fossil record has been poorly documented compared with other groups. Here, we describe a gigantic Pleistocene skink from Australia based on extensive material that includes much of the skull and postcranial skeleton, and spans ontogenetic stages from neonate to adult. Tiliqua frangens substantially expands the known ecomorphological ersity of squamates. At approximately 2.4 kg, it was more than double the mass of any living skink, with an exceptionally broad, deep skull, squat limbs and heavy, ornamented body armour. It probably filled the armoured herbivore niche that land tortoises (testudinids), absent from Australia, occupy on other continents. Tiliqua frangens and other giant Plio-Pleistocene skinks suggest that small-bodied groups that dominate vertebrate bio ersity might have lost their largest and often most morphologically extreme representatives in the Late Pleistocene, expanding the scope of these extinctions.
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