Drying and dying in Australia: extraordinary creatures and climate change 15 million years ago. Australia's globally distinctive mammals were confronted 15 million years ago by a climate plunge from lush greenhouse to dry icehouse conditions. In northern Queensland, in the World Heritage-listed cave known as AL90, fossil-rich deposits span this interval of change. Entombed are dozens of extraordinarily well-preserved skulls and articulated skeletons including a growth series from pouch-young to ....Drying and dying in Australia: extraordinary creatures and climate change 15 million years ago. Australia's globally distinctive mammals were confronted 15 million years ago by a climate plunge from lush greenhouse to dry icehouse conditions. In northern Queensland, in the World Heritage-listed cave known as AL90, fossil-rich deposits span this interval of change. Entombed are dozens of extraordinarily well-preserved skulls and articulated skeletons including a growth series from pouch-young to adults of a rare, possibly sloth-like marsupial as well as more familiar kangaroos, thylacines and bats. Our fossil research will help align Australian records of biotic change with global palaeoclimatic events and provide a benchmark for measuring the nature and rate of environmental and biotic change that continues to transform our nation.Read moreRead less
Understanding mass extinctions and deep-time climate change: International Timescale Calibration of the Late Permian-Early Triassic of Australia. The project will enhance Australia's research strength as world leaders in isotope geochronology, geological timescale calibration, and global biological evolution studies, and will expand knowledge and provide a long overdue robust chronostratigraphic framework for a critical part of Earth's history that is a particular focus for energy resources in A ....Understanding mass extinctions and deep-time climate change: International Timescale Calibration of the Late Permian-Early Triassic of Australia. The project will enhance Australia's research strength as world leaders in isotope geochronology, geological timescale calibration, and global biological evolution studies, and will expand knowledge and provide a long overdue robust chronostratigraphic framework for a critical part of Earth's history that is a particular focus for energy resources in Australia. Our work will provide vital input to enhanced models for deep-time biotic turnover, climate change and global warming that will aid prediction of modern global atmospheric and climate changes due to human impact and provide vital data and information for Australian policy makers.Read moreRead less
Time frame for the evolution of Australia's extraordinary mammals. This Project will refine a national biostratigraphic framework integrating growing understanding about the history of Australia's unique mammals, climate change and geological events. Increasing precision in correlating Australia's phylogenetic, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatological events will clarify how these act synergistically to change environments and biodiversity. Increased precision in the biostratigraphic framework ....Time frame for the evolution of Australia's extraordinary mammals. This Project will refine a national biostratigraphic framework integrating growing understanding about the history of Australia's unique mammals, climate change and geological events. Increasing precision in correlating Australia's phylogenetic, palaeoecological and palaeoclimatological events will clarify how these act synergistically to change environments and biodiversity. Increased precision in the biostratigraphic framework will also serve evolutionary genetics which needs age data to calculate molecular rates of divergence, economic geologists needing to know the age of Cainozoic sediments, biologists trying to understand the origins and nature of biodiversity and conservationists using divergence dates and relative branch lengths to help determine conservation priorities. Read moreRead less
Unlocking archives of faunal dispersal and extinction: the key to reconstructing palaeoenvironmental change in Southeast Asia. The influence of environmental change on faunal populations is a pressing issue for Australian communities in environmentally sensitive areas. This will be addressed by documenting how fauna (and humans) in Southeast Asia, our nearest neighbours, responded to environmental challenges. Revealing when humans dispersed through the region and how they adapted will contribute ....Unlocking archives of faunal dispersal and extinction: the key to reconstructing palaeoenvironmental change in Southeast Asia. The influence of environmental change on faunal populations is a pressing issue for Australian communities in environmentally sensitive areas. This will be addressed by documenting how fauna (and humans) in Southeast Asia, our nearest neighbours, responded to environmental challenges. Revealing when humans dispersed through the region and how they adapted will contribute to our understanding of the cultural heritage of Australia's indigenous settlers. This project will develop established Indonesian collaborations, encourage new collaborations with Chinese, Thai, English and Dutch researchers to promote Australian research on a world stage, and pioneer new dating methodologies to enhance Australia's place at the forefront of geochronology.Read moreRead less