ORCID Profile
0000-0003-1734-4742
Current Organisation
Western Australian Museum
Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the Feedback Form.
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)
Environmental Science and Management | Conservation and Biodiversity | Evolutionary Impacts of Climate Change | Evolutionary Biology | Archaeological Science | Population, Ecological and Evolutionary Genetics | Forensic Biology
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity at Regional or Larger Scales | Sparseland, Permanent Grassland and Arid Zone Land and Water Management | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Understanding Australia's Past | Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences | Criminal Justice |
Related Links
Publications
Mammal predation by an ariid catfish in a dryland river of Western Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Mechanical similarity across ontogeny of digging muscles in an Australian marsupial (Isoodon fusciventer)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2019
DOI: 10.1002/JMOR.20954
Abstract: Many mammals dig, either during foraging to access subsurface food resources, or in creating burrows for shelter. Digging requires large forces produced by muscles and transmitted to the soil via the skeletal system thus fossorial mammals tend to have characteristic modifications of the musculoskeletal system that reflect their digging ability. Bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelidae) scratch-dig mainly to source food, searching for subterranean food items including invertebrates, seeds, and fungi. They have musculoskeletal features for digging, including shortened, robust forelimb bones, large muscles, and enlarged muscle attachment areas. Here, we compared changes in the ontogenetic development of muscles associated with digging in the Quenda (Isoodon fusciventer). We measured muscle mass (m
A review of the Pliocene bandicoots of Australia, and descriptions of new genus and species
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-09-2017
An exceptionally well-preserved short-snouted bandicoot (Marsupialia; Peramelemorphia) from Riversleigh's Oligo-Miocene deposits, northwestern Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2010
Multivariate analyses of Cenozoic mammalian faunas from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2006
Species identification of Australian marsupials using collagen fingerprinting
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 10-2021
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.211229
Abstract: The study of faunal remains from archaeological sites is often complicated by the presence of large numbers of highly fragmented, morphologically unidentifiable bones. In Australia, this is the combined result of harsh preservation conditions and frequent scavenging by marsupial carnivores. The collagen fingerprinting method known as zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) offers a means to address these challenges and improve identification rates of fragmented bones. Here, we present novel ZooMS peptide markers for 24 extant marsupial and monotreme species that allow for genus-level distinctions between these species. We demonstrate the utility of these new peptide markers by using them to taxonomically identify bone fragments from a nineteenth-century colonial-era pearlshell fishery at Bandicoot Bay, Barrow Island. The suite of peptide biomarkers presented in this study, which focus on a range of ecologically and culturally important species, have the potential to significantly lify the zooarchaeological and paleontological record of Australia.
Extending dental mesowear analyses to Australian marsupials, with applications to six Plio-Pleistocene kangaroos from southeast Queensland
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2014
Mammalian lineages and the biostratigraphy and biochronology of Cenozoic faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia
Publisher: Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1111/LET.12131
The genus Galadi: Three new bandicoots (Marsupialia, Peramelemorphia) from Riversleighs Miocene deposits, northwestern Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2013
Early to middle Miocene monsoon climate in Australia: Comment
Publisher: Geological Society of America
Date: 22-05-0044
DOI: 10.1130/G32600C.1
Using cenograms to investigate gaps in mammalian body mass distributions in Australian mammals
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2009
Global elongation and high shape flexibility as an evolutionary hypothesis of accommodating mammalian brains into skulls
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-02-2021
DOI: 10.1111/EVO.14163
Interim report on the vertebrate deposits recovered from the Capricorn Caves, Rockhampton, Queensland
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 29-01-2023
First fossil record of Perameles fasciata from New South Wales and Queensland: reassessment of Perameles sobbei
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 06-03-2023
The use of protected natural areas in palaeoecological analyses: assumptions, limitations and application
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2009
The Osteology and Systematics of the Enigmatic Australian Oligo-Miocene Metatherian Yalkaparidon (Yalkaparidontidae; Yalkaparidontia;?Australidelphia; Marsupialia)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-09-2014
Late Quaternary fossil vertebrates of the Broken River karst area, northern Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Australian Museum
Date: 25-11-2020
Ganguroo robustiter, sp. Nov. (Macropodoidea, Marsupialia), a middle to early late Miocene basal macropodid from Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-06-2015
A new species of the basal kangaroo Balbaroo and a re-evaluation of stem macropodiform interrelationships
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 19-11-2014
Correction to ‘Oldest fossil remains of the enigmatic pig-footed bandicoot show rapid herbivorous evolution’
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-2016
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.160778
The use of MSR (Minimum Sample Richness) for sample assemblage comparisons
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 2011
DOI: 10.1666/09050.1
Abstract: Minimum S le Richness (MSR) is defined as the smallest number of taxa that must be recorded in a s le to achieve a given level of inter-assemblage classification accuracy. MSR is calculated from known or estimated richness and taxonomic similarity. Here we test MSR for strengths and weaknesses by using 167 published mammalian local faunas from the Paleogene and early Neogene of the Quercy and Limagne area (Massif Central, southwestern France), and then apply MSR to 84 Oligo-Miocene faunas from Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia. In many cases, MSR is able to detect the assemblages in the data set that are potentially too incomplete to be used in a similarity-based comparative taxonomic analysis. The results show that the use of MSR significantly improves the quality of the clustering of fossil assemblages. We conclude that this method can screen s le assemblages that are not representative of their underlying original living communities. Ultimately, it can be used to identify which assemblages require further s ling before being included in a comparative analysis.
Linking life history to landscape for threatened species conservation in a multiuse region.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.13989
Abstract: Landscape-scale conservation that considers metapopulation dynamics will be essential for preventing declines of species facing multiple threats to their survival. Toward this end, we developed a novel approach that combines occurrence records, spatial-environmental data, and genetic information to model habitat, connectivity, and patterns of genetic structure and link spatial attributes to underlying ecological mechanisms. Using the threatened northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) as a case study, we applied this approach to address the need for conservation decision-making tools that promote resilient metapopulations of this threatened species in the Pilbara, Western Australia, a multiuse landscape that is a hotspot for bio ersity and mining. Habitat and connectivity were predicted by different landscape characteristics. Whereas habitat suitability was overwhelmingly driven by terrain ruggedness, dispersal was facilitated by proximity to watercourses. Although there is limited evidence for major physical barriers in the Pilbara, areas with high silt and clay content (i.e., alluvial and hardpan plains) showed high resistance to dispersal. Climate subtlety shaped distributions and patterns of genetic turnover, suggesting the potential for local adaptation. By understanding these spatial-environmental associations and linking them to life-history and metapopulation dynamics, we highlight opportunities to provide targeted species management. To support this, we have created habitat, connectivity, and genetic uniqueness maps for conservation decision-making in the region. These tools have the potential to provide a more holistic approach to conservation in multiuse landscapes globally.
Sexually Dimorphic Bandicoots (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) From the Oligo-Miocene of Australia, First Cranial Ontogeny for Fossil Bandicoots and New Species Descriptions
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-09-2015
Large mammal species richness and late Quaternary precipitation change in south-western Australia
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-07-2017
DOI: 10.1002/JQS.2888
Three new Miocene species of musky rat-kangaroos (Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodoidea): Description, phylogenetics and paleoecology
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2014
All-a-glow: spectral characteristics confirm widespread fluorescence for mammals
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 10-2023
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.230325
Earliest modern bandicoot and bilby (Marsupialia, Peramelidae and Thylacomyidae) from the Miocene of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-2014
Covariation between forelimb muscle anatomy and bone shape in an Australian scratch‐digging marsupial: Comparison of morphometric methods
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-10-2019
DOI: 10.1002/JMOR.21074
Abstract: The close association between muscle and bone is broadly intuitive however, details of the covariation between the two has not been comprehensively studied. Without quantitative understanding of how muscle anatomy influences bone shape, it is difficult to draw conclusions of the significance of many morphological traits of the skeleton. In this study, we investigated these relationships in the Quenda (Isoodon fusciventer), a scratch-digging marsupial. We quantified the relationships between forelimb muscle anatomy and bone shape for animals representing a range of body masses (124-1,952 g) using two-block partial least square analyses. Muscle anatomy was quantified as muscle mass and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA), and we used two morphometric methods to characterize bone shape: seven indices of linear bone proportions, and landmarks analysis. Bone shape was significantly correlated with body mass, reflecting allometric bone growth. Of the seven bone indices, only shoulder moment index (SMI) and ulna robustness index (URI) showed a significant covariation with muscle anatomy. Stronger relationships between muscle anatomy and forelimb bone shape were found using the landmark coordinates: muscle mass and PCSA were correlated with the geometric shape of the scapula, humerus, and third metacarpal, but to a lesser extent with shape of the ulna. Overall, our data show that landmark coordinates are more sensitive than bone indices to capturing shape changes evident throughout ontogeny, and is therefore a more appropriate method to investigate covariation with forelimb muscle anatomy. Single-species studies investigating ontogeny require refined methods to accurately develop understanding of the important relationships between muscle force generation and bone shape remodeling. Landmark analyses provide such a method.
The biology and palaeontology of the Peramelemorphia: a review of current knowledge and future research directions
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1071/ZO16003
Abstract: Bandicoots and bilbies (Marsupialia : Peramelemorphia) represent the dominant omnivorous clade of Australasian marsupials and, as ground-dwelling, small- to medium-sized mammals, have not fared well in the 200 years since European settlement. Unlike large or charismatic marsupial species, the cryptic nature of bandicoots and bilbies tends to keep them out of the public eye, at a time when public interest plays a significant role in conservation efforts. The inconspicuous ‘rat-like’ appearance of many bandicoots and a generalist ecological strategy belie a complex biology of adaptive traits and evolutionary ersity. For a few species these biological traits have enabled them to make use of urban environments. In the main, however, peramelemorphians are facing ongoing pressure from introduced predators and human impacts. Basic biological information for many species, particularly those from New Guinea, is still lacking. In this review, we examine advances in the knowledge of the biology of this group over the past 25 years including anatomical, physiological and ecological studies. We also provide a comprehensive review of the fossil records of bandicoots in order to provide an up-to-date platform for future studies. From this work, it is clear that there is still much to be done regarding the taxonomy and biology of these animals before a more detailed understanding of the evolutionary history of this group can be elucidated.
Earliest known record of a hypercarnivorous dasyurid (Marsupialia), from newly discovered carbonates beyond the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, north Queensland
Publisher: Museums Victoria
Date: 2016
Cookeroo, a new genus of fossil kangaroo (Marsupialia, Macropodidae) from the Oligo-Miocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-02-2016
Hiding in plain sight: two new species of diminutive marsupial (Dasyuridae: Planigale) from the Pilbara, Australia
Publisher: Magnolia Press
Date: 14-08-2023
DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.5330.1.1
Abstract: Many of Australia’s smaller marsupial species have been taxonomically described in just the past 50 years, and the Dasyuridae, a speciose family of carnivores, is known to harbour many cryptic taxa. Evidence from molecular studies is being increasingly utilised to help revise species boundaries and focus taxonomic efforts, and research over the past two decades has identified several undescribed genetic lineages within the dasyurid genus Planigale. Here, we describe two new species, Planigale kendricki sp. nov. (formerly known as ‘Planigale 1’) and P. tealei sp. nov. (formerly known as ‘Planigale sp. Mt Tom Price’). The two new species have broadly overlapping distributions in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The new species are genetically distinct from each other and from all other members of the genus, at both mitochondrial and nuclear loci, and morphologically, in both external and craniodental characters. The new species are found in regional sympatry within the Pilbara but occupy different habitat types at local scales. This work makes a start at resolving the cryptic ersity within Planigale at a time when small mammals are continuing to decline throughout Australia.
Palaeoecology of Oligo-Miocene macropodoids determined from craniodental and calcaneal data
Publisher: Museums Victoria
Date: 2016
New material of Gumardee pascuali Flannery et al., 1983 (Marsupialia: Macropodiformes) and two new species from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Museums Victoria
Date: 2016
The Australian Fossil National Species List
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-04-2023
Keeping an ear out: size relationship of the tympanic bullae and pinnae in bandicoots and bilbies (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia)
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-07-2021
DOI: 10.1093/CZ/ZOAB055
Abstract: Bandicoots and bilbies (Order Peramelemorphia) occupy a broad range of habitats across Australia and New Guinea, from open, arid deserts to dense forests. This once erse group has been particularly vulnerable to habitat loss and introduced eutherian predators, and numerous species extinctions and range retractions have occurred. Understanding reasons for this loss requires greater understanding of their biology. Morphology of the pinnae and tympanic bullae varies markedly among species. As hearing is important for both predator avoidance and prey location, the variability in ear morphology could reflect specialization and adaptation to specific environments, and therefore be of conservation relevance. We measured 798 museum specimens representing 29 species of Peramelemorphia. Controlling for phylogenetic relatedness and head length, pinna surface area was weakly negatively correlated with average precipitation (rainfall being our surrogate measure of vegetation productivity/complexity), and there were no environmental correlates with effective diameter (pinna width). Controlling for phylogenetic relatedness and skull length, tympanic bulla volume was negatively correlated with precipitation. Species that inhabited drier habitats, which would be open and allow sound to carry further with less obstruction, had relatively larger pinnae and tympanic bullae. In contrast, species from higher rainfall habitats, where sounds would be attenuated and diffused by dense vegetation, had the smallest pinnae and bullae, suggesting that low-frequency hearing is not as important in these habitats. Associations with temperature did not reach statistical significance. These findings highlight linkages between hearing traits and habitat that can inform conservation and management strategies for threatened species.
Revision of Wabularoo, an early macropodid kangaroo from mid-Cenozoic deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Queensland, Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 21-01-2015
New Guinean bandicoots: new insights into diet, dentition and digestive tract morphology and a dietary review of all extant non-Australian Peramelemorphia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 14-10-2021
DOI: 10.1071/AM21015
Abstract: Little is known about the diets and ecology of New Guinea’s 14 bandicoot species. In order to better understand the diet and digestive morphology of these marsupials, we reviewed the literature, studied the dental morphology, conducted analysis of gastrointestinal contents, and measured the digestive tracts of: Echymipera clara, E. davidi, E. kalubu, E. rufescens, Isoodon macrourus, Microperoryctes ornata, M. papuensis and Peroryctes raffrayana. These species consume a mix of fungi, insects and plant material that is broadly consistent with the omnivorous diet characteristic of most Australian bandicoots however, morphological observations reveal variation between species that likely reflect finer-scale differences in diet. Dental morphology suggests a wider variety of diets (insectivore, omnivore, frugivore) than on the Australian mainland (mostly omnivore). Dissections and measurements of the digestive tract of seven New Guinean species indicate variation linked to diet. The relatively short caecum in all New Guinean species, but especially in E. clara and E. kalubu, is particularly suggestive of limited consumption of fibrous plant material the relative length of the large intestine suggests variable capacity for water reabsorption. Our dietary data also suggest that some of these species also play an important role in the dispersal of hypogeous fungi.
Current status of species-level representation in faunas from selected fossil localities in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2006
Oldest fossil remains of the enigmatic pig-footed bandicoot show rapid herbivorous evolution
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-2016
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.160089
Abstract: The pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus, is one of the most enigmatic Australian marsupials, which went extinct in the late 1950s probably as a result of European colonization. It is unusual in being the only marsupial to have evolved reduction of digits on both fore and hind feet, with the forefeet being pig-like (two toes) and the hind feet being horse-like (one toe). According to molecular phylogenetic analyses, Chaeropus erged from other bandicoots (Peramelidae), and the bilbies (Thylacomyidae) by the mid-Late Oligocene. This is considerably earlier than suggested by the fossil record, with the current oldest specimens being Late Pleistocene in age. Here, I report the oldest fossils of Chaeropus, representing a new species, Chaeropus baynesi from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene (2.47–2.92 Ma) Fisherman's Cliff Local Fauna, Moorna Formation, New South Wales, Australia, and extending the fossil record of the genus and family by at least 2 million years. Chaeropus baynesi is less high crowned than C. ecaudatus and lacks lateral blade development on lower molars, suggesting that it was unlikely to be grazing. This suggests that Chaeropus must have adapted rapidly to the drying conditions and changes in environments, and would have become a grazer in a very short period of time.
Taxonomic review of the genus Dasycercus (Dasyuromorphia: Dasyuridae) using modern and subfossil material; and the description of three new species
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-10-2023
Neotype designation for the Australian Pig-footed Bandicoot Chaeropus ecaudatus Ogilby, 1838
Publisher: Australian Museum
Date: 29-07-2020
Kutjamarcoot brevirostrum gen. et sp. nov., a new short-snouted, early Miocene bandicoot (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) from the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna (Wipajiri Formation) in South Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 16-11-2016
Finding the Minimum Sample Richness (MSR) for multivariate analyses: Implications for palaeoecology
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2007
Introducing the Australian Journal of Taxonomy, a new, fully-online, fully open-access journal for the rapid publication of new Australian species and other taxa
Publisher: Atlas of Living Australia
Date: 11-05-2022
DOI: 10.54102/AJT.QXI3R
Abstract: With this paper we introduce the Australian Journal of Taxonomy and outline its scope, rationale, workflow and governance. The journal is published by Taxonomy Australia, a national collaboration by the Australian taxonomic community. Australian Journal of Taxonomy is one of the world's first fully-online journals. Papers are born-digital and born-online: they are authored on the Australian Journal of Taxonomy online platform, and all subsequent steps (peer-review, editing, copy editing and publication) take place on that platform. At no stage does a paper in Australian Journal of Taxonomy need to exist as a document in a word-processing application. This fully-online processing substantially eases and accelerates workflows, and reduces the costs of production and publishing to a minimum. For these reasons, Australian Journal of Taxonomy is also diamond open access, with no access charges for either authors or readers. Australian Journal of Taxonomy is optimised for the rapid publication of new Australian taxa across all eukaryotic organismal groups (animals, fungi, plants etc.), and is part of the overarching strategy of Taxonomy Australia to substantially accelerate the discovery and taxonomic documentation of Australia's bio ersity.
Palaeoecological analyses of Riversleigh's Oligo-Miocene sites: Implications for Oligo-Miocene climate change in Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2009
The importance of appropriate taxonomy in Australian mammalogy
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 12-10-2022
DOI: 10.1071/AM22016
Abstract: The use of correct taxonomy to describe and name the earth’s bio ersity is fundamental to conservation and management. However, there are issues that need to be overcome to ensure that the described taxa and their scientific names are both appropriate and widely adopted. Obstacles to this include the use of different species definitions, taxonomic instability due to accumulation of additional specimens in analyses and the progression of science that allows better resolution of species boundaries, and the inappropriate description and naming of new taxa without adequate scientific basis in self-published journals (known as ‘taxonomic vandalism’). In an effort to manage taxonomic instability, the Australasian Mammal Taxonomy Consortium (AMTC), an affiliated body of the Australian Mammal Society, has developed several tools that include: (1) a standardised list of Australian mammal common and scientific names (2) recommendations for information that should be included in published species descriptions and (3) support for the publication of aspidonyms (i.e. a scientifically acceptable name proposed to overwrite a pre-existing unscientific name). This review discusses these issues, reaffirms the foundations for appropriate taxonomic research, and provides guidelines for those publishing taxonomic research on Australian mammals.
Species abundance, richness and body size evolution of kangaroos (Marsupialia: Macropodiformes) throughout the Oligo-Miocene of Australia
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Two new species of the genus Gumardee (Marsupialia, Macropodiformes) reveal the repeated evolution of bilophodonty in kangaroos
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2022
Investigating dental variation in Perameles nasuta Geoffroy, 1804, with morphological evidence to raise P. nasuta pallescens Thomas, 1923 to species rank
Publisher: Magnolia Press
Date: 25-05-2016
DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4114.4.1
Abstract: The long-nosed bandicoot, Perameles nasuta Geoffroy, 1804, found on the east coast of Australia, has two subspecies, P. n. nasuta Geoffroy, 1804 and P. n. pallescens Thomas, 1923. Until recently, this distinction has remained untested by either morphological or molecular studies. Based on a recently published but limited molecular study, two publications have recommended that P. pallescens be treated as a species distinct from P. nasuta. Here, the morphological distinction between P. pallescens and P. nasuta is tested by examination of museum specimens from throughout the combined species range, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. No external features and very few cranial features were found to separate the two subspecies. However, dental morphology and measurements are effective at distinguishing two geographically distinct populations while a complex pattern of clinal vs non-clinal trends in cranial size suggest a genetic disjunction that corresponds with the dentally-defined geographic groups. These findings support the raising of P. pallescens to species level. In terms of dental features, P. pallescens was found to be most similar to the fossil P. sobbei. The morphological phylogeny recovered P. pallescens as sister to P. nasuta, when no fossil Perameles taxa were included, probably as a result of little cranial differentiation between them. When fossil Perameles were included, the relationships between species of Perameles were unresolved, probably as a result of P. sobbei lacking cranial remains.
Biogeographical implications of a new mouse-sized fossil bandicoot (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia) occupying a dasyurid-like ecological niche across Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 22-05-2014
Global elongation and high shape flexibility as an evolutionary hypothesis of accommodating mammalian brains into skulls
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 07-12-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.06.410928
Abstract: Little is known about how the large brains of mammals are accommodated into the dazzling ersity of their skulls. It has been suggested that brain shape is influenced by relative brain size, that it evolves or develops according to extrinsic or intrinsic mechanical constraints, and that its shape can provide insights into its proportions and function. Here, we characterise the shape variation among 84 marsupial cranial endocasts of 57 species including fossils, using 3D geometric morphometrics and virtual dissections. Statistical shape analysis revealed four main patterns: over half of endocast shape variation ranges between elongate and straight to globular and inclined little allometric variation with respect to centroid size, and none for relative volume no association between locomotion and endocast shape limited association between endocast shape and previously published histological cortex volumes. Fossil species tend to have smaller cerebral hemispheres. We find ergent endocast shapes in closely related species and within species, and erse morphologies superimposed over the main variation. An evolutionarily and in idually malleable brain with a fundamental tendency to arrange into a spectrum of elongate-to-globular shapes – possibly mostly independent of brain function - may explain the accommodation of brains within the enormous ersity of mammalian skull form.
Total evidence analysis of the phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies (Marsupialia: Peramelemorphia): Reassessment of two species and description of a new species
Publisher: Magnolia Press
Date: 07-02-2018
DOI: 10.11646/ZOOTAXA.4378.2.3
Abstract: The phylogenetic relationships of bandicoots and bilbies have been somewhat problematic, with conflicting results between morphological work and molecular data. This conflict makes it difficult to assess the taxonomic status of species and subspecies within this order, and also prevents accurate evolutionary assessments. Here, we present a new total evidence analysis, combining the latest cranio-dental morphological matrix containing both modern and fossil taxa, with molecular data from GenBank. Several subspecies were scored in the morphological dataset to match the molecular data available. Both parsimony and Bayesian analyses were performed, giving similar topologies except for the position of four fossil taxa. Total evidence dating places the peramelemorphian crown origin close to the Oligocene/Miocene boundary, and the radiations of most modern genera beginning in the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene. Our results show that some species and subspecies require taxonomic reassessment, and are revised here. We also describe a new, extinct species from the Nullarbor region. This suggests that the number of recently extinct peramelemorphian species is likely to further increase.
Australian time traveller: papers in honour of Mike Archer
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-04-2023
Vertebrate palaeontology of Australasia into the twenty-first century.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 29-06-2011
Abstract: The 13th Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution Palaeontology and Systematics (CAVEPS) took place in Perth, Western Australia, from 27 to 30 April 2011. This biennial meeting was jointly hosted by Curtin University, the Western Australian Museum, Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia. Researchers from erse disciplines addressed many aspects of vertebrate evolution, including functional morphology, phylogeny, ecology and extinctions. New additions to the fossil record were reported, especially from hitherto under-represented ages and clades. Yet, application of new techniques in palaeobiological analyses dominated, such as dental microwear and geochronology, and technological advances, including computed tomography and ancient biomolecules. This signals a shift towards increased emphasis in interpreting broader evolutionary patterns and processes. Nonetheless, further field exploration for new fossils and systematic descriptions will continue to shape our understanding of vertebrate evolution in this little-studied, but most unusual, part of the globe.
Review of the methods used for calculating physiological cross‐sectional area (PCSA) for ecological questions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-05-2020
DOI: 10.1002/JMOR.21139
Upper Oligocene–lower-Middle Miocene peramelemorphians from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations of South Australia
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-01-2021
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
Linkage Projects - Grant ID: LP170100061
Start Date: 10-2018
End Date: 06-2022
Amount: $356,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100115
Start Date: 2013
End Date: 12-2013
Amount: $180,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded ActivityLinkage Projects - Grant ID: LP180100315
Start Date: 05-2019
End Date: 12-2023
Amount: $460,000.00
Funder: Australian Research Council
View Funded Activity