Biogeography and evolution of Australia's fossil reptiles: A global perspective. Large marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, and missing links such as legged snakes, are spectacular animals that have captured public attention. This collaboration will directly enhance public museum displays by collecting and preparing these spectacular fossils; many of the fossils found by the CIs are now centerpieces of museum displays (e.g. the SA museum). Also, it will also promote awareness and sustainable u ....Biogeography and evolution of Australia's fossil reptiles: A global perspective. Large marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, and missing links such as legged snakes, are spectacular animals that have captured public attention. This collaboration will directly enhance public museum displays by collecting and preparing these spectacular fossils; many of the fossils found by the CIs are now centerpieces of museum displays (e.g. the SA museum). Also, it will also promote awareness and sustainable use of the environment: it will facilitate CI Kear in running earthwatch-style ecotourism field trips which promote sustainable use of finite fossil resources by making them commercially valuable to local communities as a source of tourism revenue.Read moreRead less
Origin of jaws - the greatest unsolved mystery of early vertebrate evolution. The 2008 discovery of an unborn embryo in the 380 million-year-old "Mother Fish" from the famous Gogo fossil deposit in NW Australia has attracted a collaboration of Australian, American and Chinese scientists to a new international collaboration. The team will study spectacular new fossils from central Australia and southern China, the oldest known back-boned animals with jaws and a hard skeleton. Innovative 3D X-ray ....Origin of jaws - the greatest unsolved mystery of early vertebrate evolution. The 2008 discovery of an unborn embryo in the 380 million-year-old "Mother Fish" from the famous Gogo fossil deposit in NW Australia has attracted a collaboration of Australian, American and Chinese scientists to a new international collaboration. The team will study spectacular new fossils from central Australia and southern China, the oldest known back-boned animals with jaws and a hard skeleton. Innovative 3D X-ray computer tomography, and the Australian synchrotron, will be used to investigate ancient cells and preserved soft tissue structures, to search for evidence that copulation and internal fertilization, as in modern mammals, might have originated when jaws first evolved. Read moreRead less
The Cambrian Population Explosion of Arthropods in Australia: Ediacaran origins, evolution and biodiversity. This project addresses key questions on the origin and diversification of life, by investigating the evolution of the most important fossil group (arthropods) across arguably the most important event after the origin of life (the Cambrian explosion of macroscopic life). It will also excavate, promote and conserve two key geological resources of national importance, in the Flinders Ranges ....The Cambrian Population Explosion of Arthropods in Australia: Ediacaran origins, evolution and biodiversity. This project addresses key questions on the origin and diversification of life, by investigating the evolution of the most important fossil group (arthropods) across arguably the most important event after the origin of life (the Cambrian explosion of macroscopic life). It will also excavate, promote and conserve two key geological resources of national importance, in the Flinders Ranges and Kangaroo Island. Also, it will lead to increased knowledge of the palaeoecology and geology of the economically-important Adelaide geosyncline, and benefit rural SA communities through ecotourism, a rural schools education program, and public outreach.Read moreRead less
Australian fossil marine reptiles: a research and regional museum program. Australian Mesozoic marine reptile fossils are common but poorly studied. Two of the most productive localities - Richmond QLD, Coober Pedy SA - are internationally important, spanning a poorly known stratigraphic interval of marine reptile evolution and representing a high-latitude geographic region subject to near freezing conditions. Such preservation occurs nowhere else and provides a unique opportunity for anatomical ....Australian fossil marine reptiles: a research and regional museum program. Australian Mesozoic marine reptile fossils are common but poorly studied. Two of the most productive localities - Richmond QLD, Coober Pedy SA - are internationally important, spanning a poorly known stratigraphic interval of marine reptile evolution and representing a high-latitude geographic region subject to near freezing conditions. Such preservation occurs nowhere else and provides a unique opportunity for anatomical, systematic and palaeobiological investigations. Such research benefits local communities because it forms the basis for regional museum displays, generates long-term tourism revenue, and encourages geological resources to be viewed as valuable natural assets to be responsibly managed for the future.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101222
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$392,132.00
Summary
Australia's key role in the evolution of songbirds. This project aims to provide novel insights into the evolutionary history of songbirds, which originated in Australia and now make up over half of the world's birds. The project will combine fossil, morphological, and genomic data to describe early songbird diversity in Australia, reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of fossil species, estimate the timescale of their diversification, and resolve the timing and nature of key evolutionary c ....Australia's key role in the evolution of songbirds. This project aims to provide novel insights into the evolutionary history of songbirds, which originated in Australia and now make up over half of the world's birds. The project will combine fossil, morphological, and genomic data to describe early songbird diversity in Australia, reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of fossil species, estimate the timescale of their diversification, and resolve the timing and nature of key evolutionary changes in songbirds. The project is expected to produce critical new fossil evidence and to strengthen international and multidisciplinary collaborations. Expected outcomes include significant advances in our understanding of a major component of the Australian and global fauna.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101133
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Evolution, breeding biology and extinction of giant fowl in Australia and the Southwest Pacific. New investigation of the extinct giant flightless Australian mihirungs and similar giant fowl of Oceania by analysis of fossils will reveal their relationships and resolve the evolutionary history of fowl globally. This project will provide insight into breeding strategies of these fossil species and the causes and impacts of their extinction.