The first Mesozoic fossiliferous amber from Southern Gondwana: an ancient portal into an Australian polar greenhouse. The May 2011 discovery of the oldest fossiliferous amber deposit from Australia, and all of Southern Gondwana, provides a unique opportunity to study the only recorded terrestrial biotas of this age on the continent. Employing new imaging techniques (MicroXCT-400, X-ray ultramicroscope and Synchrotron radiation), the new fossils dated as 90 million years old will be extracted vir ....The first Mesozoic fossiliferous amber from Southern Gondwana: an ancient portal into an Australian polar greenhouse. The May 2011 discovery of the oldest fossiliferous amber deposit from Australia, and all of Southern Gondwana, provides a unique opportunity to study the only recorded terrestrial biotas of this age on the continent. Employing new imaging techniques (MicroXCT-400, X-ray ultramicroscope and Synchrotron radiation), the new fossils dated as 90 million years old will be extracted virtually in three-dimensional to capture the finest details from this major palaeontological find. The outcomes of the study will attract much national and international attention as the researchers identify the first Mesozoic organisms of this age living in habitats in and close to the resin-producing forests, thus opening an entirely new window of opportunities in this field.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0882682
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$100,000.00
Summary
The Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas. The results generated in this project will enhance Australian research capabilities across multiple disciplines by providing access to key knowledge of pollen and spores in our region. A unified approach to the archiving, presentation and accessibility to existing and evolving databases will provide a considerably improved context for identification and knowledge pooling of any given pollen or spore type. This will create a nexus for novel interactions be ....The Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas. The results generated in this project will enhance Australian research capabilities across multiple disciplines by providing access to key knowledge of pollen and spores in our region. A unified approach to the archiving, presentation and accessibility to existing and evolving databases will provide a considerably improved context for identification and knowledge pooling of any given pollen or spore type. This will create a nexus for novel interactions between researchers and end users of these data from within and beyond Australia's borders.Read moreRead less
Precious time-capsule: discovery of fossil-rich amber from Australia. Cape York's natural attributes are already of national and global significance. Our research, which focuses on the world's most recently discovered, fossil-rich amber deposit will significantly increase this value. In addition to discovery of hundreds of stunningly-well preserved fossil organisms, analysis of trapped bubbles of ancient air will enable us to reconstruct their prehistoric environment. This should improve ability ....Precious time-capsule: discovery of fossil-rich amber from Australia. Cape York's natural attributes are already of national and global significance. Our research, which focuses on the world's most recently discovered, fossil-rich amber deposit will significantly increase this value. In addition to discovery of hundreds of stunningly-well preserved fossil organisms, analysis of trapped bubbles of ancient air will enable us to reconstruct their prehistoric environment. This should improve ability to anticipate biotic responses to future climate change. The amber industry globally contributes to national wealth. Increasing understanding about the geology and palaeontology of this amber deposit will maximise commercial and scientific benefits to the nation.Read moreRead less
Predation as a major ecological driver of early animal evolution. This project aims to address one of the biggest questions about the early evolutionary history of complex life: was predation a driving force behind the major diversification of animals over 500 million years ago? This innovative study will extend the application of computational biomechanics and use extensive fossil collections to quantify the performance of predators and the evolutionary responses of prey species. Anticipated ou ....Predation as a major ecological driver of early animal evolution. This project aims to address one of the biggest questions about the early evolutionary history of complex life: was predation a driving force behind the major diversification of animals over 500 million years ago? This innovative study will extend the application of computational biomechanics and use extensive fossil collections to quantify the performance of predators and the evolutionary responses of prey species. Anticipated outcomes and benefits include a paradigm shift in knowledge of how predator-prey dynamics shaped the first animal ecosystems, new approaches for studying the functional morphology and microevolutionary patterns of extinct invertebrates, and highlighting the international significance of Australia’s natural heritage.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101558
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,762.00
Summary
Exploring the nexus between global palaeogeography and the rise of animals. The Ediacaran–Cambrian periods (635–485 million years ago) capture one of the most critical events in the history of life, but are rarely the focus of global-scale palaeogeographic modelling. By employing a holistic, multi-proxy approach that synthesises vast fossil and geological datasets, this project aims to reconstruct continental positions to determine how shifting landmasses influenced the evolution of the first co ....Exploring the nexus between global palaeogeography and the rise of animals. The Ediacaran–Cambrian periods (635–485 million years ago) capture one of the most critical events in the history of life, but are rarely the focus of global-scale palaeogeographic modelling. By employing a holistic, multi-proxy approach that synthesises vast fossil and geological datasets, this project aims to reconstruct continental positions to determine how shifting landmasses influenced the evolution of the first complex animals. Expected outcomes and benefits include a new, animated global model of continental evolution that can be used across a broad range of fields, particularly for studies investigating the development of Earth System processes and the biosphere in deep time, with potential applications in resource exploration.Read moreRead less
Early Palaeozoic radiolarian evolution. This project will apply a new transformative technology, X-ray micro computed tomography, to the study of Early Palaeozoic (530-300 million year old) radiolarian microfossils. It is expected that this will allow, for the first time, non-destructive examination to elucidate the internal skeletal architecture of these fossils that is critical to understanding their evolution. Computer reconstruction of three-dimensional images will reveal details upon which ....Early Palaeozoic radiolarian evolution. This project will apply a new transformative technology, X-ray micro computed tomography, to the study of Early Palaeozoic (530-300 million year old) radiolarian microfossils. It is expected that this will allow, for the first time, non-destructive examination to elucidate the internal skeletal architecture of these fossils that is critical to understanding their evolution. Computer reconstruction of three-dimensional images will reveal details upon which an understanding of early phylogenetic relationships within this phylum can be developed. This in turn will allow realisation of the full biostratigraphic potential of this important long-ranging group of marine protozoans that commonly occur in great abundance in deep marine sedimentary rocks.Read moreRead less
The reptile-mammal jaw transition as revealed by 3D imaging, embryology, and computational biomechanics: new approaches to some age old questions. The extraordinary transformation of the mammalian middle ear through biomechanical 're-tooling' of the ancestral reptilian jaw joint, also recapitulated in mammalian development, yielded the greatly improved feeding and hearing efficiency that are key to the mammalian success story. Building on recent methodological advances, this project will employ ....The reptile-mammal jaw transition as revealed by 3D imaging, embryology, and computational biomechanics: new approaches to some age old questions. The extraordinary transformation of the mammalian middle ear through biomechanical 're-tooling' of the ancestral reptilian jaw joint, also recapitulated in mammalian development, yielded the greatly improved feeding and hearing efficiency that are key to the mammalian success story. Building on recent methodological advances, this project will employ cutting-edge two-dimensional protocols to explain these mechanical details of this transition. This includes integration of the first undistorted embryological soft-tissue evidence for muscular arrangements in the transitioning jaw. Through vastly improving on conventional two-dimensional approaches, the project will maintain Australia's leading position in the fast developing field of virtual biomechanics.Read moreRead less
Mesozoic Austral Biodiversity: Research and Regional Museum Applications. The impact of environmental alteration on Australia’s biodiversity has poorly understood long-term effects. This project examines the controversial biogeography and evolution of Australia’s biodiversity during the Age of Dinosaurs (mid-Cretaceous ~100 MYA) and their adaptational responses to climatic change. Fossils readily capture the public imagination and thus help promote complex scientific concepts in the global media ....Mesozoic Austral Biodiversity: Research and Regional Museum Applications. The impact of environmental alteration on Australia’s biodiversity has poorly understood long-term effects. This project examines the controversial biogeography and evolution of Australia’s biodiversity during the Age of Dinosaurs (mid-Cretaceous ~100 MYA) and their adaptational responses to climatic change. Fossils readily capture the public imagination and thus help promote complex scientific concepts in the global media. This project raises awareness about sustainable use of non-renewable fossil resources through public education and ecotourism fieldwork programs; these will help generate local interest and thus protection of sensitive fossil localities by highlighting them as lucrative tourism assets for regional communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190101423
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,000.00
Summary
Revealing the diets of dinosaurs through the complexity and shape of teeth. This project aims to reveal the role of diet in the spread and subsequent dominance of Mesozoic dinosaurs. Previous research has revealed much about dinosaur anatomy and diversity, but their diets remain broadly classified into two categories, herbivores and carnivores. This project will use 3D scans of dinosaur teeth to calculate anatomical indicators of diet, and interpret diet as a continuous variable which will permi ....Revealing the diets of dinosaurs through the complexity and shape of teeth. This project aims to reveal the role of diet in the spread and subsequent dominance of Mesozoic dinosaurs. Previous research has revealed much about dinosaur anatomy and diversity, but their diets remain broadly classified into two categories, herbivores and carnivores. This project will use 3D scans of dinosaur teeth to calculate anatomical indicators of diet, and interpret diet as a continuous variable which will permit unprecedented evolutionary analyses of dinosaur ecology. Anticipated outcomes include an innovative framework with which to reconstruct the ecological diversity of dinosaurs from Australia and around the world and understand the processes that led to their success for over 150 million years.Read moreRead less
Reading the past to predict future biodiversity: a deep-time perspective. The extent of human-moderated impact on ecosystems is rapidly increasing. To date, most current research in this field is based on short-term observations or experiments. By examining the characteristics of species and ecosystem response to climate change from a major geological Ice Age ~320-265 million years ago in eastern Australia, this study will investigate how marine species and ecological communities evolved in resp ....Reading the past to predict future biodiversity: a deep-time perspective. The extent of human-moderated impact on ecosystems is rapidly increasing. To date, most current research in this field is based on short-term observations or experiments. By examining the characteristics of species and ecosystem response to climate change from a major geological Ice Age ~320-265 million years ago in eastern Australia, this study will investigate how marine species and ecological communities evolved in response to repeated glacial/interglacial cycles and associated warming/cooling climate changes. Expected findings will help to better understand the long-term links between global warming/cooling climate regimes, sea levels, changing sea-water temperature and chemistry, and species and ecosystem responses to these drivers.Read moreRead less