Evolutionary, macroecological and phylogenetic patterns in Australasian freshwater crayfish. This project connects Australian systematists to a worldwide project that involves all of the world's living experts on freshwater crayfish evolution in a coordinated effort to answer some very important evolutionary questions. It involves a group of invertebrate animals that are not only readily recognisable, but which in Australia includes the world's largest and the world's most terrestrial crayfish s ....Evolutionary, macroecological and phylogenetic patterns in Australasian freshwater crayfish. This project connects Australian systematists to a worldwide project that involves all of the world's living experts on freshwater crayfish evolution in a coordinated effort to answer some very important evolutionary questions. It involves a group of invertebrate animals that are not only readily recognisable, but which in Australia includes the world's largest and the world's most terrestrial crayfish species. Information gained from the project will contribute to the management of crayfish biodiversity, identification of threatened species and tools to identify these prominent and important members of Australian freshwater ecosystems.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
Assessment of the diversity, distribution and uniqueness of subterranean animals from calcrete aquifers in central western Australia. Recently a rich and diverse subterranean invertebrate fauna (stygofauna) was unexpectedly discovered from numerous isolated calcrete aquifers associated with palaeodrainage channels in central Western Australia. Our recent taxonomic and molecular studies have suggested that stygofaunas within each aquifer may be highly endemic. We aim to test this hypothesis by in ....Assessment of the diversity, distribution and uniqueness of subterranean animals from calcrete aquifers in central western Australia. Recently a rich and diverse subterranean invertebrate fauna (stygofauna) was unexpectedly discovered from numerous isolated calcrete aquifers associated with palaeodrainage channels in central Western Australia. Our recent taxonomic and molecular studies have suggested that stygofaunas within each aquifer may be highly endemic. We aim to test this hypothesis by investigating the diversity, distribution and uniqueness of stygofauna from three major calcrete regions. We further aim to document the environmental conditions and variability within the aquifers and to develop rigorous sampling protocols. Such data are essential for the development of appropriate strategies for sustainable management of subterranean water and their ecosystems.Read moreRead less