Dated mammal phylogeny from Phillips et al. (PNAS, 2009), and carpet python (Morelia spilota) on field trip to Cunningham's Gap

Research areas

Mammalian Evolution

1. What on Earth are monotremes? – tracing their evolution from “normal” ancestors.
2. Reconstructing marsupial evolution (with Maria Nilsson, Senckenberg Museum; Peter Prentis, QUT; Vera Weisbecker, U. Queensland).
3. Dating the major diversification of placental mammals – testing links to the dinsosaur extinction and  the "Cretaceous terrestrial revolution" (with Robin Beck, U. Salford; Nicolas Lartillot, U. Lyon; Mike Lee, U. Adelaide).
4. Are marsupials intrinsically inferior to placentals (as Lillegraven suggests) or does it come down to evolutionary context differences?

---

Avian Evolution

1. Ratite phylogeny, biogeography and flightlessness (with Mike Bunce, Curtin University).
2. Testing for competition between birds, dinosaurs, pterosaurs and bats (with David Penny, Massey University).
3. The timescale and biogeography of avian diversification (with Daniel Ksepka, Bruce Museum).

---

Phylogenetics and molecular dating

1. Modelling morphological evolution for merging fossils into the tree of life.
2. Total evidence dating (combined molecular-morphological matrices) is interesting, but when is it useful?
3. Identifying and ameliorating DNA substitution model misspecification for inferring phylogeny and molecular dates.

---

Palaeobiology

1. Vertebrate extinction and diversification across the Cretaceous – Palaeogene boundary (with David Penny, Massey U.).
2. Rapid ecological diversification followed by ecological conservatism in marsupials and birds – testing the roles of competition and genetic constraints.
3. Ancient DNA from marsupials and ratites  (with Mike Bunce, Curtin U.)

---