Research Interests
and Background
I have rigorously examined and often overturned existing paradigms, ranging
from explanations for the origins of Australian marsupials [1,21] to broad
evolutionary patterns [3,5,8] and the extinction of Ice Age [4] and Holocene
[7] faunas. These contributions have been underpinned by quantitative
analysis, the use of innovative methods [3,5] or development of new ones
[6] (and see below), and a demonstrated conviction in the importance of
multidisciplinary approaches. My efforts have been driven by a willingness
to question established concepts where I have found contradictory evidence.
More specifically and often through collaborative and widely cross-disciplinary
teamwork I have:
1. Analysed many new fossil species, phylogenetic studies of which have
generated paradigm shifts in our understanding of the evolution of key
marsupial clades [1,32]
2. Questioned the previous consensus view that only one Antarctic group
colonised Australia [21]
3. Provided quantitative analyses of biology in extinct ‘keystone’
taxa [5,19]
4. Demonstrated unexpected evolutionary trends, such as the long decline
of the once diverse Tasmanian tiger family (Thylacinidae) [15] and the
surprisingly recent appearance of the family once treated as ancestral
to all Australian marsupials (Dasyuridae) [17]
5. Established that Australia’s mammalian carnivores were far more
diverse than previously thought [2,8]
6. Conducted empirical analyses suggesting that, contra the prevailing
orthodoxy, landmass area and isolation, not productivity, have been the
primary constraints on mammalian carnivore diversity on Australia and
other landmasses [3,5,6]
7. Questioned the supporting assumptions of overkill (blitzkrieg) as the
driving mechanism of late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions in Australia
and overseas [4]
8. Contributed to hypotheses explaining middle Holocene extinctions [8]
9. In a MS under review in Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, together with
a colleague, I have developed a new method for prioritising extinction
and conservation hotspots. Based in the emergent area of neutral null-modelling,
this method is statistically verifiable and able to prioritise on the
basis of threat [Forster, M., & Wroe, S. (Under Review).
A new method for prioritising conservation and extinction hotspots.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B.]
[see Research Output for references denoted
above in parentheses]
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