Professor Stephen Donnellan

Biography/ Background

Position: Chief Researcher, Evolutionary Biology Unit, South Australian Museum, Adelaide

Honorary positions:
2003 to present: Convenor, South Australian Regional Facility for Molecular Evolution and Ecology, The University of Adelaide, Flinders University, South Australian Museum, South Australian Research and Development Institute.

2006 to present, Management Committee, Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology & Biodiversity (ACEBB), University of Adelaide

Qualifications

1985 PhD. Biological Sciences, Macquarie University. 1976 1st class B.Sc. Honours. Department of Human Genetics, University of NSW

Research Interests

My research interests are diverse, encompassing the molecular systematics and evolution of the Australasian biota.

At present I am particularly interested in the biogeographic relationships between Australia and Melanesia and the origins and diversification patterns of the fauna of both regions.

Underlying the search and explanation for patterns in the evolution of our fauna is the discovery and description of our biodiversity. I have a strong focus on the use of molecular genetic approaches for the discovery of cryptic species in all vertebrate groups except birds. My studies of higher level phylogenetic relationships at present encompass rays, leatherjackets, hylid frogs, brood frogs, skinks, rodents [with Ken Aplin], pythons, blind snakes [with Nicholas Vidal] and monogenean helminths [with Ian Whittington].

My research benefits from the enormous tissue collection held by the SA Museum, the Australian Biological Tissue Collection [ABTC], which holds tissues suitable for molecular analyses from a large proportion of the Australian and Melanesian vertebrates.

I also convene the management group for the South Australian Regional Facility for Molecular Evolution and Ecology, which provides substantial facilities for molecular genetic analysis for researchers from the SA Museum, University of Adelaide and Flinders University. The facility has real-time PCR capability, several robots, and large numbers of standard PCR machines for high throughput analyses.

Publications

10 recent publications:

Rosauer D, Laffan SW, Crisp MD, Donnellan SC, Cook LG. (2009). Phylogenetic endemism: a new approach for identifying geographical concentrations of evolutionary history. Molecular Ecology 18, 4061-4072. (doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04311.x).

 

Richards SJ, Hoskin C, Cunningham M, McDonald K, Donnellan SC. (2010). Taxonomic assessment of the Australian and New Guinean populations of the green-eyed treefrogs Litoria eucnemis and Litoria genimaculata. Zootaxa 2391, 33-46.

 

Donnellan SC, Aplin K, Bertozzi T. (2010). Species boundaries in the Rana arfaki group (Anura: Ranidae) and phylogenetic relationships to other New Guinean Rana. Zootaxa 2496, 49-62.

 

Ottewell KM, Donnellan SC, Paton DC. (2010). Evaluating the demographic, reproductive and genetic value of eucalypt paddock trees. Restoration Ecology 18, 263–272. DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00659.x

 

Fujita MK, McGuire JA, Donnellan SC, Moritz C. (2010). Diversification and persistence in arid environments: Australian biogeography of the Bynoe’s gecko (Heteronotia binoei; Gekkonidae). Evolution 64, 2293-2314. doi:10.1111/j.1558-5646.2010.00993.x.

 

Perkins EM, Donnellan SC, Bertozzi T, Whittington ID. (2010). Closing the mitochondrial circle on paraphyly of the Monogenea (Platyhelminthes) infers evolution in the diet of parasitic flatworms. International Journal of Parasitology 40, 1237-1245.

 

Vidal N, Marin J, Morini M, Donnellan SC, Branch WR, Thomas R, Vences M, Wynn A, Cruaud C, Hedges SB. (2010). Blindsnake evolutionary tree reveals long history on Gondwana. Biology Letters 6, 558-561.

 

Doughty P, Kealley L, Donnellan SC. (2011). Revision of the Pygmy Spiny-tailed Skinks (Egernia depressa species-group) from western Australia, with descriptions of three new species. Records of the Western Australian Museum 26, 115-137.

 

Bryant LM, Donnellan SC, Hurwood DA, Fuller SJ. (2011). A molecular systematic analysis of the mosaic-tailed rat genus Melomys (Rodentia: Muridae) in Australia and New Guinea: Evidence from the combined analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Zoologica Scripta 40, 433-447. doi: 10.1111/j.1463-6409.2011.00482.x

 

Aplin KP, Cooper A, Suzuki H, Chinen AA, Chesser T, Ten Have J, Donnellan SC, Austin J, Frost A, Gonzalez JP, Herbreteau V, Catzeflis F, Soubrier  J, Fang Y-P, Robins J, Matisoo-Smith L, Bastos A, Maryanto I, Sinaga MH, Denys C, Van Den Bussche R, Conroy C, Rowe KC, Cooper A. (2011). Multiple Geographic origins of commensalism and complex dispersal history of Black Rats. PLOS One 6, e26357. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026357

 

Dudaniec RY, Schlotfeldt BE, Bertozzi T, Donnellan SC, Kleindorfer S. (2011). Genetic and morphological divergence in island and mainland birds: informing conservation priorities. Biological Conservation 144, 2902–2912. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.08.007

Professional Associations

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
Australian Society of Herpetologists
Genetics Society of AustralAsia
Society of Australian Systematic Biologists
Society for the Study of Evolution

 

Entry last updated: Wednesday, 12 Sep 2012