Professor Stephen Donnellan

Biography/ Background

Position: Principal Scientist, 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], possums [with Kris Helgen], pythons, blind snakes and monogenean helminths [with Ian Whittington & Leslie Chisholm].

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:

Doughty P, Maryan B, DONNELLAN SC, Hutchinson MN. (2007). A new species of taipan (Elapidae: Oxyuranus) from central Australia. Zootaxa 1422, 45-58.

 

Potter S, Orgeig S, DONNELLAN SC, Daniels CB. (2007). Purifying selection drives the evolution of surfactant protein SP-C independently of body temperature regulation in mammals. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part D 2, 165-176.

 

Gardner M, Hugall AF, DONNELLAN SC, Hutchinson MN, Foster R. (2008). Molecular systematics of social skinks: phylogeny and taxonomy of the Egernia group (Reptilia: Scincidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154, 781-794.

 

Joseph L, Dolman G, DONNELLAN SC, Saint K, Berg M, Bennett ATD. (2008). Where and when does a ring start and end? Testing the ring species hypothesis in a species complex of Australian parrots. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 275, 2431-2440.

 

Dudaniec RY, Gardner MG, DONNELLAN SC, Kleindorfer S. (2008). Genetic variation in the invasive avian parasite, Philornis downsi (Diptera, Muscidae) on the Galápagos archipelago. BMC Ecology 8, 13.

 

Munemasa M, Nikaido M, Nishihara H, DONNELLAN SC, Austin CC, Okada N. (2008). Newly discovered young CORE-SINEs in marsupial genomes. Gene 407, 176-185.

 

Byrne M, Yeates DK, Joseph L, Kearney M, Bowler J, Williams MA, Cooper S, DONNELLAN SC, Keogh JS, Leys R, Melville J, Murphy DJ, Porch N, Wyrwoll K-H. (2008). Birth of a biome: insights into the assembly and maintenance of the Australian arid zone biota. Molecular Ecology 17, 4398-4417.

 

Jackway RJ, Pukala TL, Maselli VM, Musgrave IF, Bowie JH, Liu Y, Surinya-Johnson KH, DONNELLAN SC, Doyle JR, Llewellyn LE, Tyler MJ. (2008). Disulfide-containing peptides from the glandular skin secretions of froglets of the genus Crinia: Structure, activity and evolutionary trends. Regulatory Peptides 151, 80-87.

 

Guzinski J, Bull CM, DONNELLAN SC, Gardner MG. (2009) Relatedness and inbreeding of an Australian reptile tick Bothriocroton hydrosauri. Molecular Ecology 18, 227-234.

 

DONNELLAN SC, Armstrong J, Pickett M, Milne T, Baulderstone J, Hollfelder T, Bertozzi T. (2009). Systematic and conservation implications of mitochondrial DNA diversity in emu-wrens, Stipiturus (Aves: Maluridae). Emu 109, 143-152.

 

Ottewell KM, DONNELLAN SC, Lowe AJ, Paton DC. (2009) Predicting reproductive success of insect- versus bird-pollinated scattered trees in agricultural landscapes. Biological Conservation 142, 888-898.

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: Friday, 11 Dec 2009