Outputs (43)

Comparison of dental topography of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) to other platyrrhine primates using a novel freeware pipeline (2024)
Journal Article
de Vries, D., Janiak, M. C., Batista, R., Boubli, J. P., Goodhead, I. B., Ridgway, E., …Beck, R. M. D. (2024). Comparison of dental topography of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) to other platyrrhine primates using a novel freeware pipeline. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 31(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-024-09704-9

Dental topographic metrics (DTMs), which quantify different aspects of the shape of teeth, are powerful tools for studying dietary adaptation and evolution in mammals. Current DTM protocols usually rely on proprietary software, which may be unavailab... Read More about Comparison of dental topography of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) to other platyrrhine primates using a novel freeware pipeline.

Comparison of dental topography of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) to other platyrrhine primates using a novel freeware pipeline (2024)
Journal Article
de Vries, D., Janiak, M. C., Batista, R., Boubli, J. P., Goodhead, I. B., Ridgway, E., …Beck, R. M. (in press). Comparison of dental topography of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) to other platyrrhine primates using a novel freeware pipeline. Journal of Mammalian Evolution,

Dental topographic metrics (DTMs), which quantify different aspects of the shape of teeth, are powerful tools for studying dietary adaptation and evolution in mammals. However, comparative samples of scanned mammal teeth suitable for analysis with D... Read More about Comparison of dental topography of marmosets and tamarins (Callitrichidae) to other platyrrhine primates using a novel freeware pipeline.

Identification of constrained sequence elements across 239 primate genomes. (2023)
Journal Article
Kuderna, L. F., Ulirsch, J. C., Rashid, S., Ameen, M., Sundaram, L., Hickey, G., …Farh, K. K. (2023). Identification of constrained sequence elements across 239 primate genomes. Nature, 36, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06798-8

Noncoding DNA is central to our understanding of human gene regulation and complex diseases , and measuring the evolutionary sequence constraint can establish the functional relevance of putative regulatory elements in the human genome . Identifying... Read More about Identification of constrained sequence elements across 239 primate genomes..

Complex evolutionary history with extensive ancestral gene flow in an African primate radiation (2023)
Journal Article
Jensen, A., Swift, F., de Vries, D., Beck, R., Kuderna, L. F. K., Knauf, S., …Guschanski, K. (in press). Complex evolutionary history with extensive ancestral gene flow in an African primate radiation. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 40(12), https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad247

Understanding the drivers of speciation is fundamental in evolutionary biology, and recent studies highlight hybridization as an important evolutionary force. Using whole-genome sequencing data from 22 species of guenons (tribe Cercopithecini), one o... Read More about Complex evolutionary history with extensive ancestral gene flow in an African primate radiation.

Complex Evolutionary History With Extensive Ancestral Gene Flow in an African Primate Radiation (2023)
Journal Article
Jensen, A., Swift, F., de Vries, D., Beck, R. M. D., Kuderna, L. F. K., Knauf, S., …Guschanski, K. (2023). Complex Evolutionary History With Extensive Ancestral Gene Flow in an African Primate Radiation. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 40(12), https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad247

Understanding the drivers of speciation is fundamental in evolutionary biology, and recent studies highlight hybridization as an important evolutionary force. Using whole-genome sequencing data from 22 species of guenons (tribe Cercopithecini), one o... Read More about Complex Evolutionary History With Extensive Ancestral Gene Flow in an African Primate Radiation.

A 50-million-year-old, three-dimensionally preserved bat skull supports an early origin for modern echolocation (2023)
Journal Article
Hand, S. J., Maugoust, J., Beck, R. M., & Orliac, M. J. (2023). A 50-million-year-old, three-dimensionally preserved bat skull supports an early origin for modern echolocation. Current Biology, 33(21), 4624-4640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.043

Bats are among the most recognizable, numerous, and widespread of all mammals. But much of their fossil record is missing, and bat origins remain poorly understood, as do the relationships of early to modern bats. Here, we describe a new early Eocene... Read More about A 50-million-year-old, three-dimensionally preserved bat skull supports an early origin for modern echolocation.

A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution (2023)
Journal Article
Crichton, A. I., Beck, R. M. D., Couzens, A. M. C., Worthy, T. H., Camens, A. B., & Prideaux, G. J. (2023). A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 14521. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41471-0

Diprotodontians are the morphologically and ecologically most diverse order of marsupials. However, an approximately 30-million-year gap in the Australian terrestrial vertebrate fossil record means that the first half of diprotodontian evolution is u... Read More about A probable koala from the Oligocene of central Australia provides insights into early diprotodontian evolution.

First known extinct feathertail possums (Acrobatidae, Marsupialia): palaeobiodiversity, phylogenetics, palaeoecology and palaeogeography (2023)
Journal Article
Fabian, P. R., Archer, M., Hand, S. J., & Beck, R. M. (in press). First known extinct feathertail possums (Acrobatidae, Marsupialia): palaeobiodiversity, phylogenetics, palaeoecology and palaeogeography. Alcheringa, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2023.2242439

Four new fossil feathertail possum species (Marsupialia, Diprotodontia, Phalangerida, Petauroidea, Acrobatidae) are described from late Oligocene to middle Miocene fossil deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. They... Read More about First known extinct feathertail possums (Acrobatidae, Marsupialia): palaeobiodiversity, phylogenetics, palaeoecology and palaeogeography.

The landscape of tolerated genetic variation in humans and primates. (2023)
Journal Article
Gao, H., Hamp, T., Ede, J., Schraiber, J. G., McRae, J., Singer-Berk, M., …Jolly, C. J. (2023). The landscape of tolerated genetic variation in humans and primates. Science, 380(6648), https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn8197

Personalized genome sequencing has revealed millions of genetic differences between individuals, but our understanding of their clinical relevance remains largely incomplete. To systematically decipher the effects of human genetic variants, we obtain... Read More about The landscape of tolerated genetic variation in humans and primates..

A global catalog of whole-genome diversity from 233 primate species. (2023)
Journal Article
Kuderna, L. F. K., Gao, H., Janiak, M. C., Kuhlwilm, M., Orkin, J. D., Bataillon, T., …Jolly, C. J. (2023). A global catalog of whole-genome diversity from 233 primate species. Science, 380(6648), 906-913. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7829

The rich diversity of morphology and behavior displayed across primate species provides an informative context in which to study the impact of genomic diversity on fundamental biological processes. Analysis of that diversity provides insight into lon... Read More about A global catalog of whole-genome diversity from 233 primate species..

Twenty-five well-justified fossil calibrations for primate divergences (2023)
Journal Article
de Vries, D., & Beck, R. M. D. (2023). Twenty-five well-justified fossil calibrations for primate divergences. #Journal not on list, 26(1), https://doi.org/10.26879/1249

Phylogenies with estimates of divergence times are essential for investigating many evolutionary questions. In principle, “tip-dating” is arguably the most appropriate approach, with fossil and extant taxa analysed together in a single analysis, and... Read More about Twenty-five well-justified fossil calibrations for primate divergences.

Cranial remains of Ramsayia magna from the Late Pleistocene of Australia and the evolution of gigantism in wombats (Marsupialia, Vombatidae) (2022)
Journal Article
Louys, J., Duval, M., Beck, R., Pease, E., Sobbe, I., Sands, N., & Price, G. (2022). Cranial remains of Ramsayia magna from the Late Pleistocene of Australia and the evolution of gigantism in wombats (Marsupialia, Vombatidae). Papers in Palaeontology, 8(6), https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.1475

Giant wombats (defined here as ≥70 kg) are found in the genera Phascolonus, Ramsayia and perhaps Sedophascolomys. Ramsayia is currently the most poorly known, having been described from mandibular and cranial fragments. Here, we report the most compl... Read More about Cranial remains of Ramsayia magna from the Late Pleistocene of Australia and the evolution of gigantism in wombats (Marsupialia, Vombatidae).

Total evidence phylogeny of platyrrhine primates and a comparison of undated and tip-dating approaches (2022)
Journal Article
Beck, R., de Vries, D., Janiak, M., Goodhead, I., & Boubli, J. (2022). Total evidence phylogeny of platyrrhine primates and a comparison of undated and tip-dating approaches. Journal of Human Evolution, 174, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103293

There have been multiple published phylogenetic analyses of platyrrhine primates (New World monkeys) using both morphological and molecular data, but relatively few that have integrated both types of data into a total evidence approach. Here, we pr... Read More about Total evidence phylogeny of platyrrhine primates and a comparison of undated and tip-dating approaches.

Changes in morphological disparity in eutherian mammals across the K-Pg boundary and Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum using discrete morphofunctional characters (2022)
Thesis
morphofunctional characters. (Dissertation). University of Salford

The mammalian clade Eutheria comprises placental mammals (the dominant group of mammals today, with >6000 living species, ~93% of living diversity) plus their stem relatives. A major event in Earth history that had a profound influence on Eutheria wa... Read More about Changes in morphological disparity in eutherian mammals across the K-Pg boundary and Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum using discrete morphofunctional characters.

Evolution: the evolutionary rat race in New Guinea and Australia (2022)
Journal Article
Beck, R., & Eldridge, M. (2022). Evolution: the evolutionary rat race in New Guinea and Australia. Current Biology, 32(19), R1010-R1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.08.056

A new molecular phylogeny of a remarkable radiation of New Guinean and Australian rodents indicates multiple transitions between biomes and biogeographical regions within the group, and suggests that a key role was played by the geological history of... Read More about Evolution: the evolutionary rat race in New Guinea and Australia.

Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials (2022)
Journal Article
Beck, R., Voss, R., & Jansa, S. (in press). Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 1-350. https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1

The current literature on marsupial phylogenetics includes numerous studies based on analyses of morphological data with limited sampling of Recent and fossil taxa, and many studies based on analyses of molecular data with dense sampling of Recent ta... Read More about Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials.

Two hundred and five newly assembled mitogenomes provide mixed evidence for rivers as drivers of speciation for Amazonian primates (2022)
Journal Article
Janiak, M. C., Silva, F. E., Beck, R. M. D., de Vries, D., Kuderna, L. F. K., Torosin, N. S., …Boubli, J. P. (2022). Two hundred and five newly assembled mitogenomes provide mixed evidence for rivers as drivers of speciation for Amazonian primates. Molecular Ecology, 31(14), 3888-3902. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16554

Mitochondrial DNA remains a cornerstone for molecular ecology, especially for study species from which high-quality tissue samples cannot be easily obtained. Methods using mitochondrial markers are usually reliant on reference databases, but these ar... Read More about Two hundred and five newly assembled mitogenomes provide mixed evidence for rivers as drivers of speciation for Amazonian primates.

Total evidence phylogeny of ducks, geese and swans (family Anatidae): implications for macroevolution and biogeography (2022)
Thesis
biogeography. (Dissertation). The University of Salford

The neornithine bird family Anatidae comprises the ducks, geese and swans, and is one of the largest (approximately 150 species) and most studied families of modern birds. The fossil record of definitive anatids stretches from the Oligocene epoch to... Read More about Total evidence phylogeny of ducks, geese and swans (family Anatidae): implications for macroevolution and biogeography.

Ancient DNA of the pygmy marmoset type specimen Cebuella pygmaea (Spix, 1823) resolves a taxonomic conundrum (2021)
Journal Article
Boubli, J., Janiak, M., Porter, L., de la Torre, S., Cortés-Ortiz, L., da Silva, M., …Roos, C. (2021). Ancient DNA of the pygmy marmoset type specimen Cebuella pygmaea (Spix, 1823) resolves a taxonomic conundrum. Zoological Research, 42(6), 761-771. https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2021.143

The pygmy marmoset, the smallest of the anthropoid primates, has a broad distribution in Western Amazonia. Recent studies using molecular and morphological data have identified two distinct species separated by the Napo and Solimões-Amazonas rivers.... Read More about Ancient DNA of the pygmy marmoset type specimen Cebuella pygmaea (Spix, 1823) resolves a taxonomic conundrum.

Upper Oligocene–lower-middle Miocene peramelemorphians from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations of South Australia (2021)
Journal Article
Travouillon, K., Beck, R., & Case, J. (2021). Upper Oligocene–lower-middle Miocene peramelemorphians from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations of South Australia. Alcheringa, 45(1), 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2021.1921274

The oldest fossils referable to the marsupial order Peramelemorphia (which includes modern bandicoots and bilbies) stratigraphically date from the upper Oligocene of Australia. Here we describe new ancient peramelemorphian remains from the Etadunna,... Read More about Upper Oligocene–lower-middle Miocene peramelemorphians from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations of South Australia.

Global elongation and high shape flexibility as an evolutionary hypothesis of accommodating mammalian brains into skulls (2021)
Journal Article
Weisbecker, V., Rowe, T., Wroe, S., Macrini, T. E., Garland, K. L. S., Travouillon, K. J., …Sherratt, E. (2021). Global elongation and high shape flexibility as an evolutionary hypothesis of accommodating mammalian brains into skulls. Evolution, 75(3), 625-640. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14163

Little is known about how the large brains of mammals are accommodated into the dazzling diversity of their skulls. It has been suggested that brain shape is influenced by relative brain size, that it evolves or develops according to extrinsic or int... Read More about Global elongation and high shape flexibility as an evolutionary hypothesis of accommodating mammalian brains into skulls.

Phylogenetic placement of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar : implications for allotherian relationships (2020)
Journal Article
Hoffmann, S., Beck, R., Wible, J., Rougier, G., & Krause, D. (2020). Phylogenetic placement of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar : implications for allotherian relationships. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 40(Sup 1), 213-234. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2020.1801706

The phylogenetic position of Gondwanatheria within Mammaliaformes has historically been controversial. The well-preserved skeleton of Adalatherium hui from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar offers a unique opportunity to address this issue, based on... Read More about Phylogenetic placement of Adalatherium hui (Mammalia, Gondwanatheria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar : implications for allotherian relationships.

Advancing the use of evolutionary considerations in spatial conservation planning (2020)
Thesis
Robertson, S. Advancing the use of evolutionary considerations in spatial conservation planning. (Thesis). University of Salford

The existence of life on earth as we know it relies on a diversity of life. Biodiversity underpins vital ecosystems services globally, at all spatial scales, and yet is being lost at an alarming rate. Current extinction rates are estimated to be 100-... Read More about Advancing the use of evolutionary considerations in spatial conservation planning.

Leaving Gondwana : the changing position of the Indian subcontinent in the Global Faunal Network (2020)
Book Chapter
subcontinent in the Global Faunal Network. In G. Prasad, & R. Patnaik (Eds.), Biological Consequences of Plate Tectonics : New Perspectives on Post-Gondwana Break-up – a tribute to Ashok Sahni (227-249). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49753-8_9

The paleogeographic history of the Indian subcontinent is unique among Earth’s landmasses. From being part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana for most of the Mesozoic, through a period of isolation as a drifting entity in the Late Cretaceous... Read More about Leaving Gondwana : the changing position of the Indian subcontinent in the Global Faunal Network.

Elucidating cryptic diversity in East African frogs : the case of Arthroleptis francei Loveridge, 1953 (2020)
Thesis
Woest, N. Elucidating cryptic diversity in East African frogs : the case of Arthroleptis francei Loveridge, 1953. (Dissertation). University of Salford

Detailed information on the diversity of species and their distributions is crucial for the implementation of useful conservation measures. Here, I focus on the Afromontane region of Malawi and Mozambique, and use molecular techniques, environmental... Read More about Elucidating cryptic diversity in East African frogs : the case of Arthroleptis francei Loveridge, 1953.

A new family of diprotodontian marsupials from the latest Oligocene of Australia and the evolution of wombats, koalas, and their relatives (Vombatiformes) (2020)
Journal Article
Beck, R., Louys, J., Brewer, P., Archer, M., Black, K., & Tedford, R. (2020). A new family of diprotodontian marsupials from the latest Oligocene of Australia and the evolution of wombats, koalas, and their relatives (Vombatiformes). Scientific reports, 10(9741), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66425-8

We describe the partial cranium and skeleton of a new diprotodontian marsupial from the late Oligocene (~26–25 Ma) Namba Formation of South Australia. This is one of the oldest Australian marsupial fossils known from an associated skeleton and it rev... Read More about A new family of diprotodontian marsupials from the latest Oligocene of Australia and the evolution of wombats, koalas, and their relatives (Vombatiformes).

Tip dating supports novel resolutions of controversial relationships among early mammals (2020)
Journal Article
King, B., & Beck, R. (2020). Tip dating supports novel resolutions of controversial relationships among early mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287(1928), https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0943

The estimation of the timing of major divergences in early mammal evolution is challenging due to conflicting interpretations of key fossil taxa. One contentious group is Haramiyida, the earliest members of which are from the Late Triassic. Many phyl... Read More about Tip dating supports novel resolutions of controversial relationships among early mammals.

Island rule and bone metabolism in fossil murines from Timor (2020)
Journal Article
Miszkiewicz, J., Louys, J., Beck, R., Mahoney, P., Aplin, K., & O’Connor, S. (2020). Island rule and bone metabolism in fossil murines from Timor. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 129(3), 570-586. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blz197

Skeletal growth rates reconstructed from bone histology in extinct insular hippopotamids, elephants, bovids and sauropods have been used to infer dwarfism as a response to island conditions. Limited published records of osteocyte lacunae densities... Read More about Island rule and bone metabolism in fossil murines from Timor.

Hooked on you: shape of attachment structures in cymothoid isopods reflects parasitic strategy (2019)
Journal Article
Baillie, C., Welicky, R., Hadfield, K., Smit, N., Mariani, S., & Beck, R. (2019). Hooked on you: shape of attachment structures in cymothoid isopods reflects parasitic strategy. BMC Evolutionary Biology, 19, 207. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-019-1533-x

Background Parasite attachment structures are critical traits that influence effective host exploitation and survival. Morphology of attachment structures can reinforce host specificity and niche specialisation, or even enable host switching. Theref... Read More about Hooked on you: shape of attachment structures in cymothoid isopods reflects parasitic strategy.

A nearly complete juvenile skull of the marsupial Sparassocynus derivatus from the Pliocene of Argentina, the affinities of “sparassocynids”, and the diversification of opossums (Marsupialia; Didelphimorphia; Didelphidae) (2019)
Journal Article
Beck, R., & Taglioretti, M. (2020). A nearly complete juvenile skull of the marsupial Sparassocynus derivatus from the Pliocene of Argentina, the affinities of “sparassocynids”, and the diversification of opossums (Marsupialia; Didelphimorphia; Didelphidae). Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 27, 385-417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-019-09471-y

“Sparassocynids” are small, carnivorously-adapted marsupials known from the late Miocene and Pliocene of South America, thought to be relatives of living didelphid opossums but of otherwise uncertain phylogenetic relationships. Here, we describe a... Read More about A nearly complete juvenile skull of the marsupial Sparassocynus derivatus from the Pliocene of Argentina, the affinities of “sparassocynids”, and the diversification of opossums (Marsupialia; Didelphimorphia; Didelphidae).

An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria) (2019)
Journal Article
Eldridge, M., Beck, R., Croft, D., Travouillon, K., & Fox, B. (2019). An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria). Journal of Mammalogy, 100(3), 802-837. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyz018

Marsupials and their fossil relatives, which collectively comprise Metatheria, have been of scientific interest for centuries, with many aspects of their evolution and systematics subject to intense research and debate. Here, we review progress over... Read More about An emerging consensus in the evolution, phylogeny, and systematics of marsupials and their fossil relatives (Metatheria).

Improvements in the fossil record may largely resolve current conflicts between morphological and molecular estimates of mammal phylogeny (2018)
Journal Article
Beck, R., & Baillie, C. (2018). Improvements in the fossil record may largely resolve current conflicts between morphological and molecular estimates of mammal phylogeny. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1893), 20181632. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.1632

Phylogenies of mammals based on morphological data continue to show several major areas of conflict with the current consensus view of their relationships, which is based largely on molecular data. This raises doubts as to whether current morphologic... Read More about Improvements in the fossil record may largely resolve current conflicts between morphological and molecular estimates of mammal phylogeny.

A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand (2018)
Journal Article
Hand, S., Beck, R., Archer, M., Simmons, N., Gunnell, G., Scofield, R., …Worthy, T. (2018). A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand. Scientific reports, 8(1), 235. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18403-w

A new genus and species of fossil bat is described from New Zealand's only pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic terrestrial fauna, the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, South Island. Bayesian total evidence phylogenetic analysis places this new So... Read More about A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand.

Total evidence phylogeny and evolutionary timescale for Australian faunivorous marsupials (Dasyuromorphia) (2017)
Journal Article
Kealy, S., & Beck, R. (2017). Total evidence phylogeny and evolutionary timescale for Australian faunivorous marsupials (Dasyuromorphia). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 17(240), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-1090-0

Background The order Dasyuromorphia is a diverse radiation of faunivorous marsupials, comprising >80 modern species in Australia and New Guinea. It includes dasyurids, the numbat (the myrmecobiid Myrmecobius fasciatus) and the recently extinct thyl... Read More about Total evidence phylogeny and evolutionary timescale for Australian faunivorous marsupials (Dasyuromorphia).

Skeleton of an unusual cat-sized marsupial relative (Metatheria: Marsupialiformes) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian: 44-43 million years ago) of Turkey (2017)
Journal Article
Murat Maga, A., & Beck, R. (2017). Skeleton of an unusual cat-sized marsupial relative (Metatheria: Marsupialiformes) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian: 44-43 million years ago) of Turkey. PLoS ONE, 12(8), e0181712. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181712

We describe a near-complete, three-dimensionally preserved skeleton of a metatherian (relative of modern marsupials) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian: 44–43 million years ago) Lülük member of the Uzunçarşıdere Formation, central Turkey. With an estim... Read More about Skeleton of an unusual cat-sized marsupial relative (Metatheria: Marsupialiformes) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian: 44-43 million years ago) of Turkey.

The skull of Epidolops ameghinoi from the early Eocene Itaboraí fauna, southeastern Brazil, and the affinities of the extinct marsupialiform order Polydolopimorphia (2016)
Journal Article
Brazil, and the affinities of the extinct marsupialiform order Polydolopimorphia. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 24(4), 373-414. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-016-9357-6

The skull of the polydolopimorphian marsupialiform Epidolops ameghinoi is described in detail for the first time, based on a single well-preserved cranium and associated left and right dentaries plus additional craniodental fragments, all from the... Read More about The skull of Epidolops ameghinoi from the early Eocene Itaboraí fauna, southeastern Brazil, and the affinities of the extinct marsupialiform order Polydolopimorphia.

Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats (2016)
Journal Article
Wilson, L., Hand, S., López-Aguirre, C., Archer, M., Black, K., Beck, R., …Wroe, S. (2016). Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats. Alcheringa, 40(4), 509-524. https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2016.1196434

The leaf-nosed bats in Hipposideridae and Rhinonycteridae currently have an Old World tropical to subtropical distribution, with a fossil record extending back to the middle Eocene of Europe. The Riversleigh World Heritage fossil site in northwestern... Read More about Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats.

A new family of bizarre durophagous carnivorous marsupials from Miocene deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland (2016)
Journal Article
Archer, M., Hand, S., Black, K., Beck, R., Arena, D., Wilson, L., …Hung, T. (2016). A new family of bizarre durophagous carnivorous marsupials from Miocene deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Scientific reports, 6, 26911. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep26911

A new specimen of the bizarrely specialised Malleodectes mirabilis from middle Miocene deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area provides the first and only information about the molar dentition of this strange group of extinct marsupials. Apar... Read More about A new family of bizarre durophagous carnivorous marsupials from Miocene deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland.

Mammalian evolution : a jurassic spark (2015)
Journal Article
Lee, M., & Beck, R. (2015). Mammalian evolution : a jurassic spark. Current Biology, 25(17), R759-R761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.07.008

There is increasing evidence that early mammals evolved rapidly into a range of body forms and habitats, right under the noses of the dinosaurs.

Mammalian lineages and the biostratigraphy and biochronology of Cenozoic faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia (2015)
Journal Article
Arena, D., Travouillon, K., Beck, R., Black, K., Gillespie, A., Myers, T., …Hand, S. (2015). Mammalian lineages and the biostratigraphy and biochronology of Cenozoic faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia. Lethaia, 49(1), 43-60. https://doi.org/10.1111/let.12131

Lineage zones within nine contemporaneous mammalian lineages represented in the Cenozoic fossil vertebrate record from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in northern Australia are used to resolve a series of faunal intervals from the Late Oligocene... Read More about Mammalian lineages and the biostratigraphy and biochronology of Cenozoic faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia.

Ancient dates or accelerated rates? Morphological clocks and the antiquity of placental mammals (2014)
Journal Article
Beck, R., & Lee, M. (2014). Ancient dates or accelerated rates? Morphological clocks and the antiquity of placental mammals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1793), 20141278. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1278

Analyses of a comprehensive morphological character matrix of mammals using ‘relaxed’ clock models (which simultaneously estimate topology, divergence dates and evolutionary rates), either alone or in combination with an 8.5 kb nuclear sequence da... Read More about Ancient dates or accelerated rates? Morphological clocks and the antiquity of placental mammals.

Three new Miocene species of musky rat-kangaroos (Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodoidea) : description, phylogenetics and paleoecology (2014)
Journal Article
Bates, H., Travouillon, K., Cooke, B., Beck, R., Hand, S., & Archer, M. (2014). Three new Miocene species of musky rat-kangaroos (Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodoidea) : description, phylogenetics and paleoecology. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34(2), 383-396. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2013.812098

Three new species of the macropodoid genus Hypsiprymnodon are described from early to middle Miocene fossil deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. A phylogenetic analysis of macropodoid relationships that includes t... Read More about Three new Miocene species of musky rat-kangaroos (Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodoidea) : description, phylogenetics and paleoecology.

A peculiar faunivorous metatherian from the early Eocene of Australia (2013)
Journal Article
Beck, R. (2013). A peculiar faunivorous metatherian from the early Eocene of Australia. Acta palaeontologica Polonica, 60(1), 123-129. https://doi.org/10.4202/app.2013.0011

I describe Archaeonothos henkgodthelpi gen. et. sp. nov., a small (estimated body mass ~40-80g) tribosphenic metatherian from the early Eocene Tingamarra Fauna of southeastern Queensland, Australia. This taxon, known only from a single isolated upper... Read More about A peculiar faunivorous metatherian from the early Eocene of Australia.