Taxonomy 2028 Challenge: Knowing the origins of the Australian biota

By the year 2028 we will have compiled a database of information on the origin of Australia’s biota. This database will detail the area of origin for every genus within Australia, and the timing of its original arrival in Australia.

Initially, the database could be compiled from published phylogenetic data, eventually being replaced with phylogenetic information which has been analysed in a consistent methodology.  This goal could be achieved through the targeted sampling and molecular sequencing of lineages that have distributions spanning Australia and neighbouring landmasses (Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Antarctica, etc.) and then of lineages with more cosmopolitan distributions. This database will establish an understanding of the unique and varied evolutionary history of the Australian biota, determining which lineages are ancient Gondwanan relicts and more recent immigrants, as well as identifying spatio-temporal patterns of immigration, emigration and diversification in the history of the assembly of the Australian biota. It would also provide an invaluable resource for the advancement of research in Australian biogeography, biogeography theory, invasive species ecology, geology, palaeontology, evolutionary theory, trait evolution and ecology and for informing conservation priorities and strategies.

This phylogenetic information could be integrated into the ALA platform through the addition of interactive phylogenies on each taxon’s ALA page. Clicking on nodes of each phylogeny could show biogeographic, morphological trait and divergence age data for that taxon. Publication of phylogenetic information in such an interactive way would engage the public and raise understanding of the significance of the unique evolutionary histories of groups within the Australian biota. It would provide an alternative visual mechanism for exploring taxa by placing them in a phylogenetic context. It would also provide a platform through which evolutionary concepts are made accessible for lay people, encouraging the the exploration of integrative evolutionary questions and engaging them with concepts in systematics, evolution and taxonomy.

Lizzy Joyce
PhD Candidate - Australian Tropical Herbarium & James Cook University
2 responses
In addition to visualising tree (always a challenge) there’s lots of scope for spatial visualisations, such as overlaying trees on maps, plotting grids of “phylodiversity” (instead of just species counts), and being able to highlight regions in Australia that have, say, particularly old lineages. It would be quite fun to be able to draw a line on a map and get an age distribution of all clades that cross that line - are there clusters of similar dates suggesting the same event/process may have affected multiple lineages, or are the dates essentially random? As an aside, here’s a video of a touch-based lesson using Australian snakes illustrating what can be done to teaching phylogenies in interesting ways https://youtu.be/PWib9-KtHQY
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