University of New South Wales - BEES Home

RESEARCH SUPERVISORS - PROFESSOR MIKE ARCHER and DR SUE HAND

EDUCATION

2000-2002: Bachelor of Science (Biological Science and Geology) UNSW, Australia.
2003-2004: Honours (The taphonomy and geological context of Price Is Right Site, Riversleigh, World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland), UNSW, Australia
2004-Current: PhD (The early evolution and distribution of the ringtail possum family (Pseudocheiridae, Marsupialia) ), UNSW, Australia.

RESEARCH

The evolution of the ringtail possum family (Pseudocheiridae): systematic and phylogenetic analysis of craniodental material from the Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland.

The pseudocheirid fossil record reveals a relatively diverse family that is represented quite consistently throughout the known record which dates back to ~26 mya. My work has reviewed the three genera and nine previously published species of ringtail possums in addition to describing up to three new genera and eight new species plus three species from unpublished works (M. Bassarova and K. Carbery) all of which are extinct. I will be looking into inter and intraspecific variation within the extant family and currently am working on a morphological phylogeny of the complete pseudocheirid family. The latter is anticipated to clarify relationships not only between extinct and extant pseudocheirids but also the intergeneric relationships of the living ringtail possums.

Research interests: marsupial evolution, particularly diprotodontian marsupials; the evolution, ecology, palaeoecology and biogeography of arboreal communities (New Guinea and rainforest communities); experimental taphonomy, cave taphonomy.

LABORATORY TEACHING

UNSW BIOS1201 Molecules, Cells and Genes (2005, 07)
UNSW BIOS1301 Ecology, Sustainability and Environmental Science (2006, 07)
UNSW BIOS1101 Evolutionary & Functional Biology (2005)
UNSW GEOS1211 Environmental Earth Science (2006, 07 - Palaeontology)

CONTACT

School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES),
University of New South Wales,
UNSW 2052
Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Tel: +61 2 9385 2125
Fax: +61 2 9385 1558
Email: k.roberts@student.unsw.edu.au

PUBLICATIONS

Archer, M., Arena, D. A., Bassarova, M., Beck, R., Black, K., Boles, W.E., Brewer, P., Cooke, B.N., Crosby, K., Gillespie, A., Godthelp, H., Hand, S.J., Kear, B., Louys, J, Morrell, A., Muirhead, J., Roberts, K. K., Scanlon, J. D., Travouillon, K.T, and Wroe, S., 2006. Current status of species-level representation in faunas from selected fossil localities in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Alcheringa Special Issue 1, 1-17.

Roberts, K.K., Archer, M., Hand, S. J. and Godthelp, H. 2007. New genus and species of extinct Miocene ringtail possums (Marsupialia: Pseudocheiridae). American Museum Novitates. (Freely available online from AMNH publications)

Roberts, K.K., Bassarova, M., and Archer, M., submitted Geobios. Oligo-Miocene ringtail possums of the genus Paljara (Pseudocheiridae: Marsupialia) from Queensland, Australia.