Australian time traveller: papers in honour of Mike Archer

Abstract

Robin M. D. Beck [[email protected]], School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4WT, UK. Julien Louys [[email protected]], Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. Jacqueline M. T. Nguyen [[email protected]], Australian Museum Research Institute, 1 William Street, Sydney NSW 2010 Australia; College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide SA 5001 Australia; and South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000 Australia. Kenny J. Travouillon [[email protected]], Collections and Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, Western Australia 6106, Australia. Laura A. B. Wilson [[email protected]], School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia; School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

WHAT makes a great palaeontologist? Is it dedication to, and success in fieldwork? Or is it making major new fossil discoveries that fundamentally change our understanding of the history of life on Earth? Or is it a career path characterized by the highest quality of fundamental palaeontological research, including the painstaking but critically important identification and description of new species, and carrying out detailed anatomical and stratigraphical studies? Or is it a record of proposing and developing imaginative and influential new hypotheses that overturn and/or revolutionize previous ideas, thereby influencing researchers for decades to come? Or is it a solid track record of training and mentoring new generations of palaeontologists to achieve successful and influential careers of their own? Or is it the ability to inspire and educate diverse scientific and non-scientific audiences, thus raising the profile of palaeontology for the media, policy makers, and general public? Without doubt, a truly great palaeontologist would be someone who combines all of these qualities. Such people are of course vanishingly rare, but among them must surely be counted Professor Mike Archer (Fig. 1).

Mike’s research has encompassed a vast range of topics across the broad field of vertebrate palaeontology (including, but not limited to, taxonomy, biostratigraphy, phylogenetics and systematics, biogeography, functional morphology, palaeoecology, and palaeobiology), as well as more widely within the fields of life and earth sciences, with papers on conservation biology, molecular systematics, animal behaviour, geochemistry, palaeobotany, and 3D imaging, to choose only a small selection. Mike’s work has also often involved novel cross-disciplinary approaches. For example, Mike was one of the first scientists to argue that the fossil record is of critical importance for conservation biology (Archer et al. 1991a)—a concept that has now achieved wide acceptance (Louys 2012, Turvey & Saupe 2019). As a next step, Mike is now putting his own ideas into practice with the ‘Burramys Project’, which aims to conserve the Mountain Pygmy Possum (Burramys parvus) by establishing populations in lowland habitats that were once occupied by its extinct relatives (Archer et al. 2019). Furthermore, Mike has never shied away from controversial debates, having argued passionately and persuasively for the sustainable use of native Australian wildlife (Archer & Beale 2004), and for the ‘de-extinction’ of recently vanished species, such as the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) and gastric-brooding frogs (the species of Rheobatrachus: Stone 2013). The title we have chosen for this special issue of Alcheringa, ‘Australian time traveller’, is intended to reflect the fact that Mike's research has not just dealt with the far distant past, but is directly relevant to the present day and to issues that will be faced by future generations.

In terms of quantity, Mike’s research output has been prodigious, with more than 350 refereed papers, 90 book chapters, and 14 books, collectively attracting over 11,000 citations. Amongst these are several publications that have proven influential and are now recognized as classics in the field. These include his landmark monograph on the marsupial basicranium, which stemmed from studies undertaken as part of his PhD (Archer 1976), Another is his comprehensive review of the Australian marsupial radiation in ‘Vertebrate Zoogeography of Australia’ (Archer 1984). Lastly, his innovative and influential classification of marsupials co-authored with the late Ken Aplin (Aplin & Archer 1987) is a benchmark for Australian mammalogists today.

Mike’s palaeontological research covers multiple continents and hundreds of millions of years, and testifies to both the depth and breadth of his expertise. Although he has mostly focused on the Australian Cenozoic, Mike has researched fossils from as far afield as Argentina, New Zealand and France, and stratigraphically spanning from the Cretaceous to Holocene. Mike maintains active collaborations with researchers in the USA, UK, New Zealand, France, Germany, Czechia, Sweden, China, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, and South Africa. Over 50 years after the appearance of his first scientific paper, Mike shows no sign of slowing down, with nearly 40 papers appearing in the last five years alone. Moreover, the quality of these various studies has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Romer-Simpson Medal from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (2019), a NSW Premier’s Prize for Science & Engineering (2016), the TH Huxley Medal from the Australian Museum (2004), and the Australian Centennial Medal from the Federal Government of Australia (2003).

Remarkably, Mike’s enormous published output has been achieved while also sustaining an extremely active field exploration programme. This has traversed the globe from Argentina, where he discovered the aptly named first non-Australian monotreme, Monotrematum sudamericanum (Pascual et al. 1992), to Aotearoa New Zealand, where he was involved in uncovering the first Zealandian terrestrial mammal fossil (Worthy et al. 2006), and to France. However, Mike’s most dedicated efforts have focused on Australia, with expeditions to the Oligo-Miocene deposits of Central Australia, and to Australia’s only early Cenozoic mammal fossil site at Tingamarra in southeastern Queensland. Yet, it is with the astonishing rich fossil-bearing limestone deposits of Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland that Mike has been most famously associated. Although fossil mammals were first collected from Riversleigh in the 1960s (Tedford 1967), it was Mike and his team who have revealed the true impact of this locality, with the recovery of vertebrate fossils in almost mind-boggling abundance from 1983 onwards. These expeditions have culminated in thousands of exquisitely preserved specimens representing dozens of new species. Mike’s tireless work has resulted in the identification of dozens of individual fossil sites at Riversleigh that collectively span late Oligocene to Pleistocene, and that provide insight into how Australia’s unique biotas have adapted to climate change over the last 25 million years. It is this combination of exceptional abundance, preservation and temporal range that makes Riversleigh of global significance. Aptly, in his introduction to Mike’s milestone book, ‘Riversleigh: The Story of Animals in Ancient Rainforests of Inland Australia’, written in collaboration with Sue Hand and Henk Godthelp (Archer et al. 1991b), Sir David Attenborough even described Riversleigh as “one of the most important fossil deposits in the world”.

Mike has continued to drive research at Riversleigh over the last 40 years, but was also instrumental in ensuring that this unique fossil site is protected for future generations by championing its nomination for UNESCO World Heritage status. This was granted in 1994, making Riversleigh one of the few World Heritage Sites recognized solely for fossils. Mike has accordingly raised the profile of Riversleigh through numerous popular science articles and books (Archer et al. 1991b), which won a Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales Whitley Book award in 1991. Mike has used this public awareness to support initiatives for the preservation and promotion of Australia’s fossil heritage. These incorporate plans for a new Collections and Research building at the Australian Museum, as well as the creation of regional museum centres, such as the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum in Bathurst, the Age of Fishes Museum at Canowindra, and the Lightning Ridge Opal and Fossil Museum in Lightning Ridge.

Mike’s university teaching has centred on his being a remarkable supervisor for 90 PhD, Masters and Honours students so far. Many of these have gone on to successful academic careers of their own, achieving appointments as professors, lecturers, museum curators, research associates, and collection managers. Certainly, all of the authors of this editorial have benefited enormously from Mike’s professional and personal generosity, as Honours students, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, or all three. Indeed, nearly every contribution in this special issue of Alcheringa includes at least one author who has worked directly with Mike.

In terms of community education, Mike has laboured tirelessly to communicate science to diverse audiences. His research regularly attracts coverage from a host of international media, such as the BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, Der Spiegel, New Scientist, and Science, to name just a few. Mike was also an invited contributor to the popular and influential online ‘TEDtalk’ series. This outstanding and sustained record of achievement in research, teaching, mentorship and science communication has been acknowledged by award of a Bragg Membership from the Royal Institution of Australia (2016), an Order of Australia (2008), a Fellowship of the World Academy of Arts & Sciences (2003), and the Australian Museum inaugural Eureka Prize for the Promotion of Science (1990).

Finally, to reflect on Mike as a person. Despite his well-deserved reputation as one of the world’s leading palaeontologists, he remains resolutely down to earth, welcoming and encouraging to all, with an engaging sense of humour. Those of us lucky enough to have visited his home in Sydney will have experienced wonderful hospitality from Mike and his wife, Professor Sue Hand (herself a highly successful palaeontologist). The memorable nights with academics, students and others gathered in the garden, drinking wine, eating vast quantities of food, intently discussing palaeontology (of course), politics, current affairs, movies, and other topics have always been tinged with a sense of scepticism, fun, and no opportunity ever missed to crack a joke or two. Above all, after more than 50 years as a premier Australian scientist, Mike retains a seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm and drive to plan new projects, new grants, new expeditions, and new investigations into still-unanswered questions.

We would therefore like to end the introduction to this special issue of Alcheringa entitled, ‘Australian time traveller: papers in honour of Mike Archer’, by simply saying on behalf of the Australian and international palaeontological community to which he has contributed so much… “Good on ya Mike!”

Figure 1. Snapshot from the 2013 Riversleigh expedition. Participants from left to right: Mike Archer (foreground); Sue Hand (far distance); Phil Creaser, Chris Larkin, and Lizard Cannell (centre). Photograph reproduced with permission by Tony Walters.