Moritz Group - Evolutionary biogeography & conservation

The Moritz Group focuses on evolutionary biogeography and conservation: biodiversity discovery and conservation; biogeography and speciation; biological responses to climate change.

Biodiversity discovery & conservation

The majority of species remain to be discovered, yet habitats are being lost of affected by global change at an ever increasing rate. New tools from genomics, phylogenetics and spatial environmental analysis are revolutionizing our ability to discover diversity and map hotspots of unique species- or phylo-diversity. Building on previous studies of rainforests in eastern Australia and Brazil, and in California, our lab has turned its attention to the monsoonal tropics of Australia -  perhaps the largest ecologically intact tropical savanna on the planet, and also a frontier for biodiversity discovery. Through a combination of field work, genomics, phenotyping and novel spatial analyses we have discovered species and hotspots of diversity new to science and this is now informing conservation strategies by agencies and NGOs. In ongoing work, we aim to better understand the evolutionary processes that generated this diversity and how this knowledge can inform conservation under rapid environmental change.

Biological responses to climate change

Though existing species have persisted through multiple episodes of climate change in the past, we are entering a new phase of rapid, human-caused climate change with no analogue in the recent geological past. Understanding how species respond by migration or adaptation is key to finding strategies to promote persistence of biodiversity. Our lab studies this through a combination of comparative studies of phenotypic and genomic diversity in across environments in space and time. One potential solution is to identify long-term climatic refugia across the landscape - also likely centers of local diversity and seek to protect these and habitat linkages to them. 

Diversity and conservation of Australian marsupials

Australia hosts a globally unique radiation of marsupial mammals, many of which are strongly impacted by invasive species and habitat alteration. We are using genomics and advanced statistical methods to understand species boundaries and relationships across the entire radiation. For species now restricted to islands, we are investing divergence history and genetic erosion in remnant populations that are also the source for translocations to fenced areas on the mainland.

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Selected publications

  • Fujita, M. K., J. A. McGuire, S. C. Donnellan, & C. Moritz (2010): “Diversification & persistence at the arid-monsoonal interface: Australia-wide biogeography of the Bynoe’s gecko (Heteronotia binoei; Gekkonidae).” Evolution 64:2293-2314
  • Bell, R.C., J. L. Parra, M. Tonione, C. Hoskin, J. B. MacKenzie, S. E. Williams & C. Moritz (2010): “Patterns of persistence & isolation indicate resilience to climate change in montane rainforest lizards.” Molecular Ecology, 19 (12): 2531-2544.
  • Moritz C., C. J. Hoskins, J. B. MacKenzie, B. L. Phillips, M. Tonione, N. Silva, J. VanDerWal, S. E. Williams, & C. H. Graham (2009): “Identification & dynamics of a cryptic suture zone in tropical rainforest.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences 276: 11235-1244.
  • Carnaval, A.C., M. J. Hickerson, C. F. B. Haddad, M. Rodrigues & C. Moritz (2009): “Stability predicts genetic diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot.” Science 323: 785-789
  • Moritz, Craig, J. L. Patton, C. J. Conroy, J. L. Parra, G. C. White, & S. R. Beissinger (2008): “Impact of a century of climate change on small-mammal communities in Yosemite National Park, USA.” Science 322: 261-264.
  • Graham, C. H., C. Moritz & S. E. Williams (2006). "Habitat history improves prediction of biodiversity in rainforest fauna." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103: 632-636
  • Hoskin, C. J., M. Higgie K. R. McDonald & C. Moritz (2005). "Reinforcement drives rapid allopatric speciation." Nature (London) 437: 1353-1356.
  • Hugall, A., Craig Moritz, A. Moussalli & J. Stanisic (2002). "Reconciling paleodistribution models & comparative phylogeography in the Wet Tropics rainforest land snail Gnarosophia bellendenkerensis (Brazier 1875)." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99: 6112-6117.
  • Moritz, Craig (2002). "Strategies to protect biological diversity & the evolutionary processes that sustain it." Systematic Biology 51: 238-254.
  • Moritz, C. (1994). "Defining 'evolutionary significant units' for conservation." Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9(10): 373-375.
  • Moritz, C. & W. M. Brown (1987). "Tandem Duplications in Animal Mitochondrial DNA Species Variation in Incidence & Gene Content among Lizards." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 84(20): 7183-7187.
  • Moritz, C. (1983). "Parthenogenesis in the Endemic Australian Lizard Heteronotia binoei Gekkonidae." Science (Washington D C) 220(4598): 735-737

We discovered two new Australian native mammals – the first of their kind this century

Story | Friday 23 February 2024
Australia can lay claim to two new native mammal species, discovered as part of collaborative new research published in the journal Molecular Ecology.

A croc’s life: below the surface, there’s more than meets the eye

Story | Wednesday 18 October 2023
How did saltwater crocodiles snap up Yusuke Fukuda’s heart?

Study maps plan to save native rodent from extinction

Story | Thursday 13 July 2023
A first-of-its-kind genetic study of the endangered Australian Pookila - formerly known as the New Holland Mouse - is contributing to saving the species from extinction.

‘Impressive rafting skills’: the 8-million-year old origin story of how rodents colonised Australia

Story | Saturday 3 September 2022
Our new research unites genomic sequencing and museum collections to reconstruct the evolutionary tale of native rodents, including many extinct and elusive species – and they have a fascinating origin story.

This adorable mouse was considered extinct for over 100 years — until we found it hiding in plain sight

Story | Tuesday 29 June 2021
Australia has the world’s worst track record for wiping out mammals, with 34 species declared extinct since European colonisation. But today, we bring some good news: one rodent species, Gould’s mouse (Pseudomys gouldii), is set to be crossed off Australia’s extinct species list.

Shock find brings extinct mouse back from the dead

Story | Tuesday 29 June 2021
An Australian mammal thought to have been wiped out over 150 years ago can now be crossed off our list of extinct animals, following a new study.

The government’s idea of ‘national environment standards’ would entrench Australia’s global pariah status

Story | Thursday 24 June 2021
A growing global push to halt biodiversity decline, most recently agreed at the G7 on Sunday, leaves Australia out in the cold as the federal government walks away from critical reforms needed to protect threatened species.

David Duchêne

Story | Thursday 23 May 2019
David Duchêne uses phylogenomics to study the diversification of Australian marsupials.

From Canberra to Munich

Story | Tuesday 10 July 2018
Within two days of Josh Penalba submitting his PhD, the Biology graduate started working in a lab at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Dan Rosauer

Story | Tuesday 1 May 2018
Dan Rosauer is fascinated by the incredibly uneven spatial distribution of biological diversity at all levels, particularly centres of phylogenetic endemism.

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