Dr Ken Aplin is a Research Scientist for the Australian National Wildlife Collection, where he documents the diversity of mammals and reptiles in Australia, South-East Asia and the Pacific region.
Current activities
Dr Aplin’s current research activities span a broad range of animal groups and a wide geographic area.
Within Australia, his research is focused on documenting the present and past diversity of mammals and reptiles, using a combination of morphological and genetic studies, and placing this diversity into a broad biogeographic context.
For Australian mammals, where a large portion of the original diversity was lost during the early years of European settlement, this also includes studies of late prehistoric remains from cave deposits.
For Australian reptiles, most effort is directed at researching the burrowing lizards and snakes of the arid regions of Australia, and some poorly known groups of lizards from northern Australia.
Dr Aplin’s work outside Australia includes:
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research on the marsupials and rodents of New Guinea and the Moluccan islands of Indonesia
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work on the taxonomy, evolution and ecology of the rodent fauna of South-East Asia.
Research on rodents in South-East Asia is of special interest because of the major role of rodents in numerous human and livestock disease cycles.
Background
Dr Aplin was Curator of Herpetology at the West Australian Museum from 1989-2000. During those 11 years years at the Museum, he undertook fieldwork throughout Western Australia and on Timor.
While much of his research focused on reptile taxonomy, he continued to work on Australasian mammals and archaeological faunas.
In the mid-1990s, he initiated an industry-sponsored, community-based frog conservation program, Alcoa Frogwatch, and in 1998-2000 worked intensively on a newly identified disease threat to native frogs, the chytrid fungus.
Dr Aplin joined CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems in 2000 to assist the Rodent Research Group in their field programs in South-East Asia.
Over the next five years, he carried out fieldwork in:
In recognition of Dr Aplin's contribution to Australasian zoology, two mammals and one reptile are named after him.
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Bangladesh
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northeast India
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Myanmar (Burma)
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Thailand
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Cambodia
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Laos
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Vietnam
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Papua New Guinea.
In the process he amassed a large collection of rodents and other small mammals.
Academic qualifications
Dr Aplin’s was awarded an Honours degree in Prehistory and Anthropology at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, in 1981.
During his undergraduate career he focused on the natural and human history of Australian environments, in the process acquiring a broad knowledge of its modern fauna and a proficiency in identifying mammal bones and teeth.
Starting in 1977, he applied this skill to the analysis of remains from numerous archaeological excavations in Australia and New Guinea, a ‘sideline’ that he has maintained ever since.
To pursue his growing interest in Australasian fauna, Dr Aplin undertook his doctoral studies at the School of Biological Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
His doctoral thesis, completed in 1991, was entitled Basicranial regions of diprotodontian marsupials: anatomy, ontogeny and phylogeny. The work combined palaeontology, comparative anatomy and embryology, and lead to a major review of marsupial classification, published in 1987 together with Prof. Mike Archer.
Achievements
Dr Aplin’s achievements include:
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being a Research Associate of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA.
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spending three months in 2006 as Visiting Professor to the Kyoto University Museum, Japan.
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contributing to research projects funded by:
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having two mammals and one reptile named after him in recognition of his contribution to Australasian zoology.
Find out more about the Australian National Wildlife Collection.
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