Macroevolution and Macroecology Group
Australian National University

Our Research

We are a research group spread across several schools at ANU, united by our interest in evolutionary and ecological processes underlying biological, linguistic and cultural diversity, and the conservation of biodiversity. Our research covers a wide range of questions, taxonomic groups and spatial scales. Our research themes include: 
  • patterns and processes of molecular evolution
  • evolution of languages and linguistic diversity
  • phylogenetics, macroevolution and biogeography
  • extinction risk and conservation prioritization

Our Textbooks

Latest Publications

Cardillo, M., Scheele, B.C., Tulloch, A.I.T. (2025) Forecasting extinction risk for future-proof conservation decisions. Trends in Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.10.014

Norris E., Scheele B.C., Cardillo M. (2025) Assessing land tenure contributions for protected area growth under alternative conservation targets using the case study of the Australian Monsoonal Tropics. Conservation Biology https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.70143

Duncan, RP, Scheele, BC, & Clulow, S. (2025) Thermal mismatch models derived from occurrence data predict pathogen prevalence in frogs. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2423706122

Skeels, A., Sauquet, H., Mast, A.H., Weston, P.H., Olde, P.M., Jordan, G.J., Carpenter, R.J., Fenker, J., Reynolds, Z.K.M., Lemmon, A.R., Lemmon, E.M., Marcano, F.P., Cardillo, M. (2025) Paleo-biome dynamics shaped a large Gondwanan plant radiation Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.  https://doi/10.1073/pnas.2502129122

Yuan, Z., Yang, G., Ding, W., Brun, P., Skeels, A., Pellissier, L., & Zimmermann, NE (2025). The geography of connectivity shapes plant endemism hotspots. Ecography. e07514. doi:10.1002/ecog.07514

Schembri R, Bromham L, Moritz C, Hua X (2025) Comparing rates of molecular and morphological evolution identifies multiple speciation trajectories in a diverse radiation of skinks, Evolution, qpaf033, https://doi.org/10.1093/evolut/qpaf033

L. Bromham, K. Yaxley, O. Wilson, & X. Hua (2025) Macroevolutionary analysis of polysynthesis shows that language complexity is more likely to evolve in small, isolated populations. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (24) e2504483122, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2504483122
We are affiliated with the ANU/CSIRO Centre for Biodiversity Analysis and the Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative