Evolutionary Biology - Dr Mark Eldridge

Dr Mark Eldridge

Research Associate

Address

Evolutionary Biology Unit
The Australian Museum
6 College St
Sydney 2010
Phone: (+612) 9320 6292 or 6175
Fax: (+612) 9320 6020

Academic Qualifications

B.Sc. (Hons) Macquarie University, 1986
Ph.D. Macquarie University, 1992

Academic appointments

1987-1991: Tutor, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University.
1992-1994: Australian Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University.
1995: Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University.
1995: Tutor/Demonstrator, School of Business and Technology, University of Western Sydney - Macarthur.
1996: Research Fellow, Marsupial CRC.
1996-1998: Tutor, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University.
1999-2003: Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, Biological Sciences, Macquarie University.
2003–2004: Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, Evolutionary Biology Unit, Australian Museum

Current research interests

The genetic consequences of isolation. A study of the genetic diversity and fitness of island and mainland marsupial populations.
Conservation genetics of the rufous hare-wallaby ( Lagorchestes hirsutus ).
Conservation genetics of the Proserpine rock-wallaby ( Petrogale persephone) .
Conservation genetics of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby ( Petrogale penicillata) .
Fragmentation, dispersal and gene flow amongst yellow footed rock-wallaby ( Petrogale xanthopus ) population isolates in South Australia.
Do population bottlenecks result in the loss of adaptive genetic variation? A study of MHC variation in Australian marsupial populations.
Using molecular genetic tags and assignment tests to examine dispersal and gene flow amongst population isolates in fragmented and unfragmented landscapes.

Selected Publications

Bowyer, J.C., Newell, G.R. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 2002. Genetic effects of habitat contraction on Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo ( Dendrolagus lumholtzi ) in the Australian Wet Tropics. Conservation Genetics 3 : 61-69.

Bowyer, J.C., Newell, G.R., Metcalfe, C.J. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 2003. Tree-kangaroos ( Dendrolagus ) in Australia: Are D. lumholtzi and D. bennettianus sister taxa? Australian Zoologist 32 : 207-213.

Browning, T.L., Taggart, D.A., Rummery, C., Close, R.L. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 2001. Multifaceted genetic analysis of the "Critically Endangered" brush-tailed rock-wallaby Petrogale penicillata in Victoria, Australia: Implications for management. Conservation Genetics 2 : 145-156.

Browning, T.L., Belov, K., Miller, R.D. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 2004. Molecular cloning and characterisation of a polymorphic MHC class II DBB, from the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii). Immunogenetics 55: 791-795.

Burns, E.L., Eldridge, M.D.B. and Houlden, B.A. 2004. Microsatellite variation and population structure in a declining Australian Hylid Litoria aurea. Molecular Ecology 13: 1745-1757.

Campeau-Péloquin, A., Kirsch, J.A.W., Eldridge, M.D.B. and Lapointe, F.-J. 2001. Phylogeny of the rock-wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) based on DNA/DNA hybridisation. Australian Journal of Zoology 49 : 463-486.

Close, R.L., Eldridge, M.D.B., Bell J.N. and Reside, J.1994. A genetic study of the brush-tailed rock wallaby ( Petrogale penicillata ) in East Gippsland and relevance for management of the species in Victoria. Pacific Conservation Biology 1 : 367-371.

Eldridge, M.D.B. 1997. Restriction analysis of mitochondrial DNA from the yellow-footed rock-wallaby Petrogale xanthopus . Implications for management. Wildlife Research 24 : 289-294.

Eldridge, M.D.B. and Browning, T.L. 2002. Molecular genetic analysis of the naturalized Hawaiian population of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby, Petrogale penicillata (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). Journal of Mammalogy 83 : 437-444.

Eldridge, M.D.B. and Close, R.L. 1992. Taxonomy of rock wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). I. A revision of the eastern Petrogale with a description of three new species. Australian Journal of Zoology 40 : 605-625.

Eldridge, M.D.B. and Close, R.L. 1993. Radiation of chromosome shuffles. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development . 3 : 15-22.

Eldridge, M.D.B., Browning, T.L. and Close, R.L. 2001. Provenance of a New Zealand brush-tailed rock-wallaby ( Petrogale penicillata ) population determined by mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. Molecular Ecology 10 : 2561-2567.

Eldridge, M.D.B., Dollin, A.E., Johnston, P.G., Close, R.L. and Murray, J.D. 1988. Chromosomal rearrangements in rock wallabies Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). I. The P. assimilis species complex. G-banding and synaptonemal complex analysis. Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics 48 : 228-232.

Eldridge, M.D.B., King, J.M., Loupis, A.K., Spencer, P.B.S., Taylor, A.C., Pope, L.C. and Hall, G.P. 1999. Unprecedented low levels of genetic variation and inbreeding depression in an island population of the black-footed rock-wallaby Conservation Biology 13 : 531-541.

Eldridge, M.D.B., Kinnear, J.E. and Onus, M.L. 2001. Source population of dispersing rock-wallabies ( Petrogale lateralis ) identified by assignment tests on multilocus genotypic data. Molecular Ecology 10 : 2867-2876.

Eldridge, M.D.B., Wilson, A.C.C., Metcalfe, C.J., Dollin, A.E., Bell, J.N., Johnson, P.M., Johnston, P.G. and Close, R.L. 2001. Taxonomy of rock-wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae). III. Molecular data confirms the species status of the purple-necked rock-wallaby Petrogale purpureicollis Le Souef 1924. Australian Journal of Zoology 49 : 323-343.

Eldridge, M.D.B., Kinnear, J.E., Zenger, K.R., McKenzie, L.M. and Spencer, P.B.S. 2004 Genetic diversity in remnant mainland and 'pristine' island populations of three endemic Australian macropodids (Marsupialia): Macropus eugenii, Lagorchestes hirsutus and Petrogale lateralis. Conservation Genetics 5: 325-338.

Eldridge, M.D.B., Rummery, C., Bray, C., Zenger, K.R., Browning, T.L. and Close, R.L. 2004. Genetic analysis of a population crash in brush-tailed rock-wallabies (Petrogale penicillata) from Jenolan Caves, south-eastern Australia. Wildlife Research 31: 229-240.

Leishman, M. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 1990. Life history characteristics of two species of Onychophora from the Blue Mountains, N.S.W. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of N.S.W . 112 : 173-185.

Metcalfe, C.J., Eldridge, M.D.B., and Johnston, P.G. 2002. Mapping the distribution of the telomeric sequence(T 2 AG 3 ) in rock-wallabies, Petrogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) by fluorescence in situ hybridization. II. The lateralis complex. Cytogenetic and Genome Research 96 : 169-175.

Metcalfe, C.J., Eldridge, M.D.B., Toder, R. and Johnston, P.G. 1998. Mapping the distribution of the telomeric sequence(T 2 AG 3 ) in the Macropodoidae (Marsupialia) by fluorescence in situ hybridization. I. The swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor . Chromosome Research 6 : 603-610.

Metcalfe, C.J., Eldridge, M.D.B. and Johnston, P.G. 2004. Mapping the distribution of the telomeric sequence (T2AG3)n in the 2n=14 presumed ancestral marsupial complement and in the macropodines (Marsupialia: Macropodidae), by fluorescence in situ hybridisation. Chromosome Research 12: 405-414.

O'Neill, R.J.W., Eldridge, M.D.B., and Graves, J.A.M. 2001. Chromosome heterozygosity and de novo chromosome rearrangements in mammalian interspecific hybrids. Mammalian Genome 12 : 256-259.

O'Neill, R.J.W., Eldridge, M.D.B., Crozier, R.H. and Marshall Graves, J.A. 1997 Low levels of sequence divergence in rock-wallabies Petrogale suggest a lack of positive directional selection in SRY. Molecular Biology and Evolution 14 : 350-350.

O’Neill, R.J., Eldridge, M.D.B. and Metcalfe, C.J. 2004. Centromere dynamics and chromosome evolution in marsupials. Journal of Heredity 95: 375-381

Rock, J., Eldridge, M.D.B., Champion, A., Johnston, P.G. and Joss. J.M.P. 1996. Karyotype and nuclear DNA content of the Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (Ceratodidae: Dipnoi). Cytogenetics and Cell Genetics 73 : 187-189.

Spencer, P.B.S., Rhind, S.G. and Eldridge, M.D.B. 2001. Phylogeographic structure within Phascogale , (Marsupialia: Dasyuridae) based on partial cytochrome b sequence. Australian Journal of Zoology 49 : 369-377.

Zenger, K.R., Eldridge, M.D.B., and Cooper, D.W. 2003. Intraspecific variation, sex-biased dispersal and phylogeography of the eastern grey kangaroo ( Macropus giganteus ). Heredity 91 : 153-162.

Zenger, K.R., Eldridge, M.D.B. and Johnston, P.G. 2003. A rapid PCR-RFLP diagnostic test for distinguishing sympatric bandicoot species (Marsupialia: Peramelidae) in south-eastern Australia. Conservation Genetics, in press.

Zenger, K.R., Eldridge, M.D.B., Pope, L.C. and Cooper, D.W. 2003. Characterisation and cross-species utility of microsatellite markers within kangaroos, wallabies and rat kangaroos (Macropodoidae: Marsupialia). Australian Journal of Zoology 51: 587-596.