Dr Kieren Mitchell

• Qualifications

  Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), University of Adelaide, Australia

  Doctor of Philosophy - 2015

  University of Adelaide, Australia

  Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours in Evolutionary Biology - 2011

• Research Interests

  Kieren's research focuses on determining the relationships among different species and groups of animals as a framework for studying broad macroevolutionary processes. His studies encompass the estimation of speciation and extinction rates, biogeography, and the loss and gain of ecological and physiological traits in different animal groups through time.

  Current projects involve the extraction and sequencing of DNA from species that became extinct in the last 50,000 years, providing access to new data concerning the mechanisms and drivers of evolutionary change.

• Publications

  Torres-Roig E, Mitchell KJ, Alcover JA, Martínez-Freiría F, Bailon S, Heiniger H, Williams M, Cooper A, Pons J, Bover P (2020) Origin and extinction of a new insular viper: molecular clues of overseas immigration. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Published online.

  De Pietri V, Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Cole TL, Wood JR, Mitchell KJ, Cibois A, Jansen JJFJ, Cooper A, Feng S, Chen W, Wragg GM (In press) A new species of Polynesian sandpiper (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae: Prosobonia) from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Group, and the phylogenetic relationships of Prosobonia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

  Oliver PM, Heiniger H, Hugall AF, Joseph L, Mitchell KJ (2020) Oligocene divergence of frogmouths (Podargidae) across Wallace’s line. Biology Letters 16: 20200040.

  Lombal A, Salis AT, Mitchell KJ, Tennyson AJD, Shepherd LD, Worthy TH, Woehler EJ, Austin JJ, Burridge CP (2020) Using ancient DNA to quantify losses of genetic and species diversity in seabirds: a case study of Pterodroma petrels from a Pacific island. Biodiversity and Conservation 29: 2361–2375.

  Bover P, Mitchell KJ, Torres-Roig E, Llamas B, Thomson VA, Alcover JA, Agustí J, Cooper A, Pons J (2020) Ancient DNA from an extinct Mediterranean micromammal – Hypnomys morpheus (Rodentia: Gliridae) – provides insight into the biogeographic history of insular dormice. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 58(1): 427-438.

  Gower G, Fenderson LE, Salis AT, Helgen KM, van Loenen AL, Heiniger H, Mitchell KJ, Llamas B, Cooper A (2019) Widespread male sex bias in mammal fossil and museum collections. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(38): 19019-19024.

  Kealy S, Donnellan SC, Mitchell KJ, Herrera M, Aplin K, O’Connor S, Louys J (2020) Phylogenetic relationships of the cuscuses (Diprotodontia: Phalangeridae) of Island Southeast Asia and Melanesia based on the mitochondrial ND2 gene. Australian Mammalogy 42, 266-276.

  Bover P, Llamas B, Mitchell KJ, Alcover JA, Cooper A, Lalueza-Fox C, Thomson V, Pons J (2019) Unraveling the phylogenetic relationships of the extinct bovid Myotragus balearicus Bate 1909 from the Balearic Islands. Quaternary Science Reviews 215: 185-195.

  Boast AP, Chapman B, Herrera MB, Worthy TH, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJD, Houde P, Bunce M, Cooper A, Mitchell KJ (2019) Mitochondrial genomes from New Zealand’s extinct adzebills (Aves: Aptornithidae: Aptornis) support a sister-taxon relationship with the Afro-Madagascan Sarothruridae. Diversity 11(2): 24.

  Cole TL, Ksepka DT, Mitchell KJ, Tennyson AJD, Thomas DB, Pan H, Zhang G, Rawlence NJ, Wood JR, Bover P, Bouzat JL, Cooper A, Fiddaman S, Hart T, Miller G, Ryan PG, Shepard L, Wilmshurst JM, Water JM (2019) Mitogenomes uncover extinct penguin taxa and reveal island formation as a key driver of speciation. Molecular Biology and Evolution 36(4): 784–797.

  Jackson SM, Fleming PJS, Eldridge MDB, Ingleby S, Flannery T, Johnson RN, Cooper SJB, Mitchell KJ, Souilmi Y, Cooper A, Wilson DE, Helgen KM (2019) The dogma of dingoes - Taxonomic status of the dingo: A reply to Smith et al. ZooTaxa 4564 (1): 198-212.

  Richards SM, Hovhannisyan N, Gilliham M, Ingram J, Skadhauge B, Heiniger H, Llamas B, Mitchell KJ, Meachen J, Fincher GB, Austin JJ, Cooper A (2019) Low-cost cross-taxon enrichment of mitochondrial DNA using in-house synthesised RNA probes. PLOS ONE 14(2): e0209499.

  Kosintsev P, Mitchell KJ, Devièse T, van der Plicht J, Kuitems M, Petrova E, Tikhonov A, Higham T, Comeskey D, Turney C, Cooper A, van Kolfschoten T, Stuart AJ, Lister AM (2018) Evolution and extinction of the giant rhinoceros Elasmotherium sibiricum sheds light on late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3(1): 31-38.

  Cascini M, Mitchell KJ, Cooper A, Phillips MJ (2018) Reconstructing the evolution of giant extinct kangaroos: comparing the utility of DNA, morphology, and total evidence. Systematic Biology 68(3): 520-537.

  Bover P, Llamas B, Thomson VA, Pons J, Cooper A, Mitchell KJ (2018) Molecular resolution to a morphological controversy: the case of North American fossil muskoxen Bootherium and Symbos. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 129: 70-76.

  Thomson VA, Mitchell KJ, Eberhard R, Dortch J, Austin JJ, Cooper A (2018) Genetic diversity and drivers of dwarfism in extinct island emu populations. Biology Letters 14(4).

  Bover P, Mitchell KJ, Llamas B, Rofes J, Thomson VA, Cuenca-Bescós G, Alcover JA, Cooper A, Pons J (2018) Molecular phylogenetics supports the origin of an endemic Balearic shrew lineage (Nesiotites) coincident with the Messinian Salinity Crisis. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 125: 188-195.

  White LC, Mitchell KJ, Austin JJ (2018) Ancient mitochondrial genomes reveal the demographic history and phylogeography of the extinct, enigmatic thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Journal of Biogeography 45(1): 1-13.

  Feigin CY, Newton AH, Doronina L, Schmitz J, Hipsley CA, Mitchell KJ, Gower G, Llamas B, Soubrier J, Heider TN, Menzies BR, Cooper A, O’Neill RJ, Pask AJ (2018) Genome of the Tasmanian tiger provides insights into the evolution and demography of an extinct marsupial carnivore. Nature Ecology & Evolution 2: 182–192.

  Perry T, van Loenen AL, Heiniger H, Lee C, Gongora J, Cooper A, Mitchell KJ (2017) Ancient DNA analysis of the extinct North American flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 112: 258-267.

  Scofield RP, Mitchell KJ, Wood JR, De Pietri VL, Jarvie S, Llamas B, Cooper A (2017) The origin and phylogenetic relationships of the New Zealand ravens. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 106: 136-143.

  Wood JR, Mitchell KJ, Scofield RP, De Pietri VL, Rawlence NJ, Cooper A (2016) Phylogenetic relationships and terrestrial adaptations of the extinct laughing owl, Sceloglaux albifacies (Aves: Strigidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 179(4): 907-918.

  Mitchell KJ, Wood JR, Llamas B, McLenachan PA, Kardailsky O, Scofield RP, Worthy TH, Cooper A (2016) Ancient mitochondrial genomes clarify the evolutionary history of New Zealand’s enigmatic acanthisittid wrens. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 102: 295-304.

  Soubrier J, Gower G, Chen K, Richards SM, Llamas B, Mitchell KJ, Ho SYW, Kosintsev P, Lee MSY, Baryshnikov G, Bollongino R, Bover P, Burger J, Chival D, Crégut-Bonnoure E, Decker JE, Doronichev VB, Douka K, Fordham DA, Fontana F, Fritz C, Glimmerveen J, Golovanova LV, Groves C, Guerreschi A, Haak W, Higham T, Hofman-Kamińska E, Immel A, Julien M-A, Krause J, Krotova O, Langbein F, Larson G, Rohrlach A, Scheu A, Schnabel RD, Taylor JF, Tokarska M, Tosello G, van der Plicht J, van Loenen AL, Vigne J-D, Wooley O, Orlando L, Kowalczyk R, Shapiro B, Cooper A (2016) Early cave art and ancient DNA record the origin of European bison. Nature Communications 7: 13158.

  Mitchell KJ, Scanferla A, Soibelzon E, Bonini R, Ochoa J, Cooper A (2016) Ancient DNA from the extinct South American giant glyptodont Doedicurus sp. (Xenarthra: Glyptodontidae) reveals that glyptodonts evolved from Eocene armadillos. Molecular Ecology 25(14): 3499–3508.
  

  Mitchell KJ, Bray SC, Bover P, Soibelzon L, Schubert BW, Prevosti F, Prieto A, Martin F, Austin JJ, Cooper A (2016) Ancient mitochondrial DNA reveals convergent evolution of giant short-faced bears (Tremarctinae) in North and South America. Biology Letters 12(4).

  Mitchell KJ, Cooper A, Phillips MJ (2015) Comment on “Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds”. Science 349: 1460-a.

  Llamas B, Brotherton P, Mitchell KJ, Templeton JE, Thomson VA, Metcalf JL, Armstrong KN, Kasper M, Richards SM, Camens AB, Lee MS, Cooper A (2015) Late Pleistocene Australian marsupial DNA clarifies the affinities of extinct megafaunal kangaroos and wallabies. Molecular Biology and Evolution 32: 574-584.

  Wood JR, Mitchell KJ, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJD, Fidler AE, Wilmshurst JM, Llamas B, Cooper A (2014) An extinct nestorid parrot (Aves, Psittaciformes, Nestoridae) from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172: 185-199.

  Mitchell KJ, Pratt RC, Watson LN, Gibb GC, Llamas B, Kasper M, Edson J, Hopwood B, Male D, Armstrong KN, Meyer M, Hofreiter M, Austin J, Donnellan SC, Lee MSY, Phillips MJ, Cooper A (2014) Molecular phylogeny, biogeography, and habitat preference evolution of marsupials. Molecular Biology and Evolution 31: 2322-2330.

  Mitchell KJ, Llamas B, Soubrier J, Rawlence NJ, Worthy TH, Wood J, Lee MSY, Cooper A (2014) Ancient DNA reveals elephant birds and kiwi are sister taxa and clarifies ratite bird evolution. Science 344: 898-900.

  Mitchell KJ, Wood JR, Scofield RP, Llamas B, Cooper A (2014) Ancient mitochondrial genome reveals unsuspected taxonomic affinity of the extinct Chatham duck (Pachyanas chathamica) and resolves divergence times for New Zealand and sub-Antarctic brown teals. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 70: 420-428.

Entry last updated: Tuesday, 22 Sep 2020