Dr Robin Beck
School of Science, Engineering & Environment
Current positions
Reader
Biography
I was awarded my PhD from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2008 for my thesis 'Form, function, phylogeny and biogeography of enigmatic Australian metatherians'. From 2009 to 2011, I was an NSF-funded postdoctoral research fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, working on the morphology and phylogeny of marsupials. From 2012 to 2014, I was a DECRA postdoctoral fellow at UNSW, studying the only known record of early Palaeogene fossil mammals in Australia, from the early Eocene Tingamarra Fauna. Since 2014, I have been Lecturer (2014-2023) and then Reader (2023 onwards) in Biology at the University of Salford.
My major research interests are the morphology, systematics and biogeography of mammals. I have ongoing collaborations with researchers in the UK, Argentina, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand and the USA, focusing on the origin and evolution of major groups of Southern Hemisphere mammals (including monotremes, marsupials and bats), and on the timing of the origin of placental mammals. I have more general interests within evolutionary biology, including combining morphological and molecular data to resolve phylogenetic relationships and divergence times, analysing rates of diversification and trait evolution, and quantitative methods of biogeographical analysis.
Areas of Research
• Morphology, systematics, and biogeography of mammals and other vertebrates
• Combining morphological and molecular data to resolve phylogenetic relationships and divergence times
• Analysing rates of diversification and trait evolution
• Quantitative methods of biogeographical analysis
Areas of Supervision
I particularly welcome applications from prospective postgraduate students interested in vertebrate evolution, but will also consider applications in more general aspects of evolutionary biology, particularly those that involve the use of phylogenies to understand evolutionary patterns and processes.
I contribute teaching to a wide range of modules at Foundation Year and undergraduate level. I am module lead for Level 4 Biodiversity and the Level 6 Final Year Project modules.
Qualifications
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Postgraduate Certificate Academic Practice
2015 - 2016 -
PhD Vertebrate Palaeontology
2005 - 2008 -
MSc DIC Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity
2002 - 2003 -
BA (Hons) Natural Sciences
1999 - 2002
Publications
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A 50-million-year-old, three-dimensionally preserved bat skull supports an early origin for modern echolocation
Hand, S. J., Maugoust, J., Beck, R. M., & Orliac, M. J. (2023). A 50-million-year-old, three-dimensionally preserved bat skull supports an early origin for modern echolocation. Current Biology, 33(21), 4624-4640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.043
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A global catalog of whole-genome diversity from 233 primate species.
Kuderna, L. F. K., Gao, H., Janiak, M. C., Kuhlwilm, M., Orkin, J. D., Bataillon, T., …Jolly, C. J. (2023). A global catalog of whole-genome diversity from 233 primate species. Science, 380(6648), 906-913. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abn7829
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Total evidence phylogeny of platyrrhine primates and a comparison of undated and tip-dating approaches
Beck, R., de Vries, D., Janiak, M., Goodhead, I., & Boubli, J. (2022). Total evidence phylogeny of platyrrhine primates and a comparison of undated and tip-dating approaches. Journal of Human Evolution, 174, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103293
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Twenty-five well-justified fossil calibrations for primate divergences
de Vries, D., & Beck, R. M. D. (2023). Twenty-five well-justified fossil calibrations for primate divergences. #Journal not on list, 26(1), https://doi.org/10.26879/1249
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Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials
Beck, R., Voss, R., & Jansa, S. (in press). Craniodental morphology and phylogeny of marsupials. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 1-350. https://doi.org/10.1206/0003-0090.457.1.1