Taxonomy, diversity and palaeobiology of Lower Cretaceous pterosaurs from western Queensland, Australia
Researcher biography
Tim joined the UQ Dinosaur Lab in 2017. His PhD focusses on the taxonomy, diversity and palaeobiogeography of Lower Cretaceous (Albian) pterosaurs from western Queensland, Australia. The project integrates taxonomy, functional and comparative morphology and histological analyses with the aim of investigating and deciphering the affinities of currently undescribed material and its implications for the evolution, diversity and palaeoecology of Australian pterosaurs.
During his undergraduate degree, where he majored in palaeobiology and genetics, Tim completed a special research project investigating the origins of biosilicification. This project allowed him to spend time in collections held at the Natural History Museum in London and the Oxford University Museum, two leading international scientific research centres. Tim was also a research assistant at the Brain-Behaviour Research Group at the University of New England NSW, where he contributed to various publications investigating the association between stress and depression in prostate cancer patients.
During 2016, Tim completed a first class Honours project on the taxonomic and taphonomic re-analysis of Ediacara-type fossils from the Lower Cambrian Uratanna Formation of South Australia, which he presented at the 2nd ‘Palaeo Down Under’ conference in Adelaide, South Australia, in July 2016.
The image above shows Tim about to ‘get amongst it’ in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
In May 2018, Tim spoke to ABC Evenings presenter Kelly Higgins-Devine about the research he is doing on recently discovered fossils housed at Kronosaurus Korner in Richmond.
Listen to Tim's interview with Kelly here
Publications
Richards, T.M., Stumkat, P.E., Salisbury, S.W., 2021. A new species of crested pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) of Richmond, North West Queensland, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e1946068, 1–14.
Sharpley, C.F., Christie, D.R.H., Bitsika, V., Agnew, L.L., Andronicos, N.M., McMillan, M.E., Richards, T.M. 2017. The use of salivary cortisol as an index of chronic stress that correlates with depression in prostate cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology DOI 10.1002/pon.4327
Sharpley, C.F., Christie, D.R.H., Bitsika, V., Agnew, L.L., Andronicos, N.M., McMillan, M.E., Richards, T.M. 2017. Neurobiological and psychological evidence of chronic stress in prostate cancer patients. European Journal of Cancer Care DOI 10.111/ecc.12671
Christie, D.R.H., Bitsika, V., Agnew, L.L., Andronicos, N.M., McMillan, M.E., Richards, T.M. 2017. Limitations in the inverse association between psychological resilience and depression in prostate cancer patients experiencing chronic physiological stress. Psycho-Oncology DOI 10.1002/pon.4496
Conference Abstracts
Richards, T.M., Stumkat, P.E., Salisbury, S.W., 2019. New crested pterosaur material from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia, and the evolution of Australian pterosaurs. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Program and Abstracts 2019, 179.
Richards, T.M. & Paterson, J.R. 2016. Reanalysis of Ediacara-type fossils from the lower Cambrian (Fortunian) Uratanna Formation of South Australia. in Laurie, J.R., Kruse, P.D., García-Bellido, D.C. & Holmes, J.D. (ed), Palaeo Down Under 2, Adelaide, July 2016. Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 117.