Benjamin Kear

museiintendent vid Evolutionsmuseet, Paleontologi och mineralogi

E-post:: benjamin.kear[AT-tecken]em.uu.se
Telefon:: 018-471 2792
Mobiltelefon:: 070-8188782
Besöksadress:: Norbyvägen 22
752 36 Uppsala
Postadress:: Norbyvägen 16
752 36 Uppsala

Kort presentation

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Dr Benjamin Kear is Docent and Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Museum of Evolution, Uppsala University in Sweden. He is a leading specialist on Mesozoic polar marine ecosystems, but publishes widely on topics ranging from dinosaurs to marsupial evolution. Dr Kear has conducted research programs in Australia for over 20 years, and also coordinates major international field-based initiatives in the Scandinavian Arctic and North Africa.

Nyckelord: palaeobiology evolutionsmuséet museums evolution phylogenetics palaeoecology paleobiology

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Biografi

Detta stycke finns inte på svenska, därför visas den engelska versionen.

My professional background includes an Australian Postgraduate Award PhD (1999-2003) and appointments as a Researcher in Palaeontology at the South Australian Museum (2000-2003), Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Adelaide (2004-2007) and La Trobe University (2007-2010), and Assistant Professor/Researcher in Palaeobiology at the Department of Geology, Uppsala University (2010-2015). I commenced as Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology at the Museum of Evolution in 2016, where my research focuses on Mesozoic polar biotas (especially marine and terrestrial vertebrates) from Australia and the Scandinavian Arctic. I also maintain an active research program investigating climate change impacts on Neogene and extant Australasian marsupial evolution, incorporating analyses of fossils and DNA.

Forskning

My primary research focus is Mesozoic Polar Palaeontology, which aims to investigate high latitude biotas and bioevents from 252-66 million years ago. I am actively engaged in studies based at the Museum of Evolution, as well as numerous externally funded international research programs.

Links

Google Scholar Citations: https://scholar.google.se/citations?user=TKCFpm4AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-p-kear-9301b4154/

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Benjamin_Kear

Current internal projects focusing on specimens from the Museum of Evolution Palaeontological Collections include Early Triassic tetrapods from the Norwegian Svalbard Archipelago, ancient biomolecule and soft tissue preservation, historical Chinese dinosaur specimens from the Sino-Swedish expeditions, Cretaceous vertebrates from Skåne, and Holocene megafauna from Madagascar.

Externally funded international research programmes

Scandinavia's Arctic Age of Dinosaurs

This new Nordic museum partnership links The Museum of Evolution with The University of Oslo Natural History Museum, The Swedish Museum of Natural History, and Geomuseum Faxe in a major research and field exploration initiative focused jointly on East Greenland and Svalbard. Collectively funded by the Swedish Research Council, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, and Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, our objective is to reconstruct the earliest Mesozoic vertebrate ecosystems at high northern and southern palaeolatitudes and determine the impacts of mass extinction and global warming from 252-247 million years ago.

Integrated projects focus on Mesozoic marine reptile evolution, Triassic temnospondyl amphibians, Mesozoic Boreal biostratigraphy, and Arctic fossil geoheritage.

Links

https://www.nhm.uio.no/english/research/projects/plesiosaur/index.html

First steps from & to the water

The Museum of Evolution is leading a major field exploration programme in East Greenland. This initiative involves collaborators from the Subdepartment of Organismal Biology (Uppsala University), and is funded by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat. The East Greenland fossil record preserves crucial timeframes in aquatic vertebrate evolution spanning the Devonian-Carboniferous (358 million years ago) and Permian-Triassic boundaries (252 million years ago).

Other collaborative projects are examining biotic recovery after the end-Permian mass extinction and the radiation of Boreal tetrapod faunas, especially dinosaurs and aquatic reptiles.

Links

http://greenlandexpedition.uu.se/

http://polarforskningsportalen.se/en/arctic/expeditions/ostra-gronland-2016

http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/821172?programid=412

Mesozoic polar Australia

Australia was a polar landmass throughout the Age of Dinosaurs. The Museum of Evolution is leading investigations into earliest Triassic (250 million years ago) and Early Cretaceous (120-90 million years ago) vertebrate faunas from the Australasian region, and is also involved in collaborative projects studying Austral polar dinosaurs, and Mesozoic marine reptiles from Central and Northern Europe.

This work has been supported by the Australian Research Council and National Geographic Society, with recent discoveries including an Early Triassic polar predator ecosystem from the Sydney Basin, and new Cretaceous dinosaurs from outback Queensland.

Links

http://www.palaeocast.com/plesiosaurs/

http://www.uu.se/en/media/news/article/?id=7478&area=2,10,15,16&typ=artikel&lang=en

https://www.uu.se/en/news-media/press-releases/press-release/?id=4882&typ=pm&lang=en

Other funded research projects cover a diverse range of topics from ancient ecosystems and palaeopathology to the molecular systematics of modern Australasian marsupials.

Ancient marine ecosystems in Tunisia

Field exploration programme focusing on marine vertebrate evolution during the Triassic, Cretaceous and Palaeogene. Funded through Uppsala University and in collaboration with the Subdepartment of Organismal Biology (Uppsala University).

Ichthyosaur palaeopathology

Using ancient marine reptile fossils to assess population health in the deep past. Funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) in collaboration with the Museum Am Löwentor | Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart.

Climate change impacts on Australasian marsupial evolution

Combining fossils with DNA from living and recently extinct species to determine the pattern and timing of Australasian marsupial radiations. Funded by the Swedish Research Council with work principally in collaboration with La Trobe University (Australia).

A major goal of my research is to contribute to public education initiatives and the promotion of science in the media.

Selected recent media

http://www.palaeocast.com/plesiosaurs/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-fossil-evidence-feathered-polar-dinosaurs-found-australia-180973622/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/11/first-fossil-dinosaur-feathers-found-near-south-pole-cretaceous-australia/

https://www.thenational.ae/uae/science/how-the-gulf-could-hold-clues-to-the-last-days-of-the-dinosaurs-1.844960

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/02/when-did-kangaroos-start-hop

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2192710-australia-has-been-home-to-hopping-kangaroos-for-20-million-years/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47130734

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/12/incredible-jurassic-ichthyosaur-fossil-preserves-skin-blubber/

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/new-archaeopteryx-species-confirms-they-were-the-ancestors-of-birds/

https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=406&artikel=7018987