An ANU researcher whose discovery of an unknown tree frog species shed new light on the relationship between hybridization and the evolution of new species won a Eureka Prize in Sydney last night.
Dr Conrad Hoskin from the Research School of Biology at ANU has been awarded the 2009 Australian Biological Resources Study Eureka Prize for Early Career Species Discovery, worth $10,000. The prize is given to a researcher aged 35 or under, as part of the Australian Museum Eureka Prize ceremony.
Despite being at the green end of his career, Dr Hoskin has been involved in the discovery and naming of nine new frog and reptile species. He was also involved in the recent rediscovery of the Armoured Mist Frog, Litoria lorica, thought to have been lost to the world because of disease. Dr Hoskin has also been researching the level of evidence and types of data required to say something is a new species, and has worked extensively to make sure new species discoveries lead to direct conservation outcomes.
One of his most impactful achievements to date was the discovery of the Litoria myola species of green-eyed tree frog, which lives in northern Queensland and evolved from the Litoria genimaculata tree frog. Historic climate change forced the Litoria genimaculata frog to diverge into northern and southern lineages. When further climate change brought the habitat of these two lineages back together, a population of the southern lineage evolved into the Litoria myola species.
Dr Hoskin and colleagues were able to use the interactions between the new species and its evolutionary forbears to explore how the risks of hybridization – or breeding between species that leads to non-viable or less healthy offspring – affected animal behaviour. The researchers found that the southern females, but particularly those of the Litoria myola species, were much pickier mates than their northern relatives, as tadpoles born to southern females by northern fathers were much more likely to die. The research suggests that species can evolve strategies to avoid negative hybridization. In this work, Dr Hoskin and colleagues also demonstrated a process that can lead to the rapid formation of new species.
“Dr Hoskin’s work has not only added to our knowledge about the diversity of life on this planet, it has also helped us to understand more about the forces that drive the emergence of new kinds of life,” said ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Chubb. “I congratulate him on winning this prestigious award, and know that all of us at ANU are proud of him.”
The $10,000 ABRS Eureka Prize for Early Career Species Discovery is awarded to an early career Australian individual or group for outstanding research in discovering, naming and identifying Australia’s fauna and flora that has provided, or has the potential to provide, innovative or positive outcomes for industry or the environment. Dr Hoskin is an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow in the Research School of Biology at ANU.
