Daniel Murphy

Daniel Murphy is a molecular systematist (systematic botanist) whose research primarily involves the use of molecular data (DNA sequencing) to investigate questions about the systematics, taxonomy, classification and biogeography of flowering plants. Dan has a particular interest in legumes, having worked extensively on Acacia (the largest genus of plants in Australia) and related legumes in the Mimosoideae subfamily. Together with staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) Melbourne and researchers in tertiary institutions, Dan is involved in a range of research projects, including the biogeography of Persoonia; plant movements of Adansonia and Vachellia (Acacia) farnesiana; grass phylogenetics and DNA barcoding; salinity tolerance research in Acacia; and pollination biology and plant–animal interactions.

Much of Dan's work harnesses, and seeks to develop, the RBG's living and herbarium collections, with an overarching aim to integrate systematics and taxonomic research into practical tools, including applications in the areas of plant identification (DNA barcoding), biosecurity and invasive plant studies, and sustainable agriculture.

Projects

• Systematics of Acacia
• DNA barcoding of tussock grasses
• Molecular identification of stipoid grasses
• Persoonia and the origin of the Australian flora
  
• Movement of plants into pre-British Australia
  

Publications

Ebach, M.C., Gill, A.C., Kwan, A. Ahyong, S.T., Murphy, D.J. and Cassis, G. (2013). Towards an Australian Bioregionalisation Atlas: a provisional area taxonomy of Australia's biogeographical regions. Zootaxa 3619, 315–342. 

Syme, A., Udovicic, F., Stajsic, V. and Murphy, D.J. (2013). A test of sequence-matching algorithms for a DNA barcode database of invasive grasses. DNA Barcodes 1, 1–26. doi:10.2478/dna-2012-0002

Brown, G.K., Murphy, D.J., Kidman, J. and Ladiges, P.Y. (2012). Phylogenetic connections of phyllodinous species of Acacia outside Australia are explained by geological history and human-mediated dispersal. Australian Systematic Botany 25, 390–403.

Hurry, C.R., Walsh, N.G. and Murphy, D.J. (2012). A taxonomic review of Triodia bunicola and T. scariosa (Poaceae: Chloridoideae), based on morphological and molecular data. Australian Systematic Botany 25, 304–312.   

Sauquet, H., Ho, S.Y.W., Gandolfo, M.A., Jordan, G.J., Wilf, P., Cantrill, D.J., Bayly, M.J., Bromham, L., Brown, G.K., Carpenter, R.J., Lee, D.M., Murphy, D.J., Sniderman, J.M.K. and Udovicic, F. (2012). Testing the impact of calibration on molecular divergence times using a fossil-rich group: the case of Nothofagus (Fagales). Systematic Biology 61(2), 289–313.

Full publication list