Palaeontologist
John D. Scanlon BSc Hons (Sydney) PhD (UNSW)
Dr Scanlon joined the Riversleigh Fossil Centre in January 2004, after
post-doctoral research based at the University of Queensland (1998-2000)
and University of Adelaide/South Australian Museum (2001-2003).
Research interests: reptile systematics and evolution, particularly snakes.
John has published many technical articles on both recent and fossil
Australian snakes of the families Elapidae (venomous snakes), Boidae
(pythons) and Madtsoiidae (extinct primitive constrictors), and has also
been involved in field and laboratory work and publications on crocodiles,
dinosaurs, and other vertebrate groups.
Research publications:
1. Scanlon, J.D. and R. Shine. 1988.
Dentition and diet in snakes: adaptations to oophagy in the Australian
elapid genus Simoselaps. Journal of
Zoology,London216: 519-528.
2. Scanlon, J.D. 1992.
A new large madtsoiid snake from the Miocene of northern Australia.
The Beagle, Records of theNorthern
TerritoryMuseumof Arts and
Sciences9: 49-59.
3. Scanlon, J.D. 1993. Madtsoiid snakes from the Eocene Tingamarra Fauna of
eastern Queensland. Kaupia: Darmstädter Beiträge zur
Naturgeschichte3: 3-8.
4. Willis, P.M.A., R.E. Molnar and J.D. Scanlon. 1993. An early Eocene
crocodilian from Murgon, southeastern Queensland. Kaupia: Darmstädter
Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte3: 27-33.
5. Scanlon, J.D. 1995. First records from Wellington Caves, New South
Wales, of the extinct madtsoiid snake Wonambi naracoortensis
Smith, 1976. Journal of the Linnean Society ofNew South
Wales115: 233-238.
6. Scanlon, J.D. 1997.
Nanowana gen. nov., small madtsoiid snakes from the Miocene of
Riversleigh: sympatric species with divergently specialised dentition.
Memoirs of
theQueenslandMuseum41: 393-412.
7. Scanlon, J.D. 1998. Prey-scaring by visual pursuit predators: a new use
for tail-waving in snakes. Herpetofauna28(2):
5-10.
8. Scanlon, J.D., M.S.Y. Lee, M.W. Caldwell and R. Shine. 1999.
The palaeoecology of the primitive snake Pachyrhachis.
Historical Biology13: 127-152.
9. Mackness, B.S. and J.D. Scanlon. 1999.
The first Pliocene record of the madtsoiid snake genus Yurlunggur
Scanlon, 1992 from Queensland. Memoirs of
theQueenslandMuseum43 (2): 783-785.
10. Lee, M.S.Y., M.W. Caldwell and J.D. Scanlon. 1999.
A second primitive marine snake: Pachyophis woodwardi from the
Cretaceous of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Journal of
Zoology,London248: 509-520.
11. Scanlon, J.D. and C.L. Davidson. 1999. Spring breeding aggregation of
the Blindsnake Ramphotyphlops nigrescens (Typhlopidae).
Herpetofauna29(1): 57-58.
12. Scanlon, J.D. and M.S.Y. Lee. 2000.
The
Pleistocene serpent Wonambi and the early evolution of snakes.
Nature403: 416-420 (and cover).
13. Lee, M.S.Y., J.D. Scanlon and M.W. Caldwell. 2000. Snake origins.
Science288: 1343-1344.
14. Keogh, J.S., I.A.W. Scott and J.D. Scanlon. 2000.
Molecular
phylogeny of viviparous Australian elapid snakes: Affinities of
'Echiopsis' atriceps (Storr, 1980) and 'Drysdalia'
coronata (Schlegel, 1837), with description of a new genus.
Journal of Zoology,London252(3):
317-326.
15. Scanlon, J.D. 2001. Notes on reptiles and amphibians from Bendalong,
south coast of NSW, with reproductive data on elapid snakes and a southern
record for Hemiaspis signata.
Herpetofauna30(2): 36-41.
16. Lee, M.S.Y. and J.D. Scanlon. 2001. On the lower jaw and
intramandibular septum in snakes and anguimorph lizards.
Copeia2001(2), 531-535.
17. Scanlon, J.D. 2001. Sidewinding in terrestrial Australian elapid
snakes. Herpetofauna31(1): 11-18.
18. Scanlon, J.D. 2001. Montypythonoides: the Miocene snake
Moreliariversleighensis (Smith and Plane, 1985) and the
question of the the geographic origin of pythons. Memoirs of the
Association of Australasian Palaeontologists25: 1-35.
19. Scanlon, J.D. and B.S. Mackness. 2002. A new giant python from the
Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna of northeastern Queensland.
Alcheringa25(3-4): 425-437.
20. Scanlon, J.D. and M.S.Y. Lee. 2002. On varanoid-like dentition in
primitive snakes. Journal of Herpetology36(1):
100-106.
21. Lee, M.S.Y. and J.D. Scanlon. 2002.
Snake phylogeny based on osteology, soft anatomy and ecology.
Biological Reviews77(3): 333-402.
22. Lee, M.S.Y. and J.D. Scanlon. 2002.
The Cretaceous marine squamate Mesoleptos and the origin of
snakes. Bulletin of
theNaturalHistoryMuseumZoology
Series68(2): 131-142.
23. Scanlon, J.D. 2003.
The
Australian elapid genus Cacophis : morphology and phylogeny of
rainforest crowned snakes. The Herpetological
Journal13(1): 1-20.
24. Scanlon, J.D., M.S.Y. Lee, and M. Archer. 2003.
Mid-Tertiary
elapid snakes (Squamata, Colubroidea) from Riversleigh, northern Australia:
early steps in a continent-wide adaptive radiation.
Geobios36: 573-601.
25. Scanlon, J.D. 2003.
The
basicranial morphology of madtsoiid snakes (Squamata, Ophidia) and the
earliest Alethinophidia (Serpentes).Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology23: 971-976.
26. Scanlon, J.D., and M.S.Y. Lee. 2004.
Phylogeny of Australasian venomous snakes (Colubroidea, Elapidae,
Hydrophiinae) based on phenotypic and molecular evidence. Zoologica
Scripta33: 335-366.
27. Scanlon, J.D. 2004.
First known axis vertebra of a madtsoiid snake (Yurlunggur
camfieldensis) and remarks on the neck of snakes. The Beagle:
Records of the Museums andArtGalleriesof
theNorthern Territory20: 207-215.
28. Scanlon, J.D. 2005.
Cranial morphology of the
Plio-Pleistocene giant madtsoiid snake
Wonambinaracoortensis. Acta Palaeontologica
Polonica50: 139-180.
29. Scanlon, J.D. 2005.
Australia's oldest known snakes: Patagoniophis,
Alamitophis, and cf. Madtsoia (Squamata: Madtsoiidae)
from the Eocene of Queensland. Memoirs of
theQueenslandMuseum51: 215-235.
30. Scanlon, J.D. 2006.
Skull of the large non-macrostomatan snake Yurlunggur from the
Australian Oligo-Miocene. Nature439: 839-842.
31. Archer, M., D.A. Arena, M. Bassarova, R. Beck, K.K. Black, W.E. Boles,
P. Brewer, B.N. Cooke, K. Crosby, A. Gillespie, H. Godthelp, S.J. Hand, T.
Holt, B. Kear, J. Louys, A. Morrell, J. Muirhead, K. Roberts, J.D. Scanlon,
K.J. Travouillon and S. Wroe. 2006. Current status of species-level
representation in faunas from selected fossil localities in the Riversleigh
World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland. Alcheringa special
issue 1: 1-17.
32. Shea, G.M. and J.D. Scanlon. 2007. Revision of the small tropical
whipsnakes previously referred to Demansia olivacea (Gray, 1842)
and Demansia torquata (Günther, 1862) (Squamata, Elapidae).
Records of the Australian Museum59:117-142.
33. Lee, M.S.Y., A.F. Hugall, R. Lawson, and J.D. Scanlon. 2007. Snake
phylogeny: Combining morphological and molecular data in parsimony and
likelihood analyses. Systematics &
Biodiversity5:371-389.
Coauthors:
Shine
Willis
LeeCaldwell
Keogh
Archer
Associated Institutions:
Australian
MuseumQueensland
MuseumUniversity of New South
Wales
