{"id":183,"date":"2020-08-21T13:57:57","date_gmt":"2020-08-21T04:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/palaeontology\/?page_id=183"},"modified":"2020-09-21T10:47:39","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T01:17:39","slug":"elen-shute","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/palaeontology\/home\/people\/assistants\/elen-shute\/","title":{"rendered":"Elen Shute"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1574383524907{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1574383505938{margin-top: 32px !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”248″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_shadow_border_circle_2″ css=”.vc_custom_1598593927944{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598594043902{padding-top: 32px !important;padding-right: 32px !important;padding-left: 32px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

Research Assistant
\n<\/strong>Elen Shute<\/h4>\n

My research combines two of my long-standing loves \u2013 birds and fossils.<\/p>\n

I study Australian fossil birds from the recent past (Plio-Pleistocene and Holocene), to illuminate the evolutionary and biogeographical history of the modern Australian avifauna. I also work in conservation, and aim to draw these worlds closer together in the future.<\/p>\n

A trip to London\u2019s Natural History Museum when I was five first sparked my interest in fossils. I don\u2019t remember anything about it \u2013 but I do remember the books, rubber dinosaurs and enthusiasm I came home with.<\/p>\n

It took 27 more years to actually get around to starting a PhD in palaeontology in the Flinders Palaeo Lab, but it was worth the wait and I loved every minute of it (apart from the bit where I had to climb a rope-ladder out of Leaena\u2019s Breath Cave \u2013 that bit sucked).<\/p>\n

For my PhD I was privileged to study exceptionally well-preserved fossil birds from the Thylacoleo Caves beneath the Nullarbor Plain. As part of this project I described a number of new species of extinct birds from the Pleistocene \u2013 including the world\u2019s largest cuckoos and some giant megapodes.<\/p>\n

Overall, my PhD research revealed that the Australian avifauna has been more marked by extinctions in the recent past than has previously been realised. The significance of this for the conservation of modern birds is currently unclear \u2013 are living species the tough survivors, or are they more vulnerable to extinction than we thought? I hope to try and answer this question through my ongoing research.<\/p>\n

Current projects<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • The fossil record of Night Parrots \u2013 arguably the world\u2019s most enigmatic birds<\/li>\n
  • Identification and analysis of bird fossils from Quaternary-aged cave sites around Australia (Nullarbor, Naracoorte, Wellington)<\/li>\n
  • The description of more new species that I discovered during my PhD, which sit on my conscience like a vulture sits on a carcass.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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    [vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1574383524907{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1574383505938{margin-top: 32px !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”248″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_shadow_border_circle_2″ css=”.vc_custom_1598593927944{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598594043902{padding-top: 32px !important;padding-right: 32px !important;padding-left: 32px !important;}”] Research Assistant Elen Shute My research combines two of my long-standing loves \u2013 birds and fossils. I study Australian fossil birds from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"parent":169,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-183","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nElen Shute - Palaeontology | Flinders University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/palaeontology\/home\/people\/assistants\/elen-shute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elen Shute - Palaeontology | Flinders University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1574383524907{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1574383505938{margin-top: 32px !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”248″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_shadow_border_circle_2″ css=”.vc_custom_1598593927944{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598594043902{padding-top: 32px !important;padding-right: 32px !important;padding-left: 32px !important;}”] Research Assistant Elen Shute My research combines two of my long-standing loves \u2013 birds and fossils. I study Australian fossil birds from the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/palaeontology\/home\/people\/assistants\/elen-shute\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Palaeontology | Flinders University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-21T01:17:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/assistants\\\/elen-shute\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/assistants\\\/elen-shute\\\/\",\"name\":\"Elen Shute - Palaeontology | Flinders University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-21T04:27:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-21T01:17:39+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/assistants\\\/elen-shute\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/assistants\\\/elen-shute\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/assistants\\\/elen-shute\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"People\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Research support staff\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/home\\\/people\\\/assistants\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Elen Shute\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/\",\"name\":\"Palaeontology | Flinders University\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sites.flinders.edu.au\\\/palaeontology\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elen Shute - Palaeontology | Flinders University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.flinders.edu.au\/palaeontology\/home\/people\/assistants\/elen-shute\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Elen Shute - Palaeontology | Flinders University","og_description":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” css=”.vc_custom_1574383524907{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1574383505938{margin-top: 32px !important;background-position: center !important;background-repeat: no-repeat !important;background-size: cover !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”248″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_shadow_border_circle_2″ css=”.vc_custom_1598593927944{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2\/3″][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1598594043902{padding-top: 32px !important;padding-right: 32px !important;padding-left: 32px !important;}”] Research Assistant Elen Shute My research combines two of my long-standing loves \u2013 birds and fossils. 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