Dr Samuel Turvey

Curriculum Vitae:

• 2009-present: Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Institute of Zoology.
• 2006-2009: NERC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Institute of Zoology.
• 2004-2006: Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, Institute of Zoology.
• 2002-2003: Royal Society Banks Alecto Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
• 1998-2002: NERC/CASE D.Phil student, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford.
• 1995-1998: BA (Hons), Biological Sciences, University of Oxford.
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Research Interests:

My main interest is the history and prehistory of human-caused extinctions – their geographic, taxonomic and ecological patterns; their drivers, duration and ecosystem impacts; and the usefulness of this environmental history in developing conservation strategies for today’s threatened species.

My research so far has focused mainly on reconstructing pre-human ecosystems and the chronology and dynamics of mammal and bird extinctions on islands such as New Zealand and the West Indies, which are both evolutionarily innovative and ecologically fragile.

I am also heavily involved with ZSL’s new EDGE of Existence programme, which aims to support conservation projects for evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species (hence the acronym) – species that represent branches rather than twigs on the Tree of Life – in order to prevent the imminent extinction of disproportionate amounts of biodiversity.

In particular, I am currently developing conservation projects for solenodons and hutias, the only surviving land mammals of the West Indies, which are now extremely threatened. Over the past few years I have also witnessed the sorry saga surrounding the extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), and I continue to support both research and active conservation for the remaining threatened species of the Yangtze Basin.
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Books

Turvey, S.T. (Ed.) (2009). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press (352 pp).

Turvey, S.T. (2008). Witness to Extinction: How We Failed to Save the Yangtze River Dolphin. Oxford University Press (234 pp).

"We passed slowly between soggy mud banks heavy with wet grass and the skeletons of trees … in front of the ship everything faded into a grey void. It was completely silent. We stood vigilantly on deck, peering out into the blankness. Everything felt poised and expectant...
...and then, ahead of us, the end of the side-channel condensed out from the grey air. We had seen nothing."

'At last someone is publicly mourning the tragic extinction of the Yangtze River dolphin. This is a highly authoritative, well written, thought-provoking and timely book'
– Mark Carwardine

Why not buy a copy and read it for yourself?
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Publications:

Turvey, S.T. (2010). Evolution of non-homologous venom delivery systems in West Indian insectivores? Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30: 1294-1299.

Turvey, S.T., Barrett, L.A., Hart, T., Collen, B., Hao Yujiang, Zhang Lei, Zhang Xinqiao, Wang Xianyan, Huang Yadong, Zhou Kaiya & Wang Ding (2010). Spatial and temporal extinction dynamics in a freshwater cetacean. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences doi: 10.1098/rspb.2010.0584

Turvey, S.T., Barrett, L.A., Hao Yujiang, Zhang Lei, Zhang Xinqiao, Wang Xianyan, Huang Yadong, Zhou Kaiya, Hart, T. & Wang Ding (2010). Rapidly shifting baselines in Yangtze fishing communities and local memory of extinct species. Conservation Biology 24: 778-787.

Baillie, J.E.M., Turvey, S.T. & Waterman, C. (2009). Survival of Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi) in New Guinea. Oryx 43: 146-148.

Zhao Xiujiang, Barlow, J., Taylor, B.L., Pitman, R.L., Wang Kexiong, Wei Zhuo, Stewart, B.S., Turvey, S.T., Akamatsu, T., Reeves, R.R. & Wang Ding (2008). Abundance and conservation status of the Yangtze finless porpoise in the Yangtze River, China. Biological Conservation 141: 3006-3018.

Turvey, S.T., Meredith, H.M.R. & Scofield, R.P. (2008). Continued survival of Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) in Haiti. Oryx 42: 611-614.

Turvey, S.T. & Cheke, A.S. (2008). Dead as a dodo: the fortuitous rise to fame of an extinction icon. Historical Biology 20: 149-163.

Rowcliffe, J.M., Field, J., Turvey, S.T. and Carbone, C. (2008). Estimating animal density using camera traps without the need for individual recognition. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1228-1236.

Li Songhai, Akamatsu, T., Wang Ding, Wang Kexiong, Dong Shouyue, Zhao Xiujiang, Wei Zhuo, Zhang Xianfeng, Taylor, B., Barrett, L.A., Turvey, S.T., Reeves, R.R., Stewart, B.S., Richlen, M. and Brandon, J.R. (2008). Indirect evidence of boat avoidance behavior of Yangtze finless porpoises. Bioacoustics 17: 174-176.

Turvey, S.T., Pitman, R.L., Taylor, B.L., Barlow, J., Akamatsu, T., Barrett, L.A., Zhao Xiujiang, Reeves, R.R., Stewart, B.S., Pusser, L.T., Wang Kexiong, Wei Zhuo, Zhang Xianfeng, Richlen, M., Brandon, J.R. and Wang Ding (2007). First human-caused extinction of a cetacean species? Biology Letters 3: 537-540.

Isaac, N.J.B., Turvey, S.T., Collen, B., Waterman, C. and Baillie, J.E.M. (2007). Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny. PLoS One 2(3): e296.

Turvey, S.T., Oliver, J.R., Narganes Storde, Y.M. and Rye, P. (2007). Late Holocene extinction of Puerto Rican native land mammals. Biology Letters 3: 193-196.

Turvey, S.T., Grady, F.V. & Rye, P. (2006). A new genus and species of ‘giant hutia’ (Tainotherium valei) from the Quaternary of Puerto Rico: an extinct arboreal quadruped? Journal of Zoology 270: 585-594.

Turvey, S.T., Barrett, L.A., Braulik, G.T. & Wang Ding (2006). Implementing the recovery programme for the Yangtze River dolphin. Oryx 40: 257-258.

Turvey, S.T., Barrett, L.A., Wang Ding & Reeves, R.R. (2006). Conservation of the Yangtze River dolphin: emergency implementation meeting. Final report. Unpublished report. Download PDF (402 KB)

Turvey, S.T. and Risley, C.L. (2006). Modelling the extinction of Steller's sea cow. Biology Letters 2: 94-97.

Turvey, S.T., Green, O.R. & Holdaway, R.N. (2005). Cortical growth marks reveal extended juvenile development in New Zealand moa. Nature 435: 940-943.

Turvey, S.T. & Holdaway, R.N. (2005). Postnatal ontogeny, population structure and extinction of the giant moa Dinornis. Journal of Morphology 265: 70-86.
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And for those of you who like trilobites, feel free to check out the following papers:

Ghobadi Pour, M. & Turvey, S.T. (2009). Revision of some Lower to Middle Ordovician leiostegiid and associated trilobites from Iran and China. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 37: 463-480.

Turvey, S.T. & Siveter, D.J. (2007). Assignment of the South Chinese Ordovician trilobite Calymene paronai to Neseuretus. Alcheringa 31: 173-183.

Turvey, S.T. (2007). Asaphoid trilobites from the Arenig-Llanvirn of South China. Palaeontology 50: 347-399.

Yuan Wenwei, Fortey, R.A., Zhou Zhiyi & Turvey, S.T. (2006). Ontogeny and relationships of the trilobite Pseudopetigurus Prantl & Přibyl, 1949. Palaeontology 49: 537-546.

Turvey, S.T., Zhou Zhiyi & Yuan Wenwei (2006). Two new species of Pseudopetigurus (Trilobita) from the Arenig-Llanvirn of South China. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 80: 52-59.

Turvey, S.T. (2005). Agnostid trilobites from the Arenig-Llanvirn of South China. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 95: 527-542.

Turvey, S.T. (2005). Reedocalymenine trilobites from the Ordovician of central and eastern Asia, and a review of species assigned to Neseuretus. Palaeontology 48: 549-575.

Turvey, S.T. (2005). Early Ordovician (Arenig) trilobite palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography of the South China Plate. Palaeontology 48: 519-547.

Turvey, S.T. & Zhou Zhiyi (2004). Arenig trilobite associations and faunal changes in southern Shaanxi, China. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23: 91-103.

Turvey, S.T. & Zhou Zhiyi (2004). Arenig trilobite associations from the Jiangnan Transitional Belt of northern Hunan, China. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23: 47-61.

Turvey, S.T. (2002). Phylogeny of the Reedocalymeninae (Trilobita): implications for Early Ordovician biogeography of Gondwana. In: Crame, J.A. & Owen, A.W. (Eds.) Palaeobiogeography and biodiversity change: a comparison of the Ordovician and Mesozoic-Cenozoic radiations. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 194: 53-68.

Turvey, S.T. & Zhou Zhiyi (2002). Arenig trilobite associations of Daping, Yichang, Hubei, South China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 41: 10-18.
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Co-supervised PhD students:

• Selina Brace (2007-). Investigating the impact of Late Quaternary environmental changes using ancient DNA from small mammals. Royal Holloway University of London.
• Jennifer Crees (2009-). Dynamics of large mammal range collapse and extinction: evidence from the Holocene record of Europe. Imperial College, London.
• Jessica Bryant (2010-). Ecological and behavioural constraints on recovery of small populations: the Hainan gibbon as a conservation case study. University College London.
• Nadia Dewhurst (starting autumn 2010). River dolphins, fish and fisheries in Bangladesh: evaluating trends in mortality and indicator status. University of Bangor.
• Ben Garrod (starting autumn 2010). Primates of the Caribbean: using historical-era introductions of monkeys in the Lesser Antilles to understand rates of island evolution. University College London.