Origin and evolution of organisms distributing isolatedly in Australia

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Flora and fauna of Australia had been affected by several kinds of events, such as the long continued (>10,000,000 years) isolation from other continents, acidification of the climate in the last several million years, arrival of aborigine people and accompanying changes in fire regime for 50,000 years and plantation of Western people in last 200 years. In the present research project, we analyzed the effects of these events on the evolution and existence of organisms distributing isolatedly in Australia by using a variety of molecular markers. We collected all taxa of genus Livistona in Australia, and made a phylogenetic analysis. It was inferred that all of Australian Livistona species were monophyletic, and rapid speciation and radiation to the various environment occurred when the ancestry of Livistona species arrived in Australia. The relationship between genetic and geographic distances of Australian termite Amitermes laurensis was inferred to be affected by not only the present geographic conditions but also the past conditions in the era of the glacial period. An endangered mammal species, banteng, was recently introduced to Australia and the population had been developed as large as 5,000. We found the population was pure and not hybridized or introgressed with domestic cattle. A proposal to exploit parts of Australian continent as sanctuaries of endangered organisms of the world was made.