Our planet is rich in species with more than 1.8 million species described by science, but more than 4 times that many estimated to exist. The mechanisms leading to this great diversity, its geographic distribution, phenotypic disparity, functional importance in ecosystems, and resilience to human globalization are grand questions to which the application of genomic resources to increasing numbers of species is fueling tremendous insights. Natural history collections house the specimens upon which species are named and provide the material to apply to the full breadth of biodiversity. Notably, these collections span more than three centuries of human globalization and increased impacts on our planet.

Here we discuss our research on rodent diversity applying genomic tools to natural history specimens spanning three centuries, including recent whole genome resequencing of two species of threatened Australian rodents genotyped using the DRAGEN™ pipeline. These genomic data are helping us understand the origin of species, the molecular basis of their ecological and functional diversity, and their response to human globalization over the past century.

Dr. Kevin Christopher Rowe Senior Curator of Mammals, Museums Victoria, Australia Dr. Rowe is a leading expert in mammalian systematics, evolution, ecology, conservation, and wildlife genomics. As curator of mammals, he manages a research team and network of international collaborations aimed at defining the diversity of life, understanding the mechanisms of diversification, and the dynamics of species over the historical record preserved in natural history collections. His research is rooted in expeditionary fieldwork primarily in North America, Indonesia, and Australia. His systematic research and extensive fieldwork have led to discovery and description of 22 species of mammals.

Riley Ferguson MSc student, BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Australia Mr. Ferguson is an MSc student with an honors degree in microbiology. His thesis is focused on analysis of whole genome sequence data from an endangered species of Australian rodent.