In this BBC Ideas film, Dr Joel Alves traces the rabbits who wreaked ecological havoc in Australia
"The 24 rabbits that (nearly) destroyed a continent", a new film produced as part of the Social Sciences Division's ongoing partnership with BBC Ideas, recounts this unique story that blends history, archaeology and genetics to investigate the past.
In just five minutes, Joel Alves tells us the story of a small group of European wild rabbits which wreaked havoc in Australia, and how the attempts to manage their population had profound consequences not only on the continent, but also closer to home.
Joel Alves is a senior researcher at the School of Archaeology, and at the Centre for Research in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO-BIOPOLIS) in Portugal.
An evolutionary biologist in an archaeology department, Joel connects the natural and social sciences by integrating ancient and modern DNA with archaeological and historical evidence to uncover stories that link the past to the present. His curiosity-driven research explores how people, animals and landscapes have influenced one another over time, and how these interactions have shaped the biodiversity we see in the world today.
The story that Joel narrates in the BBC Ideas film is based on two main research papers that Joel led on, originating from his PhD research at the University of Cambridge and at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS.
A single introduction of wild rabbits triggered the biological invasion of Australia
In this paper, Joel and his collaborators combine genetic evidence with historical records to trace the origin of Australia’s rabbit invasion to 24 rabbits from Somerset that were introduced by Thomas Austin in 1859.
Alves, Joel M., et al. "A single introduction of wild rabbits triggered the biological invasion of Australia." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119.35 (2022): e2122734119.
Parallel adaptation of rabbit populations to myxoma virus
This paper shows how Joel and his collaborators analysed historical DNA from museum specimens and compared it with DNA from modern rabbit populations to identify the genetic changes that enabled rabbits to develop resistance to myxomatosis, a devastating disease caused by the myxoma virus that was introduced as a form of biological control in Australia in 1950.
Alves, Joel M., et al. "Parallel adaptation of rabbit populations to myxoma virus." Science 363.6433 (2019): 1319-1326.