Mr Roberto Portela Miguez

Mr Roberto Portela Miguez

Senior Curator in Charge, Mammals

Department: Life Sciences
Division: LS Vertebrates Division
Specialisms: Curation, History of Collections, Mammal collections, Marsupials, Monotremes, Taxidermy, Wet Curation
Contact: email
Phone: +44(0) 207 942 5487

Summary

As Senior Curator in Charge of Mammals, my responsibilities involve the management of the dry(skulls, skeletons, skins) and fluid preserved collections of the Mammal Section at the Natural History Museum.

I also assist with answering collection-related enquiries, dealing with loan requests and the supervision of scientific visitors to the collections under my care.

My main interest is to promote and explore the mammal collections and therefore all my projects are collections-based.

The main taxonomic groups of my interest are rodents, bats, marsupials and monotremes, but I am open to collaborations in other groups too.

The Museum collection is critical for taxonomic and systematic research, but I also support work in other disciplines such as ecology, conservation, physiology, and anatomy among other.

Qualifications

    Degrees

  • BA, University of Vigo, Spain, 1995 - 2001

Employment history

    Academic

  • Senior Curator in Charge of Mammals, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2017 - ongoing
  • Senior Curator, Mammal Section, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2016 - 2017
  • Curator, Mammal Section, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2008 - 2016
  • Curator, Mollusca and Lower Invertebrates Sections, Natural History Museum, Zoology Department, United Kingdom, 2006 - 2007
  • Curatorial Assistant, Reptiles, Fish and Amphibians Division, Natural History Museum, Zoology Department, United Kingdom, 2005 - 2006
  • Non-academic

    Darwin Centre Guide, Natural History Museum, Learning, 2004 - 2005

Grants

A botanical framework to assess lemurs' diets and seed dispersal capacities
Role: Principal investigatorBuerki S
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: National Geographic Society
Total value £18,600 (to Museum £18,600)

Fieldwork

Timor-Leste
2017 - 2017.

Madagascar
2017 - 2017.

Vietnam
2012 - 2012.

Vietnam
2012 - 2012.

UK
2006 - 2007.

UK
2004 - on going.

Committees

Advisor to Editorial Committee, Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, 2014 - on going.

Secretary, Natural Sciences Collections Association, 2014 - 2019.

Memberships

Other, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, 2014 - 2019.

Publications

Lanzetti A, Coombs EJ, Portela Miguez R, Fernandez V, Goswami A (2022) The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289 (1980) : doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1090

Lanzetti A, Chrouch N, Portela Miguez R, Fernandez V, Goswami A (2022) Developing echolocation: distinctive patterns in the ontogeny of the tympanoperiotic complex in baleen and toothed whales (Cetacea). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 135 (2) : 394 - 406. doi: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab160

Roycroft E, MacDonald AJ, Moritz C, Moussalli A, Portela Miguez R, Rowe KC (2021) Museum genomics reveals the rapid decline and extinction of Australian rodents since European settlement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (27) : doi: 10.1073/pnas.2021390118

Fabre A-C, Dowling C, Portela Miguez R, Fernandez V, Noirault E, Goswami A (2021) Functional constraints during development limit jaw shape evolution in marsupials. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288 (1949) : doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0319

Roos C, Knauf S, Chuma IS, Maille A, Callou C, Sabin R, Portela Miguez R, Zinner D (2021) New mitogenomic lineages inPapiobaboons and their phylogeographic implications. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 174 (3) : 407 - 417. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24186

Livingstone B, Kitchener AC, Hull G, Schwarz T, Vijayanathan S, Allen MJ, Liptovszky M, Miguez RP (2020) DIFFUSE IDIOPATHIC SKELETAL HYPEROSTOSIS IN CAPTIVE GORILLAS (GORILLA SPP.): APPEARANCES AND DIAGNOSIS. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 51 (3) : doi: 10.1638/2019-0180

Fabre A-C, Noirault E, Fernandez V, Portela-Miguez R, Goswami A (2020) Morphological integration of the skull in marsupials: impact of diet and locomotion. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY 60 : E316 - E316.

Roos C, M. Helgen K, Portela Miguez R, May Lay Thant N, Lwin N, Ko Lin A, Lin A, Mar Yi K, Soe P, Mar Hein Z, Nyein Nyein Myint M, Ahmed T, Chetry D, Urh M, Grace Veatch E, Duncan N, Kamminga P, A. H. Chua M, Yao L, Matauschek C, Meyer D, Liu Z-J, Li M, Nadler T, Fan P-F, Khac Quyet L, Hofreiter M, Zinner D, Momberg F (2020) Mitogenomic phylogeny of the Asian colobine genus <i>Trachypithecus</i> with special focus on <i>Trachypithecus phayrei</i> (Blyth, 1847) and description of a new species. Zoological Research, 41 (6) : 656 - 669. doi: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.254

Cooper N, Bond AL, Davis JL, Portela Miguez R, Tomsett L, Helgen KM (2019) Sex biases in bird and mammal natural history collections. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286 (1913) : 20192025 - 20192025. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2025

Portela Miguez R (2019, 28 3) Oldfield Thomas: In His Own Words..

TRAVOUILLON KJ, SIMÕES BF, MIGUEZ RP, BRACE S, BREWER P, STEMMER D, PRICE GJ, CRAMB J, LOUYS J (null) Hidden in plain sight: reassessment of the pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus (Peramelemorphia, Chaeropodidae), with a description of a new species from central australia, and use of the fossil record to trace its past distribution. Zootaxa, 4566 (1) : 1 - 1. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4566.1.1

Martinez Q, Lebrun R, Achmadi AS, Esselstyn JA, Evans AR, Heaney LR, Miguez RP, Rowe KC, Fabre P-H (null) Convergent evolution of an extreme dietary specialisation, the olfactory system of worm-eating rodents. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) : doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35827-0

Buerki S, Portela Miguez R (2018) Museum collections are the key to studying lemurs’ diet: gastrointestinal morphology of Cheirogaleus major. Systematics and Biodiversity, 16 (5) : 483 - 487. doi: 10.1080/14772000.2018.1430708

Meloro C, Hunter J, Tomsett L, Portela Miguez R, Prevosti FJ, Brown RP (2017) Evolutionary ecomorphology of the Falkland Islands wolfDusicyon australis. Mammal Review, 47 (2) : 159 - 163. doi: 10.1111/mam.12085

Livingstone BN, Cooper JE, Viscardi P, Maybury K, Goodship A, Portela Miguez R (2017) Case Studies - Museums and Zoological Collections. Studies on the skeleton of 'Guy' at the NHM., In: Gorilla Pathology and Health With a Catalogue of Preserved Materials, Academic Press : 666.

Soisook P, Struebig MJ, Noerfahmy S, Bernard H, Maryanto I, Chen S-F, Rossiter SJ, Kuo H-C, Deshpande K, Bates PJJ, Sykes D, Miguez RP (2015) Description of a New Species of theRhinolophus trifoliatus-Group (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) from Southeast Asia. Acta Chiropterologica, 17 (1) : 21 - 36. doi: 10.3161/15081109acc2015.17.1.002

Helgen KM, Portela Miguez R, Kohen J, Helgen L (null) Twentieth century occurrence of the Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijnii in the Kimberley region of Australia. ZooKeys, 255 : 103 - 132. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.255.3774

Clark PF, Campbell P, Smith B, Pearce D, Portela Miguez R (2008) Technical Report: The commercial exploitation of Thames mitten crabs: a feasibility study., In: A report for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by the Department of Zoology: DEFRA references FGE 274. Natural History Museum: London,1-81, appendices 1-6.

Clark PF, Campbell P, Smith B, Rainbow PS, Pearce D, Portela Miguez R (2008) The commercial exploitation of Thames Mitten Crabs: A Feasibility Study.

Portela Miguez R (2006) The Spirit of the Museum. Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Newsletter, 25 - 28.

Mead D, Fingland K, Cripps R, Portela Miguez R, Smith M, Corton C, Oliver K, Skelton J, Betteridge E, Doulcan J, Quail MA, McCarthy SA, Howe K, Sims Y, Torrance J, Tracey A, Challis R, Durbin R, Blaxter M (null) The genome sequence of the eastern grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788. Wellcome Open Research, 5 : 27 - 27. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15721.1

Mead D, Fingland K, Cripps R, Portela Miguez R, Smith M, Corton C, Oliver K, Skelton J, Betteridge E, Dolucan J, Dudchenko O, Omer AD, Weisz D, Lieberman Aiden E, Fedrigo O, Mountcastle J, Jarvis E, McCarthy SA, Sims Y, Torrance J, Tracey A, Howe K, Challis R, Durbin R, Blaxter M (null) The genome sequence of the Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris Linnaeus 1758. Wellcome Open Research, 5 : 18 - 18. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15679.1

Mead D, Hailer F, Chadwick E, Portela Miguez R, Smith M, Corton C, Oliver K, Skelton J, Betteridge E, Doulcan JD, Dudchenko O, Omer A, Weisz D, Lieberman Aiden E, McCarthy S, Howe K, Sims Y, Torrance J, Tracey A, Challis R, Durbin R, Blaxter M (null) The genome sequence of the Eurasian river otter, Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758. Wellcome Open Research, 5 : 33 - 33. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15722.1

Contributed Publications

Martinez Q, Lebrun R, Achmadi AS, Esselstyn JA, Evans AR, Heaney LR, Miguez RP, Rowe KC, Fabre P-H (null) Convergent evolution of an extreme dietary specialisation, the olfactory system of worm-eating rodents. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) : doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35827-0

Livingstone BN, Cooper JE, Viscardi P, Maybury K, Goodship A, Portela Miguez R (2017) Case Studies - Museums and Zoological Collections. Studies on the skeleton of 'Guy' at the NHM., In: Gorilla Pathology and Health With a Catalogue of Preserved Materials, Academic Press : 666.

Courses taught

MRes: Working with Collections
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
10/2022.

MRes: Working with Collections
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
10/2019.

MRes: Working with Collections
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
10/2018.

MRes: Working with Collections

10/2016.

MRes: Working with Collections

10/2015.

Postgraduate: Working with Collections
10/2014.

Postgraduate: Working with Collections
10/2013.

Supervision

Lead supervisor to Sartorius A
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Marsupial type distributions and IUCN Red List maps.

Introduction

Summary

As Senior Curator in Charge of Mammals, my responsibilities involve the management of the dry(skulls, skeletons, skins) and fluid preserved collections of the Mammal Section at the Natural History Museum.

I also assist with answering collection-related enquiries, dealing with loan requests and the supervision of scientific visitors to the collections under my care.

My main interest is to promote and explore the mammal collections and therefore all my projects are collections-based.

The main taxonomic groups of my interest are rodents, bats, marsupials and monotremes, but I am open to collaborations in other groups too.

The Museum collection is critical for taxonomic and systematic research, but I also support work in other disciplines such as ecology, conservation, physiology, and anatomy among other.

Qualifications

    Degrees

  • BA, University of Vigo, Spain, 1995 - 2001

Employment history

    Academic

  • Senior Curator in Charge of Mammals, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2017 - ongoing
  • Senior Curator, Mammal Section, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2016 - 2017
  • Curator, Mammal Section, Natural History Museum, Life Sciences, United Kingdom, 2008 - 2016
  • Curator, Mollusca and Lower Invertebrates Sections, Natural History Museum, Zoology Department, United Kingdom, 2006 - 2007
  • Curatorial Assistant, Reptiles, Fish and Amphibians Division, Natural History Museum, Zoology Department, United Kingdom, 2005 - 2006
  • Non-academic

    Darwin Centre Guide, Natural History Museum, Learning, 2004 - 2005

Projects

Grants

A botanical framework to assess lemurs' diets and seed dispersal capacities
Role: Principal investigatorBuerki S
Role: Co-investigator
Funding: National Geographic Society
Total value £18,600 (to Museum £18,600)

Fieldwork

Timor-Leste
2017 - 2017.

Madagascar
2017 - 2017.

Vietnam
2012 - 2012.

Vietnam
2012 - 2012.

UK
2006 - 2007.

UK
2004 - on going.

Professional activities

Committees

Advisor to Editorial Committee, Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural, 2014 - on going.

Secretary, Natural Sciences Collections Association, 2014 - 2019.

Memberships

Other, Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, 2014 - 2019.

Publications

Publications

Lanzetti A, Coombs EJ, Portela Miguez R, Fernandez V, Goswami A (2022) The ontogeny of asymmetry in echolocating whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289 (1980) : doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1090

Lanzetti A, Chrouch N, Portela Miguez R, Fernandez V, Goswami A (2022) Developing echolocation: distinctive patterns in the ontogeny of the tympanoperiotic complex in baleen and toothed whales (Cetacea). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 135 (2) : 394 - 406. doi: 10.1093/biolinnean/blab160

Roycroft E, MacDonald AJ, Moritz C, Moussalli A, Portela Miguez R, Rowe KC (2021) Museum genomics reveals the rapid decline and extinction of Australian rodents since European settlement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (27) : doi: 10.1073/pnas.2021390118

Fabre A-C, Dowling C, Portela Miguez R, Fernandez V, Noirault E, Goswami A (2021) Functional constraints during development limit jaw shape evolution in marsupials. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288 (1949) : doi: 10.1098/rspb.2021.0319

Roos C, Knauf S, Chuma IS, Maille A, Callou C, Sabin R, Portela Miguez R, Zinner D (2021) New mitogenomic lineages inPapiobaboons and their phylogeographic implications. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 174 (3) : 407 - 417. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24186

Livingstone B, Kitchener AC, Hull G, Schwarz T, Vijayanathan S, Allen MJ, Liptovszky M, Miguez RP (2020) DIFFUSE IDIOPATHIC SKELETAL HYPEROSTOSIS IN CAPTIVE GORILLAS (GORILLA SPP.): APPEARANCES AND DIAGNOSIS. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 51 (3) : doi: 10.1638/2019-0180

Fabre A-C, Noirault E, Fernandez V, Portela-Miguez R, Goswami A (2020) Morphological integration of the skull in marsupials: impact of diet and locomotion. INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY 60 : E316 - E316.

Roos C, M. Helgen K, Portela Miguez R, May Lay Thant N, Lwin N, Ko Lin A, Lin A, Mar Yi K, Soe P, Mar Hein Z, Nyein Nyein Myint M, Ahmed T, Chetry D, Urh M, Grace Veatch E, Duncan N, Kamminga P, A. H. Chua M, Yao L, Matauschek C, Meyer D, Liu Z-J, Li M, Nadler T, Fan P-F, Khac Quyet L, Hofreiter M, Zinner D, Momberg F (2020) Mitogenomic phylogeny of the Asian colobine genus <i>Trachypithecus</i> with special focus on <i>Trachypithecus phayrei</i> (Blyth, 1847) and description of a new species. Zoological Research, 41 (6) : 656 - 669. doi: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.254

Cooper N, Bond AL, Davis JL, Portela Miguez R, Tomsett L, Helgen KM (2019) Sex biases in bird and mammal natural history collections. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 286 (1913) : 20192025 - 20192025. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2025

Portela Miguez R (2019, 28 3) Oldfield Thomas: In His Own Words..

TRAVOUILLON KJ, SIMÕES BF, MIGUEZ RP, BRACE S, BREWER P, STEMMER D, PRICE GJ, CRAMB J, LOUYS J (null) Hidden in plain sight: reassessment of the pig-footed bandicoot, Chaeropus ecaudatus (Peramelemorphia, Chaeropodidae), with a description of a new species from central australia, and use of the fossil record to trace its past distribution. Zootaxa, 4566 (1) : 1 - 1. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4566.1.1

Martinez Q, Lebrun R, Achmadi AS, Esselstyn JA, Evans AR, Heaney LR, Miguez RP, Rowe KC, Fabre P-H (null) Convergent evolution of an extreme dietary specialisation, the olfactory system of worm-eating rodents. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) : doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35827-0

Buerki S, Portela Miguez R (2018) Museum collections are the key to studying lemurs’ diet: gastrointestinal morphology of Cheirogaleus major. Systematics and Biodiversity, 16 (5) : 483 - 487. doi: 10.1080/14772000.2018.1430708

Meloro C, Hunter J, Tomsett L, Portela Miguez R, Prevosti FJ, Brown RP (2017) Evolutionary ecomorphology of the Falkland Islands wolfDusicyon australis. Mammal Review, 47 (2) : 159 - 163. doi: 10.1111/mam.12085

Livingstone BN, Cooper JE, Viscardi P, Maybury K, Goodship A, Portela Miguez R (2017) Case Studies - Museums and Zoological Collections. Studies on the skeleton of 'Guy' at the NHM., In: Gorilla Pathology and Health With a Catalogue of Preserved Materials, Academic Press : 666.

Soisook P, Struebig MJ, Noerfahmy S, Bernard H, Maryanto I, Chen S-F, Rossiter SJ, Kuo H-C, Deshpande K, Bates PJJ, Sykes D, Miguez RP (2015) Description of a New Species of theRhinolophus trifoliatus-Group (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) from Southeast Asia. Acta Chiropterologica, 17 (1) : 21 - 36. doi: 10.3161/15081109acc2015.17.1.002

Helgen KM, Portela Miguez R, Kohen J, Helgen L (null) Twentieth century occurrence of the Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijnii in the Kimberley region of Australia. ZooKeys, 255 : 103 - 132. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.255.3774

Clark PF, Campbell P, Smith B, Pearce D, Portela Miguez R (2008) Technical Report: The commercial exploitation of Thames mitten crabs: a feasibility study., In: A report for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by the Department of Zoology: DEFRA references FGE 274. Natural History Museum: London,1-81, appendices 1-6.

Clark PF, Campbell P, Smith B, Rainbow PS, Pearce D, Portela Miguez R (2008) The commercial exploitation of Thames Mitten Crabs: A Feasibility Study.

Portela Miguez R (2006) The Spirit of the Museum. Porcupine Marine Natural History Society Newsletter, 25 - 28.

Mead D, Fingland K, Cripps R, Portela Miguez R, Smith M, Corton C, Oliver K, Skelton J, Betteridge E, Doulcan J, Quail MA, McCarthy SA, Howe K, Sims Y, Torrance J, Tracey A, Challis R, Durbin R, Blaxter M (null) The genome sequence of the eastern grey squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788. Wellcome Open Research, 5 : 27 - 27. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15721.1

Mead D, Fingland K, Cripps R, Portela Miguez R, Smith M, Corton C, Oliver K, Skelton J, Betteridge E, Dolucan J, Dudchenko O, Omer AD, Weisz D, Lieberman Aiden E, Fedrigo O, Mountcastle J, Jarvis E, McCarthy SA, Sims Y, Torrance J, Tracey A, Howe K, Challis R, Durbin R, Blaxter M (null) The genome sequence of the Eurasian red squirrel, Sciurus vulgaris Linnaeus 1758. Wellcome Open Research, 5 : 18 - 18. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15679.1

Mead D, Hailer F, Chadwick E, Portela Miguez R, Smith M, Corton C, Oliver K, Skelton J, Betteridge E, Doulcan JD, Dudchenko O, Omer A, Weisz D, Lieberman Aiden E, McCarthy S, Howe K, Sims Y, Torrance J, Tracey A, Challis R, Durbin R, Blaxter M (null) The genome sequence of the Eurasian river otter, Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758. Wellcome Open Research, 5 : 33 - 33. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15722.1

Contributed Publications

Martinez Q, Lebrun R, Achmadi AS, Esselstyn JA, Evans AR, Heaney LR, Miguez RP, Rowe KC, Fabre P-H (null) Convergent evolution of an extreme dietary specialisation, the olfactory system of worm-eating rodents. Scientific Reports, 8 (1) : doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-35827-0

Livingstone BN, Cooper JE, Viscardi P, Maybury K, Goodship A, Portela Miguez R (2017) Case Studies - Museums and Zoological Collections. Studies on the skeleton of 'Guy' at the NHM., In: Gorilla Pathology and Health With a Catalogue of Preserved Materials, Academic Press : 666.

Teaching and students

Courses taught

MRes: Working with Collections
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
10/2022.

MRes: Working with Collections
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
10/2019.

MRes: Working with Collections
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
10/2018.

MRes: Working with Collections

10/2016.

MRes: Working with Collections

10/2015.

Postgraduate: Working with Collections
10/2014.

Postgraduate: Working with Collections
10/2013.

Supervision

Lead supervisor to Sartorius A
Co supervisor(s): Cooper N
Marsupial type distributions and IUCN Red List maps.