School of Botany and Zoology

Main Research Interest
Social behaviour, ecology, reproductive biology and conservation of African bats and rodents

Background
Having made up my mind to be a biologist when I was four years old, I spent much of my youth collecting and studying the animals and plants in the Victorian countryside where I grew up. I read Science (majoring in Zoology) at Monash University and, being particularly interested in behaviour, I compiled an ethogram for the hopping-mouse, Notomys alexis (which lives in the Australian arid zone) as an Honours project. Then, for my Ph.D., I followed this with an investigation of the adaptive significance of the social organisations of seven species of Conilurine rodents from habitats as diverse as the arid-zone, the semi-arid Mallee, seasonal dry sclerophyll forests and heathlands, and an "oasis" in Central Australia. This investigation showed that living in groups is an r -strategy suited to habitats with fluctuating carrying capacities (the arid and semi-arid habitats), whereas living in pairs or dispersed are K-strategies suited to habitats with stable carrying capacities (the seasonal and "oasis" habitats). Living in groups also enabled the arid-zone species to co-operative in manipulating the microclimate of their burrows in order to conserve water and energy.

I married David Happold in 1971. We lived in Nigeria, worked together on Nigerian megabats, and our two children were born there. In 1977, David began full-time employment at the A.N.U. and, soon after, I was offered a Visiting Fellowship and we began to collaborate in projects on the bats and small terrestrial mammals of Malawi. We spent two years doing field-work in Malawi in 1984-85 and in 1993-94.

Research Interests
My research interests are similar to those of my husband, David Happold, and we collaborate in studies of the distribution, ecology, demography, reproduction and behaviour of African rodents, shrews and bats. Although I participate in David's research on African rodents and shrews, my main interest is in the biology of African bats - particularly those of Malawi. Recently, our research on the bats of Malawi has focused on the following topics:-

• Geographic distribution and habitat selection.
• Identification from anatomical characteristics and measurements.
• Conservation priorities.
• Renal form and function.
• Social behaviour and general biology of the Banana Bat, Pipistrellus nanus.
• Echolocation calls as a means of recognising species of microbats.
• Echolocation, wing morphology and resource partitioning in communities of bats.
• Reproductive strategies of bats in Malawi and elsewhere in Africa.

Currently, I am co-editor (with Tom Butynski, David Happold, Mike Hoffmann and Jonathan Kingdon,) of a major work, "The Mammals of Africa" which will describe in detail all the extant species of mammals on the African continent. Besides editing the Chiroptera section (about 225 species, plus higher taxa profiles), I have written 175 of the species, genus and higher taxa profiles myself. I have also prepared the line drawings for the volumes on the small mammals. It is expected that there will be six volumes (of 300-500 pages / volume). It is hoped that "The Mammals of Africa" will be published by University of California Press in 2011-2012.

Being semi-retired, I am no longer teaching at the Australian National University, and I do not supervise any post-graduate studies.

Selected Publications
Stanley, M. (1971).  An ethogram of the hopping-mouse, Notomys alexis. Z. Tierpsychol. 29: 225-258.

Happold, M. (1972). Maternal and juvenile behaviour in the marsupial jerboa, Antechinomys spenceri (Dasyuridae). Aust. Mammal. 1: 27-37.

Happold, M. (1976). Social behaviour of the conilurine rodents (Muridae) of Australia. Z. Tierpsychol. 40: 113-182.

Happold, M. (1976). The ontogeny of social behaviour in four Conilurine rodents (Muridae) of Australia. Z. Tierpsychol. 40: 265-278.

Happold, M. (1976). Reproductive biology and development in the Conilurine rodents (Muridae) of Australia. Aust. J. Zool. 24: 19-26.

Happold, D.C.D. & Happold, M. (1978). Fruit bats of western Nigeria. Niger. Fld. 43: 30-37, 72-77, 121-127.

Happold, M. (1983). Pseudomys desertor. In: Mammals of Australia, (ed. R. Strahan). Angus & Robertson. p. 402.

Lee, A. K., Fleming, M. R. & Happold, M. (1984). Microclimate, water economy and energetics of a desert rodent, Notomys alexis. In: Arid Australia (eds. H.G. Cogger & E.E. Cameron). Australian Museum, Sydney. pp. 315-326.

Happold D.C.D. & Happold M. (1986) Small mammals of Zomba Plateau, Malawi, as assessed by their presence in pellets of the grass owl, Tyto capensis, and by live-trapping. Afr. J. Ecol. 24: 77-87.

Happold D.C.D., Happold M. & Hill, J. E.(1987) The bats of Malawi. Mammalia 51: 337-414.

Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M.  (1988)  Renal form and function in relation to the ecology of bats (Chiroptera) from Malawi, central Africa.  J. Zool. Lond.  215: 629-655.

Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M. (1989)  The reproduction of Tadarida condylura and Tadarida pumila (Chiroptera, Molossidae) in Malawi, central Africa.  J.  Reproduction and Fertility  85: 133-149.

Happold, D.C.D and Happold, M. (1990)  The bats (Chiroptera) of Malawi, Central Africa:  checklist and keys for identification.  Nyala.14: 89-112.

Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M. (1990) The domiciles, reproduction, social organisation and sex ratios of Pipistrellus nanus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in Malawi. Z. Saugetierk. 55: 145-160.

Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M. (1991) The reproductive strategies of bats (Chiroptera) in Africa. J. Zool. Lond. 222: 557-583.

Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M.  (1996). The social organization and population dynamics of leaf-roosting banana bats, Pipistrellus nanus (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), in Malawi, east -central Africa.  Mammalia  60: 517-544

Bernard, R.T.F,  Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M. (1997). Sperm storage in the Banana Bat (Pipistrellus nanus) from tropical latitudes in Africa.  Journal of Zoology, London 241: 161-174.

Happold, M. and Happold D.C.D. (1997). New records of bats (Chiroptera: Mammalia) from Malawi, east -central Africa, with an assessment of their status and conservation. Journal of Natural History 31: 805-836.

Happold, D.C.D. and Happold, M. (1998). Effects of bat-bands and banding on a population of Pipistrellus nanus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) in Malawi.  Z. Saugetierkunde 63: 65-78.

Happold. M. 2003. Case 3240 Vespertilio nanus Peters, 1852 (currently Pipistrellus nanus; Mammalia, Chiroptera): proposed conservation of the specific name.  Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60(1): 42-44.

Happold. M. 2005. A new species of Myotis (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from central Africa.  Acta Chiropterologica 7: 9-21.

Happold, M. & Happold, D.C.D. (in press). The Mammals of Africa, Volume 4 (Editors M. Happold & D.C.D. Happold). University of California Press, Berkeley.

Happold, M. (in press). Numerous order, family, genus and species profiles for volume 4 of The Mammals of Africa. University of California Press, Berkeley. (Total number 175 profiles of bats).