Mike Archer

Michael Archer (born 1945) is an Australian paleontologist specialising in Australian vertebrates. He is a professor at the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales. His previous appointments include Director of the Australian Museum 1999–2004 and Dean of Science at the University of New South Wales 2004–2009.

Education and career Archer was born in Sydney but raised in the United States and studied at Princeton University. From 1972 to 1978, he was the curator of mammals at the Queensland Museum. Since 1983, he has been involved with the exploration of the Riversleigh fossil site in Queensland.

Archer regularly engages in active debates with creationists.

During his time as director of the Australian Museum, Archer was the initiator of attempts to clone the Thylacine, an animal that went extinct in 1936. Archer has stated that he is obsessed with bringing the thylacine back to life via cloning. He has said that his obsession is going to push the research further and further until he and his team will have their first living thylacine clone.

In 2011, Archer published an article asserting that a vegetarian diet causes more suffering and deaths of animals than an omnivorous diet based on sustainable husbandry.

Archer is married to the paleontologist Suzanne Hand, with whom he has two daughters.

Below is a list of taxa that Archer has contributed to naming: YearTaxonAuthors2026Miyumba chrisdickmani gen. et sp. nov.Churchill, Archer, Hand, & Farman 2026Phantasmodon minuferox sp. nov.Churchill, Archer, Hand, & Beck 2023Xenorhinos bhatnagari sp. nov.Hand, Archer, Gillespie, & Myers 2019Litorallus livezeyi gen. et sp. nov.Mather, Tennyson, Scofield, De Pietri, Hand, Archer, Handley, & Worthy 2019Priscaweka parvales gen. et sp. nov.Mather, Tennyson, Scofield, De Pietri, Hand, Archer, Handley, & Worthy 2016Microleo attenboroughi gen. et sp. nov.Gillespie, Archer, & Hand 2015Marnenycteris michauxi gen. et sp. nov.Hand, Sigé, Archer, Gunnell, & Simmons 2015Ganguroo robustifer sp. nov.Cooke, Travouillon, Archer, & Hand 2013Obdurodon tharalkooschild sp. nov.Pian, Archer, & Hand 2011Naraboryctes philcreaseri gen. et sp. nov.Archer, Beck, Gott, Hand, Godthelp, & Black 2010Kuiornis indicator gen. et sp. nov.Worthy, Hand, Nguyen, Tennyson, Worthy, Scofield, Boles, & Archer 2007Warendja encorensis sp. nov.Brewer, Archer, Hand, & Godthelp 1999Djarthia murgonensis gen. et sp. nov.Godthelp, Wroe, & Archer 1995Kollikodon ritchiei gen. et sp. nov.Flannery, Archer, Rich, & Jones 1985Steropodon galmani gen. et sp. nov.Archer, Flennery, Ritchie, & Molnar 1979Namilamadeta snideri gen. et sp. nov.Rich & Archer 1978Propleopus chillagoensis sp. nov.Archer, Bartholomai, & Marshall

Honours 1984: Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales 1987: Inaugural Queensland Museum Medal for Research 1989: Australian Heritage Award for Nature Conservation 1990: Inaugural Eureka Prize for the Promotion of Science 1990: Inaugural IBM Conservation Award for Research 1994: Mueller Medal, ANZAAS 1996: Verco Medal, Royal Society of South Australia 1998: Australian Skeptic of the Year 2002: Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (FAA) 2008: Member of the Order of Australia (AM) 2009: Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN) 2019: Romer-Simpson Medal of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (USA) 2025: Robert Etheridge Jr Medal, The Australasian Palaeontologists (AAP) and the Geological Society of Australia

Publications Archer, M. (Ed.) (1982). Carnivorous Marsupials. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, 1982. (2 volumes) Archer, M. and Clayton, C. (Eds.) (1984). Vertebrate Zoogeography & Evolution in Australasia: Animals in Space & Time. Hesperian Press. Archer, M. and Flannery, T.F. with Grigg, G.C. (1985) The Kangaroo. Kevin Weldon Press. Archer, M., Hand, S. and Godthelp, H. (1986). Uncovering Australia's Dreamtime. Surrey Beatty & Sons Archer, M. (Ed.) (1987). Possums and Opossums: Studies in Evolution. Surrey Beatty & Sons in association with the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. Cronin, L. (Ed.) (1987). Koala: Australia's Endearing Marsupial. Reed Books Pty, Ltd. (text by Archer et al.) Long, J.A., Archer, M., Flannery, T. and Hand, S. (2002). Prehistoric mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One hundred million years of evolution. University of NSW Press. Archer, M., Hand, S. and Godthelp, H. (2000). Australia's lost world: Prehistoric animals of Riversleigh. Indiana University Press.