= David G. Chapple
{c}
<David G. Chapple> studies the <ecology>, <evolution> and conservation of reptiles. His Monash University profile identifies a research focus on Australian <lizards> and <snakes>, including threatened and poorly known species.https://www.monash.edu/science/schools/biological-sciences/staff/chapple[Institutional profile and Research Overview]{ref}
He led and coauthored a global synthesis of <skink> distribution, body form, ecology and life history, published in 2023. The study assembled species-level information to compare traits such as limb reduction and reproductive mode. Its author-contribution statement credits him with shared conceptualization, data curation, investigation and methodology, as well as leading funding acquisition.<Built for success: Distribution, morphology, ecology and life history of the world's skinks by David G. Chapple and others>[Author contributions; sections 3.2–3.3 and Figure 7]{ref}
A comparative dataset distinguishes different kinds of uncertainty. A recorded absence of limbs is an observed trait; an unrecorded reproductive mode is missing information. Treating both as the same zero value would manufacture a biological pattern. Collecting and documenting traits makes cross-species evolutionary questions testable, while keeping data coverage separate from the traits being compared.
\Image[https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/image/0014/1215230/Chapple2017.jpg]
{title=David G. Chapple, portrait identified on his Monash University profile}
{height=240}
Portrait source: https://www.monash.edu/science/schools/biological-sciences/staff/chapple .
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