he return of Halley's Comet to the vicinity of the Sun in 1986 is U being heralded by wide cover­ age in the media, reflecting the enor­ mous public interest generated by this event. Lectures on the Comet are be­ ing given, books are being published and a variety of expeditions to dark sites in the country to view the Comet are being advertised. The contrast with the general attitude towards co­ mets before Edmond Halley came on the scene is stark indeed. Before Hal­ ley, comets were regarded as evil omens. Their sudden unheralded ap­ parition in the sky and unusual chang­ ing appearance struck fear into the hearts of superstitious people. If a king or emperor were to die or lose an im­ portant battle soon after the appear­ ance of a comet, their fear was apparently justified! Shakespeare summed it up when he wrote in Julius Caesar: "When beggars die there are no comets seen: the heavens them­ selves blaze forth the death of princes." The Roman Emperor Vespasian (79 AD) was another believer and proclaimed, on the appearance of a - bright comet, that: "This hairy star c.,.., 3 does not concern me: it menaces 0 rather the King of the Parthians for he c.::::I is hairy and I am bald". (The word 'co­ ::c met' comes from the Greek kometes � ii" aster, literally meaning 'hairy star'.) Un­ � fortunately for poor Vespasian, he got it wrong-he was the one to die that southern sky, based on observations visit triggered Newton to renew his year. Of course, upon reflection, it made with a telescope. He plotted the study of celestial mechanics with the would always be possible to find some first meteorological chart and the first result that Newton produced his apocalyptic event to associate with magnetic charts of the Atlantic and Pa­ monumental Principia-a milestone in the appearance of a comet. Historical­ cific areas. He drew up the first-ever the progress of science. Halley played ly it seems that is exactly what people mortality tables and devised the Ve­ a major role in the publication of the did. nus transit method for determining the Principia with the Royal Society decid­ distance of the Sun from the Earth. He ing that "Mr Halley undertake the busi­ The Man Behind the Comet seems to have dabbled in anything ness of looking after it, and printing it It was Edmond Halley {1656-17 42) that took his interest and advanced at his own charge"-which he did. Fur­ who removed the mystery surround­ the current knowledge and under­ thermore, Halley computed the orbit ing comets. A contemporary of Sir Isa­ standing in the process. But despite his of the comet of 1680 with the aid of ac Newton and Sir Christopher Wren, many significant contributions to Newton's mathematics and a drawing he made major contributions to many science, he is generally remembered of the orbit of this comet appears in diverse subjects. Halley became a Fel­ today only for the Comet. the Principia. low of the Royal Society at the age of Halley's interest in comets appar­ In 1705, Halley published A Synop­ 22 for his achievement of producing ently stemmed from his attempts at sis of the Astronomy of Comets, con­ the first catalogue of stars in the working out the orbits of the planets. taining the orbits of 24 comets, which Along with Robert Hooke, he worked he had computed largely from histori­ An artist's impression of a cometary out the the type of force required to cal records of observations. He noted nucleus, described as a 'dirty iceball'. keep the planets in their orbits around that the orbit of the comet of 1682, As a cometary nucleus approaches the the Sun but was unable to deduce the which he had observed himself, and Sun, its irregular surface is heated by actual form of the orbit. He went to the orbits of the comets of 1531 and the Sun's rays. The gas and dust that see Newton in Cambridge for help and 1607 were remarkably similar. He are released form a cloud or coma found that Newton had worked it all came to the bold conclusion that around the nucleus. Painting: Christine out but had mislaid his notes! these were one and the same comet • Bruderlin. Nevertheless, it seems that Halley's and, in his own words, wrote: "I may, AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 507 therefore, with confidence predict its of the birth of Christ but the European Oort Cloud. Some nuclei are deflected return in the year 1758. If this predic­ Space Agency has named the space­ away from the Sun and are lost to the tion is fulfilled, there is no reason to craft they despatched to rendezvous solar system forever but others are doubt that other comets will return". with Halley's Comet 'Giotto' in honour directed inwards towards the Sun. He also wrote, modestly, that if he of the famous painting. Some of the latter become bright were proved right, "candid posterity enough in the vicinity of the Sun to be will not refuse to acknowledge that What's in a Comet? visible from Earth. It is generally accepted that a co­ this was first discovered by an English­ Away from the Sun, cometary man". Halley died before the Comet met has a nucleus, which is best nuclei are icy cold and too faint to be described as a 'dirty iceball'. It is returned, but return it did. In honour seen from the Earth. However, as a thought to be a conglomeration of of his prediction the Comet was nucleus approaches the Sun, its sur­ frozen gases (ices),dust and gravel-like named after him, thus fulfilling both face is heated by the Sun's rays and the particles of solid material. Cometary his predictions. frozen gases near the surface are nuclei are thought to have been Although all comets move in orbits transformed into gas. In the process, around the Sun, many take so long to formed when the solar system con­ dust particles are also released into return to the vicinity of the Sun that densed from a dense cloud of inter­ previous visits to our neighbourhood stellar gas and dust some 5,000 million were made before existing records years ago. As the density of the con­ started, or their next return is so far off densing cloud increased, gas mole­ in the future that they are of no im­ cules froze to dust particles in mediate interest. Some comets return collisions and 'snowballs' were regularly every few years and are formed. Collisions of 'snowballs' known as periodic comets. The peri­ produced larger bodies. odic comets are those with the In the outer regions of the solar smallest orbits and they are also system, the collisions were fewer, be­ generally faint. Halley's Comet is an cause the density was lower, with the exception-it is the brightest of the result that a very large number of periodic comets and returns on aver­ small, icy bodies were formed with di­ age once every 77 years. Its returns ameters ranging from a few metres to have been traced back to at least 240 a few kilometres. There are thought to BC and records of every return since be as many as one billion of these then have been found. cometary nuclei in the outer reaches Because it has generally been a of the solar system with a total mass of bright comet, Halley's has often been only a few per cent of the Earth's mass. regarded as ominous and consequent­ This enormous swarm of cometary ly has been blamed for a fair share of nuclei, known as the Oort Cloud (after disasters. For example, the Nuremburg the Dutch astronomer who first sug­ Chronicles, published in 1493, give an gested its existence) moves in a rough­ account of the events of the year 684 ly circular orbit around the Sun at a AD when Halley's Comet appeared. distance at least a thousand times The Comet caused three months of greater than that of the outermost rain, thunder and lightning; people planet. Every ten million years or so it and flocks died and grain withered in is thought that a passing star comes the fields. Finally, eclipses of the Sun close enough to disrupt the orbits of and the Moon were followed by a some of the cometary nuclei in the plague-clearly it was not a very good Comet Halley photographed with the year! The Comet's appearance in 1066 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian telescope was regarded by the Saxons as a bad near Coonabarabran, New South omen for the Battle of Hastings­ Wales on 9 December 1985. The pic­ although presumably the Normans ture was constructed from three must have looked upon it as a good separate exposures in red, green and omen. Either way, the event is record­ blue light which were combined in the ed for posterity in the Bayeux darkroom. The telescope accurately Tapestry. followed the comet, leaving the star There are many other events in his­ images elongated. The outermost tory that have been associated with parts of the round head are tinged Halley's Comet but mention should be blue by the action of ultraviolet sun­ made of the 1301 return. This inspired light on gases such as cyanogen that several artists including Ciotta di Bon­ boil off the icy nucleus. The yellow­ done who used the Comet as a model white streaks in the tail result from for the Star of Bethlehem in his paint­ miniscule grains of dirt that reflect sun­ ing of the Adoration of the Magi. We light after being shed from spots on now know that Halley's Comet did not the nucleus. Photo: D.F. Malin; © An­ appear at the currently accepted time glo Australian Telescope Board, 1985 ....

508 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 the space surrounding the nucleus. millions of kilometres in length but it from studies of the light emitted by The nucleus is typically five kilometres always points away from the Sun. atoms and molecules in the comae in diameter but the cloud of gas and Therefore the direction of the tail does and tails of comets that, as well as in­ dust surrounding it as it approaches not indicate the direction in which the nocuous atoms such as hydrogen, car· the Sun grows to form a head or comet is moving-as the comet ap­ bon, iron, nickel and copper, and coma, which may be 100,000 kilo­ proaches the Sun, its tail will be molecules such as water, there were metres in diameter! The solar wind, a streaming out behind it but as the co­ also toxic molecules like cyanogen stream of charged particles streaming met recedes from the Sun, its tail will and hydrogen cyanide. This worried away from the Sun at speeds of 400 to precede it. many people and led to headlines 500 kilometres per second, together such as the one in a Chicago with solar radiation, carry and push The Return of Halley's Comet newspaper that proclaimed: "Chicago the gas molecules and dust particles in The last return of Halley's Comet is terrified: women are stopping up a direction away from the Sun to form occurred in 1910 and on that occasion doors and windows to keep out the characteristic tail of the comet. the Earth actually passed through the cyanogen". However, the density of The tail may grow to several tens of comet's tail. It had been discovered the gas in comet tails is so low that

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 509 A panel from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 appearance of Halley's Comet. As the people on the left gaze at it in bewilderment, an astrologer tells King Harold that it is an omen.

Observing conditions for Halley's Comet in 1986 for observers at latitude 30° South. The positions of the Comet are given for the end of evening astronomical twilight and the beginning of morning astronomical twilight. Approximate visual magnitudes (a measure of brightness) are given in parentheses following the dates. Drawing: Sue Oakes.

COMET IN MORNING SKY 90 4 rJJ w A 4 w 80 cc 80 ., L 70 <.? APAL 30 160) ,,,. MARCH 31f411 ' ., - - - w - - --· --- � � �---·-A e / - L3 _:"..'.:� --, ...._/ / , ., 30°S LATITUDE z 70 t MARCH 26 (44) 6Q ------0 APRIL .._25 (54 - .._ . ...._ / a: APRIL 10. (4 OJ � 0 I 60 .. "J'- '- , APR L 20 14 81 . w> ', , COMET IN EVENING SKY 50 f 50 <{ MARCH 16(49) l � .• I ' • 0 � APR1l 15!43J MARCH 11150) - Atlfl;::: 40 � 40 ' APRL 15 !43J .. w w MARCH 6 {50 ', 30 \ 30 St\ • \ .• MARCH 1 ( 471. \ "" � 20 \ APRL 101401 • 20 APRIL 20 (48) � FEBRUARY 24 (42 1 • \ I \ \ 10 10

70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 510 EAST AZIMUTH, DEGREES SOUTH VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 there is really nothing to worry about. comprehensive observational pro­ struments and techniques. At the end Imagine exhausting all the air from the gram well in advance. This is particu· we should know a great deal more Sydney Opera House and then allow­ larly important for spacecraft missions about comets in general, about the ing a fly to breathe out in it-once. since there is inevitably a long lead origin of the solar system and about That would give the sort of gas density time in preparing space-borne experi­ the environment in which the Earth or· that exists in comet tails! ments for launch. In fact, five bits the Sun. On this return, Halley's Comet will spacecraft have been dispatched to The closest that Halley's Comet unfortunately not be in such a favoura­ rendezvous with Halley's Comet early will come to the Earth this time is 60 ble position as when last seen in 1910. in March 1986. These include the Euro· million kilometres as it passes the In fact, this return is possibly the least pean Space Agency's Giotto space­ Earth on its journey away from the Sun favourable of all the 29 recorded craft, which is aimed to pass within on April 11, 1986. The Comet will be returns. It is simply a question of the approximately 500 kilometres of the at its brightest as seen from Earth on geometry of the orbits and the relative nucleus. All the spacecraft carry this date and, fortunately for those of positions of the Earth and the Comet. numerous experiments to study differ· us in the Southern Hemisphere, it will When the Comet is at its intrinsic ent aspects of the cometary phenome· appear high in the southern sky. In brightest, which is just after its closest non, including the composition and fact, the best time to see it will be the approach to the Sun (known as peri­ structure of the coma and tail. They week or so around the new moon of helion), the Earth is on the far side of will also study the composition and April 9. To see it at its best, it will be its orbit, just about as far from the Co­ properties of the solar wind. In addi­ necessary to get away from city lights met as it could be. tion, a comprehensive program to ob· and pollution-undoubtedly the best Since this return is not particularly serve and monitor the Comet's chance of clear skies is to go inland, favourable, one might well ask why so behaviour, involving some 43 par· away from the coast. When and much interest is being shown by scien­ ticipating countries, is being co­ where to look? The best advice is to tists around the world. There are two ordinated by an organisation called watch the newspapers. They will no reasons. Firstly, Halley's Comet is in· the International Halley Watch. Involv­ doubt publish up-to-date information, trinsically bright, making it relatively ing over 800 professional and 3,000 star charts and finding guides for this easy to observe and, secondly, its amateur astronomers, this program once in a lifetime (for most of us any· reappearance can be accurately pre­ will ensure that the Comet is observed way) event. D dicted, making it possible to plan a continuously using all the available in-

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AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 511 Text and Photos by Tim Low spring, and are one of my favourite bush foods. ild foods grow best along Around Sydney, in the sandstone edges-on fringes of rain­ heaths, the more common species of Wforest, margins of streams five corners is 5. triflora. This heath and the seashore. At these edges, bears close resemblance to 5. viridis, Aborigines once gathered fruits, dug but the flowers are usually a shade of for roots, netted fish and hunted. pink or yellow, not green. The seashore was the most One of the few tuber-bearing favoured of the edge environments. plants of the seashore is Goats-foot Apart from its bounty of fish and shell­ Convulvulus or Coast Morning Glory fish, fruits and leaves, it provided a (Jpomoea pes-caprae brasiliensis). This pleasant place to live. Sandy beaches creeper is common on beaches and made travel easy and gave relief from dunes in northern and eastern Austra­ the gloom of the forest. The fruits of Coast Beard Heath (l.eu­ lia, as far south as Sydney. Its seeds are Seashore vegetation is especially copogon parviflorus) were apparent­ carried by ocean currents and the rJ) rich in wild fruits. In the north, ly popular with southern Aborigines plant also occurs on beaches between Aborigines feasted on the hefty fruits and also early settlers who dubbed India and Hawaii. Its bell-shaped Q.) of lady apples, pandanuses, lolly ber­ them 'white currants'. flowers are purple or pink and the - ries and yellow plums. In the south, and white, with five furry petals. The folded leaves are shaped like cloven ..0 the seashore fruits are smaller but just fruits are produced almost any time of hooves, hence its name pes-caprae, • as tasty. One of the most common year, but ripen mostly in summer and meaning 'foot of goat'. and widespread of these is Coast are relished by seagulls. In 1792 the Goats-foot is closely related to -0 Beard Heath (Leucopogon parviflorus). French botanist Riche was lost for 54 Sweet Potato (/. batatas), but its a.; Its tiny, yellowish fruits have a delight­ hours on the coast of South Australia chewy, tasteless tubers are a poor sub­ ful lemony taste. with nothing to eat but these fruits. stitute for the cultivated vegetable. Coast Beard Heath grows on Coast Beard Heath belongs to the Groote Eylandt Aborigines roasted southern seashores between Perth � heath family Epacridaceae-one noted and ate them only in times of food and Fraser Island. It is a common shrub for its many shrubby species with shortage, for they sometimes tasted of beaches, dunes and headlands, sweet, edible fruits. The heaths are bitter and burned the throat.The roots 0 sometimes forming dense thickets. identified by their small, stiff leaves were a famine food used by Hawai­ The stiff leaves are one to three cen­ without obvious veins on the upper ians, who considered large amounts timetres long and the flowers are tiny surface and by their small fruits con­ poisonous. Goats-foot Convulvulus (/pomoea taining a single stone. The leaf tips are The leaves of Sweet Potato are pes-caprae brasiliensis) has edible often spiny and the undersides are eaten as a vegetable in developing tubers but they sometimes taste bitter pale. Other heaths that grow by the nations. So, too, are the cooked leaves and burn the throat. sea include the five corners (5typhelia). of Goats-foot. They were eaten by the Ripe fruits of five corners are Indians and Japanese, but not by Aus­ green-an unusual colour in fruits. tralian Aborigines who ate few kinds They are eight to ten millimetres long of leaves. The succulent young leaves and are half-covered by five scaly are a handy vegetable for beachside bracts-hence the name. The fruits of campers, although older foliage be­ 5. viridis were gathered by Stradbroke comes chewy and bitter. Island Aborigines, for they are deli­ Northern Aborigines used the ciously sweet and succulent. leaves as poultices on animal stings, 5typhelia viridis is a scrawny shrub boils and aches, a practice that may of southern Queensland and eastern have been learned from visiting 19th New South Wales. Although usually century fishermen. The leaves are also encountered by the sea, it also grows used as a poultice in Indonesia and on inland heaths near rocky outcrops. Indochina. The little fruits ripen in winter and Happy eating ...

512 VOL. 21 o. 12, AUTUMN 1986 FALLACIES

Have you ever wondered why babies are born with blue eyes; or why veins look blue, rather than red? Why do birds have such gangly necks? Why is it wise not to wear blue clothes when bushwalking? Do carrots really help us see in the dark? These are just some of the questions Pamela and David Maitland from the School of Zoology at the University of New South Wales ask about eyes. Read on and discover more.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 513 s humans, we think we pretty detail like those of an animal active side. Behind the cornea is a pigmented much have the best of every­ during the day (diurnal). Diurnal mam­ diaphragm called the iris which is thing and that, as far as animals mals have not regained the perfection supported by muscle. Light passes go, we're at the top of the heap. That of the eye structure found in diurnal through the hole in the iris: the pupil. we can even entertain such a thought reptiles and birds. For example, virtu­ The iris contracts or relaxes to regulate is justification enough for this-we ally all reptiles and birds can see the amount of light entering the pupil. have a superb brain. However, it is colour-but we are one of the few The light then passes through the lens, sobering to consider that much of the mammals that can. also supported by muscle. The lens is rest of our body is an improvisation of The Vertebrate Eye made of a fibrous, jelly-like material firstly, the basic vertebrate plan and Rods, Cones, Carrots and and is flexible; its shape is controlled secondly, the mammalian one. Black Holes by the surrounding muscles. In terres­ Putting Our Eyes in Perspective All vertebrates share the same kind trial vertebrates the lens supplements the cornea and varies the focus. In The human eye, for example, is of eye-the lens eye. Light enters the aquatic vertebrates the lens does all complex because the vertebrate eye eye through the cornea, the trans­ the focusing and, for example, in fish is in general is complex. But, of all the parent bulge at the front, which in virtually spherical: the greater the vertebrates; reptiles and birds have it terrestrial vertebrates does most of curvature of the lens, the more power­ over us and, in fact, over all mammals. the focusing. Because of its backing ful it is. This is because mammals evolved of water (the aqueous humour) the from small nocturnal ancestors whose cornea in aquatic vertebrates loses this Light is focused by the lens onto eyes, although they worked well in function and has little effect on the the retina after passing through the dim light, lacked the ability to see fine light coming in from the water out- clear jelly (vitreous humour) in between. The human retina is most sensitive at a small retinal depression called the 'yellow spot' or 'macula'. In the centre of this region, the 'area centralis', there are only densely­ packed cones. (We move our eyes while we read to keep the fine print focused here.) Surrounding the area centralis are rods which, without forming a sharp image, are used to size up moving objects and to see in conditions of dim light. It is easier to see a star in the sky if we look slightly to one side of it because we are mov­ ing its image from the area centralis onto the rods. Nocturnal animals have large eyes. That is, the proportion of the eyeball that is actually exposed is much greater than in diurnal animals (hence the endearing pop-eyed look of the bushbabies or lorises of eastern Africa). These animals have relatively large corneas in order to catch as much light as possible. Additionally, The Common Brushtail Possum's highly sensitive eyes, adapted for seeing well the pupil opens up very wide and the even in very dim light, are protected from glare by pupils that close down to lens is large and positioned close to a pear-shaped slits. Photo: D. Maitland. small retina. This has the same effect as that of a slide projectionist, who in the iris are so arranged that its tissue gets a brighter image by placing his bunches up when the pupil closes. projector close to a small screen. Therefore, most nocturnal animals We've all heard the old wives' tale that are also active during the day 'eat carrots to see in the dark'-but it's have slit pupils to protect their true! The rods, which are so important sensitive retinae. for night vision, contain a pigment Marsupials generally have round called 'visual purple' or rhodopsin. pupils but the Koala's pupil shuts right Without rhodopsin the rod is no down t<;> a sliver. Koalas are not very longer sensitive. Vitamin A is essential active during the day, becoming far in the synthesis of rhodopsin and is more ambitious about life towards itself derived from another pigment, sunset. The leaf edges of the gum carotene, which is responsible for trees they inhabit turn towards the sun making carrots orange. If there is not to avoid dehydration. Because a min­ enough Vitamin A in the diet, then imum of shade is thus cast, Koalas little rhodopsin is made and the must protect their eyes in this novel condition known as night-blindness fashion. occurs. During World War II, every The possums are also largely noc­ effort was made to keep a high con­ turnal but they aren't totally flum­ centration of rhodopsin in the retinae moxed by bright light either. Their of night fighter pilots by providing pupils are drop-shaped and can also them with carotene- and Vitamin A­ contract to mere slits, thus protecting rich foods (within limits, of course!). their eyes from glare. Pupils come in basically two While on the subject of pupils, shapes: slits and circles. Round pupils have you ever wondered why they are do not open and close as far as slit black? At the very back of the eye, pupils because the sphincter muscles behind the retina, is another layer called the choroid. This contains blood The eye of the Cane Toad, like most terrestrial vertebrates, has a curved An artist's impression of what we ... cornea which aids the lens in bending would look like if humans had com­ the light as the eye focuses. For this pound eyes with the same resolving reason, the lens does not need to be nearly as spherical as it is in fish, for ex­ ample. The pupil in this case is a �horizontal slit. Photo: D. Maitland.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 515 �This march fly is about to feast on hu­ man blood. The compound eyes of in­ sects have corneas made of the same tough material that covers the rest of the body so there is no need for pro­ tective eyelids. Photo: D. Maitland.

field of view which enables it to see practically all the way around itself. The brain interprets two completely different images, one from each eye. A foraging herbivore needs to have this broad, sweeping view of its surround· ings to keep a lookout for approaching predators. On the other hand, having eyes well forward means that each eye sees virtually the same image, that is, stereoscopic vision. This allows for the judgment of distances-vital to a jumping or striking predator. Put a Lid on It! Eyelids evolved in terrestrial ver· tebrates as protection against wind· borne dust, abrasive walls of burrows and vegetation, as well as too much right. Most importantly, however, they are essential for keeping the eye moist. Diagram of the human eye. Light pass­ blood. I he transparent outer layer of The nictitating membrane (nicti­ es freely through the cornea, aqueous the iris that overlies the blood vessels, tating meaning blinking) is the 'first' humour, pupil, lens and vitreous hu­ or the skin that covers the veins in an eyelid (that is, the first to evolve-not mour to the image-forming retina. arm or leg, acts as a filter and absorbs to be confused with its often-used ver· Drawing: P. Maitland. all colours but blue. Blue is reflected nacular, the 'third eyelid'). It closes and -this is what the observer sees. vessels and black pigment. The pig­ from the nasal side of the eye out· ment absorbs any light not already wards and is present in the eyes of Socket To Me adult amphibians and some reptiles absorbed by the rods and cones, and The eyes of vertebrates are housed so, in the absence of light, the pupil (such as lizards) and is most highly in the skull by the orbits, to which the developed in birds. The nictitating appears black. True albinos lack eye muscles are attached. Birds' eyes, pigmentation of any sort, including however, are usually so enormous that in the choroid. Consequently their (they almost touch in the middle of pupils are not black-just a darker the skull) that there is no room in the shade of pink than the iris. The pink skull for eye muscles. Hence most RHABDOM colour is due to the unmaske<;! blood birds have no eye movement. This (RETINA) in the vessels. Albinos, therefore, have explains why birds have such flexible very poor vision because of the abun­ necks. The wise old owl, whose head dance of stray light in their eyes. only appears to be glued to its body The Trick Behind Blue Eyes because of all those feathers needed The iris is made up of three layers: for soundless flight, actually has one of an inner muscular layer, a middle layer the most flexible necks of all. It can containing blood vessels and an outer turn its head 270 ° and bend it back � layer which may be pigmented to a until it is upside-down! CRYSTALLINE greater or lesser degree. The only The orbits of frogs and toads, how­ CONE (LENS) pigment in all eyes is brown; it's just ever, have no bony floor. When a frog that blue-eyed people have a neglig­ or toad swallows, its eyes disappear ible amount and brown-eyed people into its head. What's actually hap­ Schematic diagram of a typical com­ have a lot. Babies' eyes, even if pening is that the eyes are being pound eye found in, for example, in­ destined to be brown, are blue be­ pushed down into the throat and used sects. A slice has been taken out of the cause the pigment has not yet formed. as ramrods to get the food down. many eye units, or ommatidia. The The reason that unpigmented irises The actual position of the eye cornea and crystalline cone focus the look blue involves the same optical sockets is important to an animal's light onto the retina (called rhabdom), trickery responsible for veins just particular lifestyle. When an animal which contains the light-sensitive cells. underneath the skin looking blue, has eyes on either side of the head, Each 'sees' an image which is part of even though they contain dark red each eye receives a separate large the whole. Drawing: P. Maitland.

516 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 membrane in migrating birds is kept compound eye means that it is highly closed while they fly to prevent the suitable for the detection of cornea from drying out. Conse­ movement as the image of the moving quently, the nictitating membrane in object shifts from facet to facet. such birds has a transparent window in Many shrimps, lobsters and cray­ it. Ducks and diving birds have a simi­ fish have compound eyes that are very lar window which is used when swim­ different from those of fellow crabs ming under water. and insects. The facets are square The nictitating membrane is also rather than hexagonal and there are present in-and is important to-many no lenses. Lining the inside of each mammals. The Platypus, for example, box is special tissue containing while swimming, uses the nictitating guanine crystals. These reflect light, membrane to protect its eyes but on The adult Ghost Crab, Ocypode cer­ just like a mirror, onto the light­ land uses its other 'true' eyelids. The atophthalma, often escapes predators sensitive retinular cells at the base of nictitating membrane is vital to most by burrowing into the sand and peer­ each ommatidium. In these mirror other mammals as a 'windscreen ing out with its two huge, stalked com­ eyes, light is not refracted as in a lens wiper' which blinks much faster than pound eyes. These stalks are the eye, but bent by reflection. the eyelids can. In primates, including pseudopupils and are found in most Many insects and other arthropods ourselves, the nictitating membrane is compound eyes. They are not, in fact, have simple eyes, or ocelli, as well as vestigial and is the tiny, triangular pupils like our own, but simply the im­ compound eyes. An ocellus is made structure in the inside corner of our age of the black pigment of the light up of only one lens and usually only a eyes. receptors in the ommatidia that share few light-sensitive cells in the retina. All snakes and certain other rep­ a common line of sight with the ob­ There are three ocelli on the heads of tiles (such as skinks) · have evolved server. The pseudopupil has no sig­ most flying insects. Ocelli have been permanent, tough, transparent cover­ nificance for the animal but does tell found to be important for navigation ings called brilles or spectacles to us much about the way in which the in ants but generally their function is protect their corneas. These spec­ eyes function. Photo: D. Maitland. unclear. tacles are formed from a modification Perhaps the most complex 'simple' of the lower eyelid, which has been tacked by mosquitoes, wear anything eyes are found in the spiders. Each of thinned, thus made transparent, and but blue! the six or eight eyes can contain up to permanently fixed in a raised position. Most insects cannot see red. How 10,000 light-sensitive cells. The jum­ Reptiles with spectacles have virtually then, you might be wondering, is a ping spiders, which stalk their prey, no nictitating membranes. bee attracted to a red flower, espec­ have exceptional vision. They have ially one that is not scented? The red four pairs of eyes: the large principal The Invertebrate Eye colour of the flower is usually made up pair at the front and the smaller lateral Compound, Simple and Square Eyes of at least two pigments: one red, the eyes. The principal eyes resolve the Because we tend to think of inver­ other blue. Humans see only the red nature of the object and its distance tebrates as so essentially different but the bee sees blue. away while the lateral eyes are move­ from ourselves, it comes as a surprise Insects and other arthropods have ment detectors. When an obj�ct to learn that some have eyes almost multifaceted eyes. They consist of moves within the lateral eyes' field of identical to our own. The cephalo­ hundreds of hexagonal facets, creating view, the spider turns to look at it with pods, such as the octopus and squid, a honeycomb effect. Each facet is a its large principal eyes. When looking have eyes with a pupil, lens and retina. lens, which focuses light down a down at a jumping spider, it will tilt its The evolution of cephalopod eyes is column onto about six light-sensitive body back to direct its gaze up at said to have converged with ours. In cells lying beneath it. Each column, or you-a somewhat disconcerting habit] other words, although development ommatidium, is a self-contained eye; has given rise to similar structures, hundreds make up the compound The Eyes Have It there is no common ancestry. eyes of insects. Because there are so Of course it's impossible to know If it was sobering to realise that, of few light-sensitive cells per exactly what an animal sees and how the vertebrates, our eyes are not ommatidium, a complete image is not it perceives it. We can only infer this nearly as good as those of birds and formed. Instead, each miniature eye sort of information from studies of eye reptiles, it may be more difficult to sees a fragment of what is being structure, position, the environment in accept that even insects can see in viewed, so that, like tiny tiles in a which it lives and experiments de­ colour. Insects can also see ultraviolet mosaic, the fragments form an image. signed to examine what the animal light. The blue lamps on butcher shops The more ommatidia there are, the reacts to and how. What we can be and takeaway joints have a large ultra­ finer the image. In insects where such sure about is the fact that there are violet output that attracts moths and acuity is important, the compound many different types of eyes in the ani­ other insects to their electrifying eyes are huge and are made up of mal kingdom and that each animal is doom. Mosquitoes, march flies and thousands of tiny eyes. For example, equipped with just the sort of eyes it midges are particularly attracted to the dragonflies, the hawks of the insect needs.O shorter wavelengths of blue or violet world, have enormous eyes. Each is light and will fly towards a person made up of over 20,000 ommatidia wearing these colours. So, if you're out and together they occupy most of the in the bush and don't want to be at- head. The construction of the AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 517 Lihe more I learn about slugs and mantle flaps. They're thought to be on Triboniophorus graeffei is a native snails, the more amazing I find the way to slugdom. Australian slug found along the east­ them. The basic facts are im­ Let me explain what a mantle is. It's ern coast and Great Dividing Range, pressive enough. Imagine having your a fleshy covering or fold, often with from Sydney's heathland and dry scler­ teeth on your tongue. Imagine having lobes or flaps, that all slugs and snails ophyll to the tropical rainforest on top your sexual apparatus on the side of have on the upper part of the body of Thornton Peak in northern Queens­ your head. Yes, there's more to gastro­ near the front. In snails it secretes the land. What a surprising variety of pods than crunchy shells and slimy shell that covers it, as well as other habitats for a single species! Another trails and mayhem in the lettuce useful functions. In slugs, the mantle surprising thing is the number of patch. may cover most of the body or be so colour forms it comes in. Speaking of shells, it's often small as to be unnoticeable. Highly On damp nights or rainy days I can thought that a slug is just a simple sort modified, it can be a useful clue to slug usually find a few of these slugs out of snail that hasn't had the sense to identity. feeding on the sandstone outcrops grow one. But it's really the other way It must be said against slugs that around my Sydney garden. Although around. Slugs are sophisticated. Slugs they mostly come in drab colours­ they're big-12 centimetres or more­ have been there, done that. They've brown or grey or, at best, yellowish. the slugs are hard to see because they tried the shell experience, got tired of Even the introduced Leopard Slug with match the colour of wet sandstone carrying their houses and opted for its striking pattern of spots and stripes and blend so well with the shapes of flexibility. is sombrely dressed. But now to a slug fallen gum leaves. So it's tempting to define slugs as of a different colour-and perhaps a I look for a leaf shape with a thin snails that have discarded their shells. different flavour, too, if nature's use of scarlet border all around and a small But this isn't quite right either and red as a warning to predators holds triangular patch outlined in scarlet here's another surprise: many slugs good for gastropods. towards the broad end. The skin has still have a shell, if only a rudimentary one tucked away inside them. The in­ The brightest colour form of Triboniophorus graeffei, from Mt Kaputar, north­ troduced slug Testacella haliotidea, for ern New South Wales. instance, has a small, disc-like shell sit­ ting rather comically right on its rear end, like a cap about to fall off. Then there are the helicarions-the little semi-slugs you find feeding on some of the big rainforest fungi. These are snails with a delicate shell worn on the back like a saddle, one too shallow to retreat into completely and often covered by the attractively-patterned

Helicarion sp. from northern Queens­ land, with mantle lobes partly cover­ ing the much-reduced shell.

518 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 SLUGS OF COLOUR AND CHARACTER an overall pattern of 'veins' rather like rock or patterning the trunk of a like tongue with its thousands of teeth, a leaf and a dense sprinkling of small smooth-barked tree? This is the charac­ called a radula. tubercles that gives it a bubbly texture. teristic feeding track of Tribonio­ Like virtually all native slugs and Just inside the scarlet triangle is phorus slugs. They eat on the move snails, these slugs are incapable of the breathing hole or pneumostome, and each scallop marks a mouthful, doing any harm to garden plants or which opens and shuts as the slug scraped up by that remarkable, rasp- crops. As with domestic cockroaches breathes. and most other pest species, we In other parts of Sydney, a cream brought most of the harmful gastro­ or pinkish-grey form appears, with a Triboniophorus graeffei, one of the pods with us to Australia, either much smoother skin matching the colour forms from Sydney. deliberately or by accident. Generally, smooth-barked bluegum trunks you the native kinds haven't the slightest find the slugs on. interest in us. The name Triboniophorus means But of course they are fascinating literally 'cloak-bearer', but in fact their to us, both scientifically and aestheti­ mantles are very small-just the trian­ cally. Triboniophorus belongs to a gular area outlined in red. It's this family of slugs called the Athoroco­ colour pattern that has given Sydney phoridae, confined to the Australasian forms of T. graeffei the common name region and of great scientific interest. of Red Triangle Slug. To the north, the In many ways, these slugs are unique. slug may be more highly coloured. For one thing, they have a rather more Some are rose-pink all over or yellow advanced kind of lung than other mol­ with a solid scarlet triangle-or plain luscs. For another, they have only one pillarbox red. pair of tentacles instead of the usual Triboniophorus is a fungus feeder, two pairs. but it doesn't eat mushrooms, toad­ But to non-scientific eyes, the out­ stools, bracket fungus or any of the standing thing about Triboniophorus more obvious kinds. Like a cow in a slugs is their colour. For that alone, meadow, the slug grazes on crops of even the most ardent gastrophobe minute fungi that quickly appear on among us might admit to their rocks and tree trunks in damp charm and forgive them their sluggish weather. Too small to see individually, ways. D the fungal growths and lichens are sometimes visible as a kind of surface bloom. But the slug's presence is per­ Triboniophorus graeffei-a New Eng­ haps best revealed by the absence of land colour form, with breathing hole these growths. open.-. Have you ever seen a set of scal­ loped tracks criss-crossing the face of a

�Triboniophorus graeffei, the Red Triangle Slug-a Sydney sandstone colour form.

Photos: Densey Clyne.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 519 . . efore panic starts and people centric rings of sensory hairs, four hairs of habitats, nematodes have deve­ flee Bondi Beach in terror, it or setae in the outer ring and six in loped some fascinating adaptations. should be pointed out that each of the inner two rings. There are Those inhabiting surf beaches are these 'monsters' are less than two mil­ also openings on either side of the among the most interesting. limetres long with jaws not even large head, which detect the concentration Anyone who has been dumped by enough to swallow this full stop. of various chemicals. These sense or­ a big wave knows how powerful and The animals in question are round­ gans process sensory stimuli and feed turbulent the surf can be. Sand is worms or nematodes (phylum information to the nerve ring, stirred up and you and the sand are Nematoda). Nematodes superficially although exactly how this is achieved deposited some distance from your resemble other worms in that they are remains unknown. That's not surpris­ original location. To the nematode, long, thin and have a head and tail. But ing considering that the head of most however, the beach is a very different here resemblance ends. Nematodes free-living nematodes is less than one world. The sand grains aren't just an­ are simple animals, each comprising a tenth of a millimetre across! noying grit, they are huge boulders, straight tube with a hole (the gut) Nematodes are among the most some as far across as the nematodes down the centre. The gut is not numerous and ubiquitous multicellular are long. The boulders aren't all branched or blind like that of flat­ animals on Earth. As many as round, either.· Some are like cubes, worms, nor are nematodes divided 5,000,000 may occur in one square some like pyramids and others resem­ into segments like earthworms or sea­ metre of beach sand and 30,000,000 ble large, flat plates. worms. There are no appendages of in the same area of pasture or man­ Because of these odd shapes there any sort. grove mud. As parasites, the number is plenty of room between the parti­ The mouth or buccal cavity opens may be enormous-5,500 pinworms cles and long, thin animals like nema­ at the end of the tubular body. Basical­ were once passed by a man after a sin­ todes can move around easily. The ly just an enlarged section of the gut, gle treatment and 90,000 plant parasit­ writhing propulsion of nematodes is it may be equipped with vicious teeth, ic specimens were recorded from a perfect for this kind of obstacle-ridden cutting plates, a spear or jaws to wheat gall. They occur wherever there habitat. scrape, crush, puncture or bite food. is' any sort of sediment with a water Food is plentiful, for there is a Behind the mouth is a muscular pump­ film-from Antarctica to the tropics constant flow of water down through ing oesophagus, which may be up to a and in deserts, lakes, seas, meadows, the sand, bringing with it small single­ third as long as the entire body. The jungles, as well as in or on dead or live celled algae, and organic and inorgan­ oesophagus pumps food from the animals, plants and fungi. As free-living ic debris (detritus). Some nematodes mouth with a peristaltic motion and parasitic forms they clothe the have mouths like vacuum cleaners, through a valve into the intestine. globe. To occupy this incredible range with a large, powerful pumping Here food is absorbed before being passed out through the anus at the Enoploides sp., a predaceous nematode with a mouth armed with vicious rear. teeth, eats very small invertebrates. It may reach a length of two millimetres. Nematodes rely on a hydrostatic Photo: A. Stewart. skeleton for body movement. Instead of muscle contractions pushing, pull­ ing or swinging a rigid rod, the hydrostatic skeleton works like a long, thin balloon. Pinch one side and the pressure inside forces the other side to bend. Four strips of muscle run along the nematode's body-one in each quadrant of the cylinder. Nematodes wriggle their bodies and move by sending waves of contraction alter­ nately down the two adjacent muscle blocks along the ventral, then dorsal, side of the body. This elegantly simple system needs only two nerves to function. Impulses to these nerves are controlled by a nerve ring near the head. This ring is the closest thing that nematodes have to a brain. There is another, smaller nerve ring around the gut near the tail. Around the mouth are three con-

The violent surge of the ocean con­ tinually deposits and removes huge quantities of sand and, along with it, <11111nematodes. Photo: F. Doig.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 521 oesophagus, designed to suck up small algae and detritus trapped be­ tween sand grains. One has a mouth like one of those three-jawed cranes that pick up car wrecks. Another common food is bacteria. It forms a thin film around many sand grains, rather like moss on human­ sized boulders. Many nematodes scrape or suck this film off the grains. Some use a big tooth that resembles a can opener, some are chisel-like and others have teeth more like a plank of wood with a nail through it. Then there are the predators, with huge mouths armed with enormous piercing teeth or crushing plates. These are the biggest of the surf beach nematodes and may reach a length of three millimetres. They prowl be­ tween the sand grains ready to snatch and devour any smaller animals. Nematodes that live on the beach are superbly adapted to the rigours of the surf. Most have a thick, rigid outer skin or cuticle, strengthened by rings or hoops around the body. This sys­ tem of strengthening allows the nema­ tode to wriggle its body while having the strength to resist being crushed by sand 'boulders'. Other beach nema­ Symp/ocostoma sp. has a tooth like a can opener to pierce algal cells. The ring todes are covered in plates, which of small finger-like projections are small teeth, which probably hold the food probably work in a similar way but al­ while being opened and sucked in. The buccal cavity measures eight microns low more flexibility. Some also have across. Photo: A. Stewart. cuticles thickened in ornate patterns but the reason for the complexity of these patterns remains unresolved. Some species of nematodes have long hairs or setae all over their bod­ ies. These may have a protective function-bumping off sand grains stirred up by the surf. Just as sand grains are boulder-sized to the nema­ tode, these hairs are as thick as tree branches. The boundary layer of water also provides protection for nematodes. This is the thin film of still water, only a fraction of a millimetre thick, sur­ rounding all objects in moving water. To a nematode, this fraction of a mil­ limetre is enough to act as a buffer. Of course, any amount of protec­ tion won't prevent these sandworms from being moved about to some degree. But winding up high and dry in the dunes away from the beach or be­ ing washed far out to sea would be fa­ tal due to lack of suitable food. So how do nematodes manage to stay in the vicinity of the beach? In some less-turbulent beaches, Xyala sp. uses spikes to bump off sand grains in the surf. This genus lacks teeth such as those occurring in estuaries, but sucks in edible particles of organic debris or small algae, which are swal­ nematodes move deeper in the sand lowed whole. Buccal cavity measures 13 microns across. Photo: A. Stewart.

522 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 as breaking waves approach. Only af­ de, they are very difficult to shake off. question of how they colonised ter the turbulence has passed do they This clinging ability incurs several ad­ beaches all around the world. Without return to the surface. Surf beaches, vantages. Because most sand eventu­ a pelagic larval stage, common to however, present a unique problem. ally ends up on or near the beach, so many marine invertebrates, nema­ Sometimes surf can scour metres of too do the clinging nematodes. Also, todes may have crossed the oceans by sand from a beach in as little as a day because sand sinks quickly in the accidental rafting-inadvertently at­ and, for an animal that is only a mil­ water after it is stirred up, the nema­ taching themselves to a piece of float­ limetre long, moving deeper into the todes don't remain in the surf for very ing shell or seaweed, perhaps, or sand has little effect.These nematodes long. If nematodes are deposited far being carried on the feet of seabirds or must adopt a different approach. up the beach they must wait for the even in. ships' ballast. Another­ Many surf beach nematodes have next high tide to wash them passively possibly most important-mode of a gland on their tail enabling them to back down the beach. nematode dispersal may have been as 'stick' to sand grains. Coupled with The fact that nematodes are so passengers on the drifting continental their habit of coiling around the parti- adept at staying on beaches raises the plates. Apart from being fascinating in their own right, the beach nematodes are significant for another reason. They filter enormous volumes of water that pass through our beaches. This is important if we consider the amount of sewerage and olher pollu­ tants that our coastal cities and rivers pour into the sea. So next time you swim at the beach, remember that you are not alone ...those gaping 'jaws' are lurk­ ing in the sand.D

Ceramonema sp. is protected from the grinding of the surf by a cuticle thickened in plates. The plates form rings around, and longitudinal ridges along, the body and are arranged to allow bending movements as well as to help grip sand particles. The long, Mesacanthion sp. is an omnivorous nematode. It feeds by crushing larger food thin shape of nematodes is ideal for particles between three crushing plates, each shaped like an inverted 'Y' with moving between sand grains. This spe­ a tooth, the stalk of the Y at the front and an inverted 'V' behind. Buccal cavity cies is about 1.5 millimetres long. measures 65 microns across. Photo: A. Stewart. Photo: A. Stewart. -Y Attitude Born of Guilt with. It is not even sum­ ridiculous. Anyone who will­ the author could have sug­ In Forum (A. .H., Spring marised into language that ingly enters crocodile­ gested an antidote. 1985) Dr Flannery des­ would make it useful to the infested waters should be An antihistamine, taken cribes ignorant, vegetarian, formulation of such manage­ aware of the consequences. as soon as possible after the guilt-ridden greenies oppos­ ment. It is left to those peo­ As the author of the article, bite, is a rapid and effective ing animal research. Even ple that Or Flannery ridicules Crahame Webb, so correct­ relief. The medication may researchers admit to cruelty to track down and translate ly pointed out, there are be taken in the form of read­ and overzealous collecting such work and fight for bet­ plenty of crocodile warning ily available tablets such as a (killing) of rare species. Like ter management. signs around that are there well-known brand of travel Dr Flannery I, too, find the The quest for knowledge to be heeded. sickness pills, Avil. I have tactics of animal libera­ of Australian systems and The panic this incident these in the car, caravan, tionists disagreeable. But it the living things that make caused, inciting people to photography bag, kitchen has taken such measures as them work is essential to go out shooting crocodiles and bathroom. theirs to bring some aloof their maintenance. Yet, too in trigger-happy groups, is There are not many researchers to account, in few researchers involve not the answer. Certainly lethal things in our Aus­ their zealous quests to pub­ themselves in the conserva­ the short-term result may tralian environment, but lish papers. Politics is tion of the same wildlife and appear effective, but in the there are some that can be shunned in this quest: to be­ ecosystems that provide long term it would be disas­ extremely dangerous to come politically involved in­ them with jobs. Dr Flannery trous. Careful management many people. Perhaps at terferes with 'paper talks of the maintenance of of crocodile populations, some future date an article production' and risks upset­ natural diversity. Admirable education and common­ could be prepared by a ting sources of funding and sentiments, but meaningless sense when in crocodile ter­ suitably qualified person employment. Too many dis­ without action-even to his ritory should see an end to pointing out some of these asterous projects have been much-loved New Cuinean these problems. things ... this is part of our approved due to both 'lack hunters who themselves natural history, especially if -Chris Roche of scientific evidence' and in­ face extinction, particularly we want to survive to enjoy Townsville, Qld conclusive reports by Aus­ in lrian Jaya. it! tralian researchers. It is Dr -Bob McDonald - R.J. Fletcher Flannery's attitude that is Once Bitten ... South Gippsland Natural Cape Paterson, Vic. born of guilt, not 'urban History Museum, Vic. Among other topics in dwellers' as he states. the Winter 1985 issue of Although many glossy A.N.H., I was particularly in­ Great idea, but we beat articles are written about Crocodile Capers terested in John Freeland's you to it! A.N. H. will be pub­ Australian wildlife, original How well-timed your ar­ article on bulldog ants. lishing an article in a future research is published in a be­ ticle on crocodile conserva­ Being particularly sensi­ issue on deadly Australians wildering number of jour­ tion was! (See A.N.H., tive to the bite of what are and recommended first aid nals. Most of this research Summer 1985-86). The con­ locally known as 'jumpers', I for bites and stings -Ed. fails to address the manage­ troversy and panic arising felt that, apart from saying ment or status of the from recent attacks by Salt­ beware of their painful animals or systems it deals water Crocodiles is stings and powerful bites,

THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF BIRDS Edited by Dr Christopher M. Perrins and Dr. Alex L.A. Middleton.

Here at last is a definitive reference work for sophisticated bird lovers.

Containing - • 675 illustrations in full colour • 100 expert contributors • Each article written and signed by a specialist • Reports on the latest and most exciting work from the field • Complete and definitive, covering all the world's 180 or so families of living birds S59.95 he rrp Also available from the Unwin Animal Library - The Encyclopaedia of Underwater Life S59.95 he rrp and previously publtshed ALLEN & UNWIN AUSTRALIA The Encyclopaedia of Mammals Vols 1 and 2 ss9.95 he rrp ea

524 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986

D

he Sugar Glider, Petaurus dling. Group members disband into cur in the forehead, chest and anal l breviceps, is a member of the smaller groups during summer. Popu­ regions. Members of a group are iden­ marsupial glider family, Petauri­ lation densities of 2.9-6.1 per hectare tified by the scent of the dominant dae, and weighs 100-170 grams. The have been recorded in Victoria where male, which is secreted by the glands species is distributed from south­ the average life span is between four on his forehead. Such scent-marking eastern South Australia, along the and five years. behaviour plays an important role in eastern Australian coast to north­ Selective pressures exerted during the maintenance of group cohesion. D western Northern Territory and Papua competition for mates has led to the New Guinea and surrounding islands. prolific development of scent-marking -Georgina Hickey It is also found in Tasmania where it glands. In male Sugar Gliders these oc- was apparently introduced. Sugar Gliders are nocturnal and are found mainly in sclerophyll forest or wood­ land. Here they nest in hollow, leaf­ lined branches. Principal food items include plant exudates of eucalypts (sap and nectar), wattles (gum) and arthropods. Breed­ ing occurs at various times during the year but mostly during winter-spring. After a gestation period of 15-17 days, between one and three young are born, although there are four nipples in the pouch. All Petaurus species (there are four) are accomplished gliders. Gliding is achieved by a parachute of skin (the patagium) that extends from the Sugar Glider's fifth finger to first toe. When not in use, the membrane is visible as a wavy line alongside the body. The Sugar Glider manoeuvres gracefully between trees, volplaning easily for up to 50 metres, and lands with precision by turning upwards in order to reduce speed. Gliding is an efficient way of ex­ ploiting a patchy food resource in open forests and may have developed at the end of the Miocene (15 million years ago), when the central Aus­ tralian closed forests were beginning to open out. The earliest record of a fossil Petaurus specimen comes from Pliocene (4.5 million years old) deposits near Hamilton in Victoria. Sugar Gliders, although preferring to forage alone at night, are highly so­ cial animals and nest in groups of up to seven adults plus their young. Such nesting groups are found during winter and are thought to improve energy conservation through hud-

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 529 · -·= - ·····= ·= ·; . ·. 1 -...1 -� 1 · le 1 · . • ::< -1 � --- :.·-· • : : : .;:••. - : •• · : : • . • - : : : • • _ • : l : :_ * • l . · - _ · • • • . 111·-- · . . -....111·-- =e• ·· : :I D:·- I • •• 1 ··._:A. .. : 1-�A .... : • • 1 _ :. : : • --. · . . _ : . •• 1 • 1 • . • · • • . l • D . • . • _: World's Only Strictly Marine Sea Cow Threatened BY GEORGE HEINSOHN he Dugong (Dugong dugon) is they have been sighted as far south as for population maintenance. Females the only living herbivorous Sydney. bear their first calf at a minimum age U mammal that is exclusively The Dugong is one of four remain­ of ten years after a gestation period of marine. Adult Dugongs can grow to ing species of sea cows or sirenians about one year. The interval between over three metres in length and weigh (order Sirenia) and is the only existing calving times ranges from three to between 300 and 420 kilograms. They member of the family Dugongidae. seven years in which time a strong feed almost exclusively on seagrasses The Dugong's closest relative and only bond develops between mother and but occasionally algae and some inver­ other member of the family was the calf. Although a calf begins to eat tebrates may also be eaten. giant (up to eight metres long) Steller's seagrasses soon after birth, lactation Dugongs have a tropical and sub­ Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), which can last up to two years. tropical distribution along the coasts fed on large algae, mainly kelp, and Large sharks, Killer Whales and of the Indian and western Pacific weighed up to around 6,000 kilo­ Saltwater Crocodiles prey on Du­ Oceans. They frequent the warm, grams. It was hunted to extinction gongs, particularly young ones, how­ shallow waters of bays, channels, within 30 years of its discovery in the ever humans are the most significant island areas and reef flats-areas that Bering Sea in 1741. predators. Direct hunting and netting are protected against strong winds The Dugong is particularly vulnera­ of Dugongs for meat, plus accidental and heavy seas and where beds of ble to extinction because it is a very captures in nets have been the major seagrasses grow. In Australia Dugongs long-lived (potentially 60 to 70 years}, causes of decline over most of their range around the northern coast from slowly reproducing mammal. Indeed it range. In Australia Dugongs are legally Shark Bay, Western Australia, to More­ can only sustain a very low adult protected except for 'traditional' sub­ ton Bay near Brisbane but occasionally mortality rate (five per cent or less) sistence hunting by Aborigines and

Three Dugongs accidentally caught and drowned in shark nets set at Magnetic Island, Qld. Photo: G. Heinsohn.

530 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 Dugong mother and large calf. Photo: B. Cropp, N.P.I.A.W.

Torres Strait Islanders. In the Torres and erosion on land, is another poten­ Public awareness and education pro­ Strait, however, Dugongs are under tial threat to Dugongs and other grams on the biology, significance and threat from overhunting by the in­ marine life dependent on seagrasses. conservation of the Dugong should be digenous Torres Strait Islanders and In particular the Ok Tedi gold and cop­ initiated, especially in regions where Kiwai People of Papua New Guinea. per mine, in the Highlands of Papua traditional subsistence hunting of Du­ Torres Strait Du gongs have been com­ New Guinea at the headwaters of the gongs by indigenous peoples occurs. mercially sold in Papua New Guinea Fly River, may seriously increase heavy Methods need to be devised and ap­ and illegal sale of Dugong meat has metal loads in the Torres Strait and propriate legislation passed to lower been reported in northern Australia. northern Great Barrier Reef marine their accidental mortality in net fisher­ Other human activities, such as use of environments. ies. In Queensland, alternatives to power boats, deliberate harassment The most effective means of con­ shark netting as a means of protecting and military activities, threaten some serving Dugongs would be to establish swimmers should be established. Pro­ Dugong populations. a series of marine reserves in areas tective legislation should have suffi­ Pollution is another potential that are known to support large num­ cient powers and penalties to provide threat in Australia. In the Arabian Gulf bers of Dugongs. Net fishing must be deterrents to illegal hunting, distur­ a large number of Dugongs (at least excluded from these reserves. Some bance, habitat destruction and pollu­ 38), along with many other marine areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine tion, and laws should be rigorously animals, were killed in 1983, now Park have been zoned for the conser­ enforced. thought to be coincident with a mas­ vation of Dugongs. However, parts of Dugongs are important. In in­ sive oil spill, caused by the destruction Hervey Bay, Moreton Bay, Shoalwater digenous societies that hunt Dugongs, of off-shore Iranian oil wells during the Bay and Port Clinton in Queensland; the animal is not only a source of high Iraq-Iran Gulf War. Oil pollution is a the McArthur River Delta in the North­ quality meat, but has great cultural sig­ continuing problem in that region and ern Territory; various places in the Gulf nificance. For other people, Dugongs an ever-present threat in most marine of Carpentaria; as well as Shark Bay are of educational, scientific, tourist areas. (one of the most important Dugong and aesthetic value. The long-perse­ Dugong habitat destruction, such areas in the world) and Exmouth Gulf, cuted Dugongs are active and gentle as reclamation for coastal develop­ both in Western Australia, should also animals and, if not hunted or harassed, ments, dredging, seagrass bed dam­ be declared marine national parks. show curiosity toward swimmers and age from trawling, and sedimentation Commercial exploitation of Du­ divers and can be readily observed from dredge spoil, mining activities gongs should be banned world-wide. and photographed. D

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 531 QUIPS, QU ES & CUR Baby Kangaroos and which the young enters the Australia's Oldest their natural environments, 1-'urnan D1se se mother's pouch and remains Mamr,a and the closet naturalist, A team of scientists at for about 200 days. Here, Australia's oldest mam­ who studied dead organ­ Flinders University in Ade­ however, oxygen levels may mal, whose discovery was isms within the confines of a laide is using an artificial kan­ be 20 per cent lower and reported in an article by Dr museum or 'closet'. Closet garoo pouch to understand carbon dioxide levels signifi­ Alex Ritchie in A.N.H. (Vol. men relied on the field men some of the processes in­ cantly higher than room air. 21, No. 9) and which was to bring them new species volved in the development Fungi and bacteria in the tentatively reconstructed by for analysing, 9Ut beyond of kangaroos. The young pouch ('pouch flora') have artist Peter Schouten and that there was almost no marsupials may also be used also been found to use up mammalogist Dr Tim Flan­ contact between the two as 'models' in understanding more oxygen in the first 50 nery in the same issue, has groups-a situation that in­ some aspects of human days than the joey. How, since been formally des­ evitably led to some confu­ physiology and disease. then, does the joey live in cribed and named Stero­ sion as the case of the The scientists are using a such an oxygen-starved en­ podon galmani in Nature Legless Birds of Paradise laboratory colony of Tam­ vironment? (1985, Vol. 318, No. 6044) proves. mar Wallabies. Their gesta­ by Drs Archer, Flannery, The first birds of paradise tion period is 28 days after The Flinders group has Ritchie and Molnar. sent to England for identifi­ been examining the proper­ The description is based cation had their legs cut off PhD student Peter Frapell ties of haemoglobin (red on a 28 millimetre-long, to facilitate packing. Legless­ observes the artificial kan­ blood cells) in the Tammar opalised jaw fragment con­ ness thereupon became en­ garoo pouch containing the joey. This is the pigment taining three molar teeth shrined as a characteristic of joey. The mother is lightly which binds with oxygen in from Early Cretaceous (100 the species and popular anaesthetised. A rubber seal the lung and releases it million years old) rocks at writers went into rhapsodies (designed by Frapell) fits again at organs and tissues. Lightning Ridge, New South at the thought of these crea­ over the mother's nipple. It It seems that the lower the Wales. It was part of a large tures spending all their lives allows the joey to feed nor­ oxygen concentration in the fossil collection, compiled in the air. Only the eventual mally while its responses to pouch, the greater the oxy­ by opal miners Dave and arrival of a bird of paradise a variety of conditions are gen carrying-capacity of the Alan Galman, and sold to complete with legs put an monitored. The joey is later joey's haemoglobin. Joeys the Australian Museum for end to these ethereal fan­ returned to its real pouch apparently have the ability $80,000. tasies. unharmed. Photo: courtesy to change the binding char­ The jaw appears to be­ Russell Baudinette. acteristics of haemoglobin long to a monotreme (egg­ Frank Buckland-19th with oxygen using organic laying mammal) and contrib­ Century Naturalist and phosphate molecules in utes significantly to our their blood. Zoophag1st understanding of mammal While most naturalists of phylogenetics. It is particu­ The Flinders group has his time merely observed larly important because it natural history, Frank Buck­ also discovered that kan­ extends the fossil record of garoo lungs are functional at land ate it. His gastronomi­ terrestrial mammals in Aus­ cal likes (and dislikes) an early age. They don't rely tralia back from 23 million completely on cutaneous included squirrel pie, mice years to 100 million years; cooked in batter, hedge­ respiration, as previously and it reveals that mono­ thought. A lipid compound hogs, frogs and garden tremes and marsupials are snails, earwigs (which were (pulmonary surfactant), r,;ore closely related than necessary for lung function, bitter), baby rats, panther previously thought. (which apparently did not is produced at an earlier Steropodon is derived taste nice; the fact that it stage than in other mam­ from the Greek word ster­ mals. It is the lack of this had been buried for a cou­ ope meaning 'flash of lightn­ ple of days before being eat­ material that causes respira­ odon, ing' and 'tooth'; and en would not have helped!), tory distress in some prema­ galmani refers to its original numerous British bird spe­ ture human babies, and owners. Russell Baudinette, a mem­ cies, a washed-up whale ber of the group, suggests and, from the London Zoo, that understanding the initia­ egless Birds of elephant trunk (rubbery), tion of surfactant production rhinoceros (baked in a pie), in joeys may provide a tool Two types of naturalists porpoise and giraffe, the lat­ for its understanding in man. existed in the Victorian Era: ter having been cooked on the field naturalist, who the hoof as a result of a fire studied living organisms in in the giraffe house. 532 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 Compiled by .Georgina Hickey

No doubt Frank inherit­ recent issue of Nature (1985, ing on a couch, badly bruis­ parently a stony-iron mete­ ed the skills of zoophagy Vol. 318, No. 28) they ex­ ing her left thigh. The fact orite was found below the from his father, Dean Buck­ tended the formula to that only one case has been remains of a Megatherium land, who claims to have predict the frequency of im­ recorded in the last 30 years (giant South American sloth) eaten King Louis XIV's pick­ pacts on people in North suggests, as the formula which may have been killed led heart. America. Various assump­ predicts, that the chances of by it. Another doubtful (but Buckland's study of tions were required, of a person being struck by a amusing) tale is told of a zoophagy led, indirectly, to course, among them being meteorite are extremely farmer who was ploughing the opening of the Ac­ that one person occupies thin. when a shower of meteor­ climatization Society in 0.2 square metres; only frag­ ites began falling around 1860. Its principal aim was ments larger than 200 grams There have been other him. He rushed into town to further the search for new will penetrate a roof and records of people and and called the sheriff to pro­ food, by introducing and ceiling; North American resi­ animals being struck or near­ tect him from his enemies, domesticating foreign ani­ dents spend five per cent of missed by meteorites, some whom he believed were am­ mals into the country. bushing him. And, during Another aim of the Society World War I, a man who ob­ was to improve Britain's fish­ served a meteor shower eries and experiment with concluded that the Germans artificial fish-hatching. had opened long-range ar­ tillery fire on the United States! B 1 B ds In medieval annals there Anthropomorphism (the are several accounts of peo­ ascription of human charac­ ple being killed by what may teristics to non-human have been direct hits from things) seems to be taken to meteorites. But there does the extreme in Linnaeus' not appear to be any relia­ truly erotic description of ble modern record of a plant reproduction: meteorite-induced human "The actual petals of a flow- , death. er contribute nothing to generation, serving only as Calculations and predic­ the bridal bed which the tions, based on such small great Creator has so glori­ sample sizes, are difficult to ously prepared, adorned J'.i-.-...... test and may prove to be with such precious bed­ Victim of a 3.9-kilogram meteorite that penetrated a roof more an exercise in statisti­ curtains, and perfumed with and ceiling of this woman's house in Alabama on 30 cal· trivia (albeit an entertain­ so many sweet scents in November 1954. ing pursuit). The fact that order that the bridegroom many so-called reported and bride may therein each day outside; and the quite authentic but others cases turn out to be feigned celebrate their nuptials with total roof area of buildings rather doubtful. Two auth- (because of their sensation­ the greater solemnity. When averages 50 square metres entic near-miss reports alism and, therefore, news­ the bed has thus been made per person. They predicted include an 18-kilogram worthiness) only adds to the ready, then is the time for an annual rate of 0.0055 im­ meteorite that hit a house in problem. Such an example the bridegroom to embrace pacts on people (or once in Braunau, Bohemia on 14 July closer to home includes the his beloved bride and sur­ 180 years). On a world scale 1847, some parts falling on a ten year old boy from War­ render himself to her." this extrapolates to one per­ bed where three children wick (Queensland) who, (Quoted in Barber's The son being hit every nine lay sleeping; and a fragment while gazing at the stars one Heyday of Natural History, years. from the Chicora, Pennsyl­ night in 1979, was hit on the Jonathan Cape, 1980.) According to the article vania, meteorite of 24 June leg by "hot, flying rocks" that the only documented case 1938, which tore the hide of consisted of "meteorite-like Meteorite Impacts on of a person being hit by a a cow in a field. One of the material". When sent to the Humans meteorite was on 30 Nov­ doubtful cases, involving a Queensland Museum for Researchers in the Herz­ ember 1954 in Sylacauga, prehistoric animal, was list­ identification, the meteorite berg Institute of Astrophys­ Alabama. A fragment weigh­ ed by LaPaz in a 1951 issue was found to be a welded ics in Canada have ing 3.9 kilograms penetrated of Popular Astronomy (Vol. mass of nuts and bolts and developed a formula that the roof and ceiling of a 59; in which, incidentally, he the Warwick boy probably a predicts the frequency of house, bounced off a radio predicts one person to be subject of a school-boy meteorite falls on Earth. In a and struck a woman sleep- struck every 300 years). Ap- prank. D

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 533 The Encyclopaedia of teristics, senses and patterns such as feeding or courtship fungus and little Mycena in­ Birds of breeding among birds. behaviour or other quaint terrupta, with its bright blue The remainder of the book habits (for example the Aus­ caps. Edited by CM. Perrins and is divided into three parts tralian Fairy-wren's rodent Australian fungi, like fun­ AL.A Middleton. George which cover all the world's run). gi everywhere, are a fas­ Allen and Unwin, London, 180 or so families of living A valuable glossary of cinating but mostly ignored Sydney, 1985. xv + 447 pp. birds. terms is provided together element of the flora. Bruce $49.95. An information panel with a comprehensive in­ Fuhrer's superbly illustrated precedes the textual discus­ dex. Unfortunately, the guide should help strike in­ sion of each family or group book does not contain refer­ terest in this neglected of families. This provides a ences, but this will not be group. Fuhrer's photos are quick reference to the main missed by most readers. excellent. Crisp, colourful features of distribution, habi­ This book is aimed and thoughtfully composed, tat, sizes, plumage, voice, primarily at the general pub­ they represent a veritable nests, eggs and diet. A map lic rather than serious or­ feast of exotic (and oft times shows the natural global dis­ nithologists and I have no erotic) colours, textures and tribution of each family and criticisms to offer which shapes. a scale drawing of a repre­ would be of any significance The same cannot be said sentative species is shown to the average reader. It is for the skimpy text. Fuhrer as a silhouette against a 1.8 my view that the book says little at all about distri­ metre human or 30 centi­ achieves its objectives of bution. Very few common metre human foot. providing a readable basic names are given. The text The text itself is both an outline and understanding amounts to little more than Eighty-seven ornitholo­ interesting and informative of the diverse bird families captions to the photos. gists, including 12 from Aus­ account of each family of the world and the ecolog­ The author has pho­ tralia, have contributed to group. The results of specific ical niches they occupy. tographed most of his fungi this account of the birds of studies of certain groups or Prospective purchasers in Victoria, so readers from the world. Approximately individual species have been should not expect to find an further afield may be disap­ eight per cent of the 8,800 included in many of the es­ account of all known bird pointed by the selection. odd species of birds recog­ says to provide further in­ species. The book is not in­ nised throughout the world sight into evolutionary tended as, and does not pre­ A Field Companion to occur in Australia, so one processes, social organisa­ tend to be, a complete would expect that as nearly tion, foraging behaviour, checklist or dictionary of the 14 per cent of the contribu­ breeding biology and con­ birds of the world. tors are Australians, this servation. Some of these Anyone who has an in­ work would give fair treat­ brief special features, which terest in birds and their lives ment to our beautiful birds. may be of particular interest should enjoy the informa­ Indeed, I am pleased to see to Australian readers, in­ tive and interesting text and that Australian birds feature clude nomadism in Emus, illustrations. One can only prominently in this publi­ lead poisoning in waterfowl look at The Encyclopaedia cation. caused by the ingestion of of Birds as succeeding in its Like similar books that shotgun pellets, the song of objectives and being a valu­ have appeared in the past, the lyrebird, and honeyeat­ able addition to any bird en­ The Encyclopaedia of Birds ers as pollinators. These arti­ thusiast's library. looks briefly at each family, cles add immensely to the -J.W. Hardy including those known only general discussion of each from fossils. The sequence is family of birds. Some atten­ A Field Companion to based on the order used in tion is -also paid to endan­ Also disappointing is the Checklist of Birds of the gered species. Species listed Australian Fungi paucity of information on World by J.L. Peters et. al. as threatened in the Interna­ By Bruce Fuhrer. The Five edibility. Fuhrer seems (Museum of Comparative tional Council for Bird Mile Press, 1985. 162pp. unaware that several of his Zoology, Cambridge, Mas­ Preservation's Red Data $14.95. illustrated species-like beef­ sachusetts). Two early pages Book, which are discussed in Weighing up to 29 kilos, steak fungus (Hepatica fistu­ are devoted to explanatory this book, are highlighted by with caps a metre or more /ina) and stalactite fungus notes, which detail some of a symbol system. across, the bolete Phaeo­ (Hericium clathroides)-are the major differences of Almost every page has a gyroporus portensis is prob­ good to eat. He does not de­ opinion on classification. A colour photograph, colour ably Australia's biggest pict important poisonous short section titled 'What is illustration or, in some mushroom. On a smaller species, like the death cap a Bird?' outlines the evolu­ cases, a series of black and scale, but equally impres­ and hallucinogens. tion of the class Aves and white line drawings to illus­ sive, is Pleurotus nidiformis, This is a very beautiful looks at the physical charac- trate an interesting feature a luminescent green forest and well-designed book but

534 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 its text is altogether a disap­ support that this society has an times (570 million years pointment. given to Australian zoology. ago) to the present. Indeed, -Tim low All of this makes the book predictions as to the shape LANDS IN COLLISIO!' sound like dull reading but it and position of New Zea­ DISCOVERING NE\!V ZEALAND'S PAST GEOGRI\Ph The Biology of is quite the reverse. Anyone land over the next 50 million by Graeme Stevens Australasian Frogs and with an interest in Australia's years add a further valuable fauna will lap up the details, dimension to this work. Reptiles natural history secrets and Yet this volume covers Edited by G. Grigg, R. glory of these underrated much more than that. Early Shine and H. Ehmann. animals. chapters give easily-under­ Surrey Beatty and Sons, The book is divided into stood overviews of major Sydney, 1985. 527 pp. seven major sections: popu­ geological discoveries that $56.00. lation ecology, ecological are related to our modern biogeography, phylogeny of understanding of continen­ elapid snakes, reproductive tal drift. This will be particu­ biology, physiological ecolo­ larly valuable to students of gy, rare and endangered the earth sciences. Overall, though, I must recommend this book for its species, and husbandry and However, while geology snakebite. Each one con­ excellent treatment of the rrogs is covered excellently in this geology of New Zealand tains a treasure trove of volume, the treatment of bi­ valuable and curious infor­ and for its well thought-out ology is appalling. I was in­ structure. The technical mation about our herpeto­ deed surprised to learn that fauna, as well as dealing notes at the end of the book up until 40,000 years ago, are very useful, particularly with our near neighbours' the Australian mammal fau­ .ii (New Zealand and Oceania) for students and a number and na consisted solely of mono­ of useful references are reptiles and frogs. A number tremes and marsupials (page of the chapters have been given. The illustrations, 78). Australia's unique ro­ however, are amateurish. m· penned by some very emi­ dents and bats, which make Reptiles Just one final warning to nent names in Australian up fully one half of the fau­ zoology, others by up-and­ university students who may na, must have been spon­ be taking courses in both ge­ coming natural historians. taneously generated from The level of achieve­ ology and biology-make The Biology of Australa­ vapours or some such at sure you don't take this sian Frogs and Reptiles is ment in Australian herpetol­ that time! I was also as­ ogy is soundly advanced by book into your final biology quite a milestone in Aus­ tounded at the revelation exam! tralian natural history. It this publication. See for that Wallace's Line ceased represents the emergence yourself by taking the time to exist in the Pleistocene as -Dr Tim Flannery of Australian herpetology to thumb through some of "the myriad islands in In­ from what has often been the pages of this book. Al­ donesia were all connected regarded as a part-time and though expensive, it repre­ by land and linked to South­ somewhat 'inferior' branch sents good value for money. East Asia" (page 104). One of vertebrate zoology, to a Snake, lizard and frog lovers wonders then, why rhinos, status on par with mammal­ will certainly covet this book tigers, Orang-utans and ogy or ornithology. The his­ as an essential addition to tapirs failed to cross this dry tory, format, content and their collection. land from Java to lrian Jaya range of the book repre­ -Dr Arthur White (western New Guinea) and sents an excellence in publi­ ------why kangaroos did not in­ cation that any scientific Lands in Collision; fest Asia! field would be proud to Apart from the major accept. Discovering New Zealand's Past rearrangements of the fauna This book contains Geography and zoogeography of the papers presented at the Australasian region, the Australasian Herpetological By Graeme Stevens. book is marred by a number Conference, held in Sydney Science Information of lesser errors in its biologi­ in August, 1984. The confer­ Publishing Centre, cal and palaeontological ence, one of a recent series Wellington, N.Z., 1985. sections. For example, New of high-standard, scientific 129 pp. $NZ18. 95. Zealand's only dinosaur fos­ forums that have been spon­ Lands in Collision pro­ sil is 70-65 million years old sored by the Royal Zoologi­ vides an excellent coverage on page 73 but ages remark­ cal Society of New South of the geological history of ably to 85-70 million years Wales, further endorses the New Zealand from Cambri- by page 74! AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 535 ROBYN WILLIAMS

t was the very last day of our trip Firstly because, it seems to me, meteorites, stalactites and gold: well, � overseas. In the eight weeks that nature is not static and closed off in a perhaps it isn't gold. And the main at­ I'd bounced my two young child­ box. or is it stuffed! So to allow inter­ traction might be experts on hand ren (Tom was 11, Jessica eight) from play is not to misrepresent. Secondly, who could examine and identify their London to Paris, on to Florence and the traditional way to display know­ treasures. Next month the ornitholo­ Rome, Frankfurt, New York and Los ledge is as if it came without struggle. gists could take over (with games in­ Angeles, they had enjoyed (or en­ There is the bird; that is its name (Latin volving the identification of bird calls dured) countless museums, cathe­ and common); this is its taxonomy and or eggs or feathers), then gemstone drals, galleries and historic places. relationship to other beasts; here is its people (polishing and identifying), They were understandably cross, distribution ... so there! then ichthyologists, froggos, shell­ therefore, when I announced that our Just like that. All neat. All sewn collectors, snake-lovers, book­ final hours abroad were to be spent at up. merchants, ethnographers, Aboriginal yet another worthy institution of But the sciences, even biology, sand-painters and so on. Why, even learning-the Exploratorium. are full of doubt, disputation, re­ musicians could be there-teaching "Bet that's just another museum!", appraisal, exploration. To represent people to play the didgeridoo. they wailed. this in a museum wouldn't be mis­ In the fourth corner are some fair­ "Wait and see", I hedged grimly. leading. ly sophisticated scientific instruments "This one is different". Imagine entering a large hall. Basic of a more traditional nature. One is a I shanghaied the two sullen vic­ in both decoration and design, it al­ microscope with overhead projector, tims to the park near the Golden Gate lows flexibility and robust treatment. which will show your cheek cells or Bridge where Professor Frank Oppen­ In the centre might be a workshop the living content of pond water. One heimer had established his scientific area (protected but fully visible) where is an indestructible apparatus on adventureland in an old arts building equipment of interest is being fixed or which youngsters can view slides they the size of a jumbo hangar. We were prepared-fossils cleaned, bones prepare themselves. Another is a dis­ initially taken aback by the pseudo­ moulded, displays painted. In the cor­ play showing relative size which can Grecian statues and giant columns. But ner are live animals: a seashore tank be multiplied or reduced from the the real astonishment was inside: where starfish and molluscs can be global (Earth seen from a satellite) to scores, perhaps even hundreds, of ex­ picked up and examined, a giant piece the microscopic (shown by scanning periments, bursts of colour, explosions of living coral with lots of fish and ane­ electron micrographs) as participants of sound-even displays designed spe­ mones, an electric fish like that in the zero in on a specific point, getting cially for the experience of touch­ Exploratorium with an audio-amplifier closer and closer with each stage. Par­ seemed to go on forever. of the signal made when the fish is ap­ ticipation is limited by the cost of the Domes with electric guitars, proached, and some bottom-living apparatus or the preference of the on­ domes with noise machines, tanks polychaetes showing feeding mech­ lookers. with electric fish, strobes giving visual anisms. This imaginary hall would be ever­ illusion, computer screens with cosmic In a second corner are computer changing as lessons are learned and challenges ...on and on they went, screens. One can be programmed to gifts are made; and as varied and as ac­ with kids intently preoccupied at each show how dramatically the environ­ tive as science itself. It would not be a station. mental parameters of a forest change substitute for the natural history muse­ My kids charged off to join in. It as you chop the trees down-how the um we know, but complementary to took hours to extract them. I thought wind increases and the temperature it. we'd miss the flight home. goes up. On another you can follow If it does a little to further the in­ Can one adapt Oppenheimer's vi­ the pentadactyl (five-fingered) limb spiration of the remarkable Professor sion for natural history displays? Well, from its beginnings in fish through to Oppenheimer (who, like his brother not in the same way as a museum con­ the various forms in seals, elephants, Robert, once worked at Los Alamos centrating on the physical sciences apes, whales and people. On yet an­ on the Manhattan Project), then I might.Sydney's Power House Museum other, one can see a scene as, we im­ would be delighted. The old man will have scores of 'hands-on' displays agine, would a bird (like a film slowed died, not long ago, of cancer. The Ex­ and the National Science Centre, de­ down ten times), a bee (in thousands ploratorium lives on.O veloped from Michael Gore's brilliant of images at once), a dog (without Questacon in Canberra, will take such colour), a hippo (poorly), or a baby (in schemes further.But I think we can ex­ simple patterns). Select your example plore techniques that allow direct, and the picture changes. even physical, involvement in a natu­ In a third cornerare our enthusias­ ral history museum. This I have no tic amateurs of the month. This time doubt of, but it is worth asking why we may have the rock-choppers with one should bother. their collections of ammonites,

536 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 CROCODILE TEA_RS Saft GCands and the Evo(ution of Crocodiles

by Laurie E. Taplin Crocodile tears-which are supposedly shed by crocodiles over those that they devour-have long been a symbol of hypocrytical grief. They have, however, recently emerged from their literary closet to play a tantalising role in a scientific investigation that promises to radically change our understanding of crocodile zoogeography and evolutionary history. Laurie Taplin, from the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service, explains how.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 537 �The ancient Egyptian crocodile god, Sebek (Suchos in Greek), from whom the scientific name of the modern crocodilians is derived. From E.A.W. Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, Dover Publications Inc., New York, 1969.

prominent in Alexander Neckam's it is from this association that the myth 13th century Latin poem De Naturis of crocodile tears may have evolved. Rerum, which (loosely translated) In the legends of the first and se­ records: cond millenia BC, Set waged war against the Sun god, Ra. In these "It [the Cocodrillus] sometimes legends, Set took the form of Apep, eats human flesh depicted either as a giant crocodile or but, as if sympathizing, bathes as a giant serpent accompanied by a its face with tears." crocodile. Apep had swallowed the Neckam was one of the prominent Moon, the left eye of Ra, so Ra thrust natural philosophers of the Middle his lance into Apep who vomited forth Ages and, like many scholars of his the Moon and, according to some time, relied for his information on the authorities, wept. works of the classical scholars of It is possible, however, that the as­ Greece and Rome. There is mention of sociation of tearfulness with croco­ crocodile tears in a sermon by diles may go even further back to the Asterius, Bishop of Amasia in 400 AD, Egyptian legends of creation. In one and an oblique reference in Claudius version of The Book of Knowing the Aelianus' biological miscellany De Evolutions of Ra and of Overthrowing Natura Animalium, written in the 2nd Apep, recorded about 312 BC, the god or 3rd century AD. Aelianus records: Osiris in the form of Khepera (both forms of the Sun god, Ra) created the " ...the people of Apollinopo­ gods Shu and T efnut from the watery lis, a district of T entyra, net the abyss known as Nu, and the Sun, Nu's Crocodiles, hang them up on eye, came into being. However, the persea-trees, flog them severe­ Sun was shrouded by mist and cloud, ly, mangling them with all the which proceeded as tears from blows in the world, while the Khepera (Ra). These tears seem to be creatures whimper and shed personified as the god Rem, about tears; finally they cut them up whom little is known except that rem and eat them." means 'to weep'. However, The Book Tearfulness, in this context, is not of the Dead refers to a god Remi who associated with hypocrisy. Rather, the appears to be identified with Sebek crocodile is portrayed as something of (the crocodile god) and personification a cowardly brute. The anecdote gives of Nu. Elsewhere we learn that Apep the impression that the crocodile­ was originally the thick darkness that (Q)f the many myths surrounding tears association derives from fairly enveloped the watery abyss of Nu and crocodiles, the idea that they long established folklore but here we formed a serious obstacle to the Sun's shed tears of hypocritical grief come to a dead end. No evidence of emergence. Thus the association of over their victims is undoubtedly one its origins can be found in the earlier Sebek and Apep (both represented as of the most colourful and venerable. writings of Oppian, Aristotle, Strabo, the crocodile) with the creation of the Crocodile tears as symbols of hypocri­ Pliny the Elder or Herodotus, in whose world is manifest-and there are sever­ sy appear to be a European institution, works much contemporary natural al hints of an ancient connection of drawn from ancient Egyptian culture science was recorded. Nevertheless, tears with crocodiles. and passed on for centuries. There is there can be little doubt that the myth Unfortunately for the crocodile, little to connect them with other conti­ has its origins in ancient Egypt, whence the days of veneration and worship nents or cultures. They were popular virtually all the early natural history of are long since gone, even in Egypt. in Elizabethan England where Shakes­ crocodiles was derived. The ancient legends have largely been peare used them in several of his The crocodile played a major role lost and crocodile tears have lingered plays, hence: in Egyptian mythology, even in pre­ on as one of the few enduring crocodilian contributions to western "Gloucester's show dynastic times before 3000 BC. The culture, ranked a poor second to Beguiles him as the mournful crocodile god Sebek (Suchos in alligator-skin shoes and disappearing crocodile Greek-hence Eusuchia, the suborder from even the literary scene. With sorrow snares relenting containing the modern crocodilians) In an odd twist of fate, however, passengers." was worshipped in parts of Egypt, es­ pecially at Arsinoe (known as crocodile tears have recently emerged Henry IV, Ill: 225 (AD 1590-91), Crocodilopolis for some of its history) from their literary closet to play a tan­ and Thebes, but detested elsewhere. talising role in a scientific investigation while Samuel Bacon in his Essays of Sebek was one of the earliest local that promises to change the way we 1612 AD notes: "It is the wisdom of gods of pre-dynastic times and was think of crocodiles and their evolution­ crocodiles, that shed tears when they regarded as the personification of evil ary history. Before looking at these re­ would devour." and death. In later times Sebek be­ cent events we should look briefly at The theme is developed in several came associated with Set (Seth, Ty­ what is known of the history of this of the medieval bestiaries and is phon), the god of the sky by night, and remarkable group, which has survived 538 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 little-changed since before the Age of pear to have occupied a niche similar weighting they give to the few charac­ Dinosaurs. to that of modern goannas. The ters that do separate them. Mesosuchia thrived until the late Perhaps the most distinctive eu­ Crocodile Evolutionary History Mesozoic when, at about the time of suchians belong to the family The first crocodiles, the pro­ the great exterminations of the late Gavialidae-large crocodiles with inor­ tosuchians (from the Greek pro­ Cretaceous, they were largely dis­ dinately long, thin jaws, represented tos = first and Suchos = Sebek, the placed by a new group of crocodilians, today by only one species, the Indian Egyptian crocodile god), are found in the Eusuchia. Gharial (Gavia/is gangeticus). The Upper Triassic sediments of North and The evolutionary history of the eu­ other extant crocodiles belong to South America and Africa, some 200 suchian crocodiles is poorly under­ three subfamilies: the Crocodylinae or million years ago. They were small stood, despite the fact that crocodiles true crocodiles; the Alligatorinae, animals, about a metre long. Some are among the most abundant ver­ which includes alligators and caimans; may have been terrestrial but others tebrates in many fossil-bearing strata. and the Tomistominae with a single shared the amphibious freshwater The reasons for our ignorance are species, the Asian Tomistoma habits of their modern descendants. quite straightforward. The crocodilians schlegelii. The tomistomines and From this inauspicious origin arose the have, throughout their history, been gavialids reflect the narrow-snouted dominant Mesozoic crocodilians of remarkably conservative in body form. line of crocodilian evolution, while the the suborder Mesosuchia. The adap­ While there have been small croco­ alligatorines are almost exclusively tive radiation of the crocodilians diles and giants over 15 metres long, broad-snouted. The crocodylines, reached a peak during the Mesozoic terrestrial and aquatic forms, narrow­ however, include both narrow­ with the emergence of truly terrestrial and broad-snouted types, there have snouted species like Australia's Fresh­ and highly aquatic forms, in addition been very few that would not be read­ water Crocodile (Crocody/us johnsto­ to characteristically amphibious ily recognisable to the layman as ni) and the remarkably similar African crocodilians like those we see today. crocodiles. Because similar skeletal Sharp-snouted Crocodile (C. cat­ Thus the Jurassic Metriorhynchidae characters have arisen independently aphractus), and broad-snouted species were highly specialised marine croco­ in many distantly related species, such as the Saltwater or Estuarine diles with well-developed flippers and there are few characters of value in de­ Crocodile (C. porosus) and the African a rather shark-like tail fin. Presumably termining which species are most Dwarf Crocodile (Osteo/aemus they either crawled ashore like turtles closely related to one another. Addi­ tetraspis). Many of the Crocodylinae to lay eggs or bore their young live like tionally, neither soft tissue nor ecologi­ bear a remarkably close resemblance most of the sea snakes. Somewhat cal characteristics of the living species to one another, but whether this later in the Mesozoic, perhaps 70 to have proven very useful in clarifying reflects close evolutionary relation­ 100 million years ago, the Libycosuchi­ their relationships. Hence, various ships or parallel evolution has not dae and Notosuchidae appeared. authors have divided the Eusuchia been determined. Almost certainly terrestrial, they ap- along different lines according to the With so much uncertainty over B

D

Representative living eusuchian crocodilians showing the conservatism of body form in the group and the broad- and narrow-snouted lines of evolution that have characterised the eusuchians throughout their history. A: Indian Gharial (Gavia/is gangeticus; Gavialidae). B: Freshwater Crocodile (Crocody/us johnstoni; Crocodylinae). C: Nile Crocodile (C. niloticus; Crocodylinae). D: Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus; Alligatorinae). Photos: l. Taplin. AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 539 the phylogeny of crocodilians it is not neys of limited concentrating ability, periodic access to fresh or brackish surprising that little progress has been marine reptiles should have salt water. Together with their large size made in understanding their zoogeo­ glands. and impermeable skin, this might ex­ graphy. In recent years, however, the Over the next 20 years, salt glands plain their survival in the wild. application of biochemical and im­ were found in nearly all marine and es­ However, observations of the Salt­ munological techniques to the prob­ tuarine reptiles and several different water Crocodile in northern Australia lem of crocodilian phylogeny has types were shown to have become showed that many small animals, even changed dramatically the traditional modified for salt excretion. The sea hatchlings, live in highly saline waters, picture of crocodilian evolution and snakes have sublingual salt glands often far more concentrated than sea raised some intriguing zoogeographi­ secreting into the sheath surrounding water, in areas where no fresh water is cal questions. At the same time, un­ the tongue, the Galapagos Iguana and available and months at a time can related advances in the field of Rusty Monitor have nasal salt glands pass without rain. These crocodiles eat crocodilian physiology have provided comparable to birds, while the sea tur­ salt-rich invertebrates and yet excrete a possible answer to at least some of tles and estuarine Diamondback Ter­ very little of the principal salt, sodium, these questions. Together, these in­ rapin have lachrymal glands secreting in their urine or faeces. If the sodium dependent pieces of work have led to salty tears into their eyes-hence the wasn't to be found in urine or faeces, a radically revised view of the evolu­ doleful appearance of the nesting tur­ then it was most likely excreted by salt tion and zoogeography of the living tle. glands. But where were they? This was a problem that vexed my colleagues and I at the University of Sydney for several years. Because salt glands are secretary organs, it seemed sensible to confine the search to those glands and organs capable of secreting salt to the outside of the body. The tears of turtles flow directly to the exterior. The nasal secretions of birds and lizards either drip from the beak or are expelled by 'sneezing'. The sublingual salt glands of sea snakes secrete into the tongue sheath inside the mouth but are ex­ pelled as the snake slides its tongue in and out. Now the Saltwater Crocodile The white plastic device on the crocodile's snout was specifically designed to has quite well-developed nasal and collect nasal salt secretions from Saltwater Crocodiles. However, attempts to do lachrymal (tear) glands so these were so proved singularly unsuccessful. Note the firmly tied jaws! Photo: L. Taplin. obvious candidates for investigation. There are few other glands in the head apart from some small and very ob­ crocodilians. In pursuing these de­ By 1980, 22 years after Schmidt­ scure oral glands described last centu­ velopments we must turn to a pro­ Nielsen's discovery, the only major ry by German anatomists. These blem of crocodilian physiology and, in group of reptiles in which salt glands included small glandular masses on doing so, we find crocodile tears com­ had not been found was the the palate and simple tubular glands ing back into the picture. Crocodilia. This fact was not entirely on the tongue, both of which were as­ surprising, however, as it had long sumed to be salivary glands of one Those Elusive Salt Glands been held that modern crocodilians About a quarter of a century ago, sort or another. Neither type was were essentially freshwater animals Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, the founding described as having remotely the size with only limited sea-going capabili­ father of environmental physiology, or structural complexity of other rep­ ties. Only in recent years has this view discovered that the fluid that drips tilian and avian salt glands and so were been seriously questioned. from the nostrils of marine birds is ex­ dismissed from our considerations ear­ tremely salty and is secreted by The observation that some spe­ ly on in the piece. specialised excretory organs, the salt cies of crocodiles, especially the Salt­ Nasal secretions are not much in glands. He demonstrated that the salt water and American Crocodiles evidence in crocodiles and attempts to glands were, in effect, accessory kid­ (Crocodylus porosus and C. acutus), collect salt from the nose were amus­ neys specialised for the excretion of in­ spend much of their time in saltwater ing but singularly unsuccessful. Croco­ organic salts and crucial to the bird's habitats and are capable of crossing dile tears, on the other hand, can flow survival at sea on a salt-rich diet. The substantial marine barriers, led to quite readily from freshly captured need for salt glands derives from the speculation that they, of all the eu­ animals and were, without doubt, the inability of a bird's kidney to produce suchian crocodiles, should have salt most probable route for salt secretion. urine more concentrated than its glands akin to those of other marine Yet, despite our best efforts to stimu­ blood and hence to excrete salt at a reptiles and birds. But, because none late secretion, they proved neither sufficiently high concentration to keep could be found, it was argued that sufficiently saline nor copious to ac­ its blood diluted. Schmidt-Nielsen rea­ these 'marine' crocodiles were really count convincingly for the salt that soned that since reptiles also have kid- more or less estuarine in habits, having had to be excreted. Numerous excre- 540 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 tory routes were then investigated but were able to date this divergence to rejected one by one, including the the late Cretaceous or early Tertiary, possible presence of a rectal gland like basing their calculation on average that in sharks and rays. rates of evolutionary change in the It was, therefore, rather a last· proteins they examined (the so-called ditch effort that led us to closer exami­ 'protein clock'). The various alligato­ nation of that most unpromising rine genera and species segregated area-the crocodile's mouth. Yet readily, with the basic split between there, to our complete astonishment, the North American-Eurasian alliga­ BIOLOGY of were the salt secretions we'd been tors and South American caimans dat­ chasing for so long-all over the ton­ ing to the early Tertiary. Datings of gue and secreted by those obscure lit· both the alligator-crocodile and tie lingual glands. It needed only a alligator-caiman divergence fitted well little reflection to realise that the with fairly good fossil evidence. glands were nevertheless excretory, as The results for the crocodile line­ the oral cavity of a crocodile is effec­ age, however, were not so readily un­ �ltiles tively part of its external surface, derstandable. Densmore found amaz· Edited by sealed off from the interior by the ingly little variation in proteins G. Grigg, R. Shine and H. Ehmann palato-hyal valves and the secondary between members of the genus Croc­ Reviews and Research on the palate. Analysis of the secretions and odylus, while the only other member ECOLOGY, BEHAVIOUR, PHYSIOLOGY, electron microscopic examination of of the Crocodylinae, Osteolaemus BIOGEOGRAPHY, CONSERVATION, the glands left no doubt that they tetraspis, had diverged only minimally EVOLUTION and REPRODUCTION were indeed salt glands, secreting so· from the Crocodylus stock. Protein of Australian and New Zealand dium chloride three to five times more clock calculations pointed to the Reptiles and Frogs concentrated than their blood. appearance of all extant crocodylines This book is the first Here, then, was the secret of the within only the last five million years major review of the Biology of crocodile's salt glands. Nothing to do or so. This was totally at odds with the Australasian Frogs and Reptiles. The with crocodile tears at all; these had accepted view of crocodyline evolu­ Australasian herpetofauna is colourful, been a red herring all along. But the tion, in which the extant species were diverse and spectacular, and has recently attracted considerable atten­ pleasure of solving one physiological regarded as relicts of a group that tion from research scientists. The puzzle was soon followed by perplexi­ appeared and radiated throughout framework is not taxonomic but ty over another, for the lingual salt most of the continents in the late Cre­ biological, ranging from reproductive glands of the Saltwater Crocodile were taceous or early Tertiary, some 65 mil­ behaviour to evolution, from not unique as we expected. They lion years ago! population biology to captive breeding turned up in a variety of crocodiles, in­ Now, an early Tertiary dispersal of and husbandry, from zoogeography to cluding some that were, to all intents the crocodylines is feasible for a group the conservation of rare and and purposes, restricted to fresh of freshwater animals because, among endangered species. water. There seemed no sensible other things, the continents at that -\ .:Jbie cm '½,.;set.. s and leadmg physiological reason for freshwater time were only beginning to break Bo.::ir.storesor a.rec. o.-, -. b1s'le1·s crocodilians to need salt glands in a apart. The Laurasian and Gondwanan Detailed brochures available from publishers salt-poor environment, especially as landmasses were still largely intact and Price $65.00 they share with other freshwater rep· there is little need for trans-oceanic lncl. Certified post In Australia tiles the ability to reduce urinary salt crossings to explain the occurrence of Please send me ______...... copies of loss by reabsorbing sodium and chlo­ crocodiles on all the major land­ "Frogs and Reptiles·. ride from their urine. It was in search­ masses. A more recent post-Pliocene NAME: ...... ing for an explanation of this paradox radiation and dispersal of the crocody­ that the biochemical and immunologi­ lines is, however, quite a different ket­ ADDRESS: ...... cal studies of Liew Densmore and Her· tle of fish. The continents were in bert Dessauer in the United States much their present positions by the provided essential clues. middle Tertiary and, by the Pliocene, P/C ...... e ...... formidable oceanic barriers to croco­ Return remittance to: Protein Clocks and a Revised dilian dispersal existed. Nor was there SURREY BEATTY& SONS Crocodile Past opportunity in the post-Pliocene peri­ 43-45 Rickard Road, Chipping Norton Densmore and Dessauer had spent od for dispersal between America and NSW 2170 Australia several years attempting to unravel Eurasia via major land bridges like the the phylogenetic relationships of the Bering Strait, which had allowed alliga­ living crocodilians by comparing blood tors to pass between North America proteins using a variety of sensitive and Asia during periods of low sea techniques. Their results for the levels and warm sub-Arctic climates. alligator-caiman lineage (Alligatori­ Two possible explanations suggested nae) were fitted readily into existing themselves. The calculated protein schemes of crocodilian evolution. The clock date of the crocodyline radiation Alligatorinae separated readily in their could be wrong but this would imply tests from the Crocodylinae; and they that rates of protein evolution differed AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 541 rines? Here we find quite a different picture. Only the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodi­ lus) have been examined· to date, but both lack the complex, lobulated salt glands of the crocodylines. Instead, they have relatively simple tubular glands of quite different appearance. These seem to be fairly ordinary salivary glands incapable of the copi­ ous and concentrated secretions of salt glands. The apparent absence of salt glands in the Alligatorinae may ex­ plain their historical restriction to the continental landmasses of North and South America and Eurasia. Dispersal between North and South America, and between North America and Eura­ sia, could have been possible for these freshwater animals in the early to mid­ dle Tertiary across land bridges or short island chains in the Bering Strait and central America. It is notable that never in its long history has the Al­ ligatorinae colonised any of the ar­ chipelagoes of Asia and the West Geographical distribution of the living crocodilians. It is argued that the high Indies, unlike the Crocodylinae, which diversity of the Crocodylinae in the island archipelagoes of Asia, Australasia and has achieved its greatest diversity in the West Indies (A), and the restriction of the Alligatorinae to the continental precisely these areas. landmasses of Eurasia and the Americas (8) are, in part, consequences of the We can see, then, that our percep­ differences in the physiology of their lingual glands. tion of the evolutionary and zoo­ geographical history of the croco­ remarkably between the Crocodylinae the past few million years, opportuni­ dilians is likely to be altered greatly by and the Alligatorinae. Alternatively, ties for periodic isolation of freshwater recent developments. If these ideas the post-Pliocene radiation could be populations and subsequent reinva­ gain acceptance, the familial classifica­ real but, in this case, dispersal must sion by saltwater populations may tion of the group may need changing have required the crossing of major have been common. The Saltwater to give the Alligatorinae and the oceanic barriers. Crocodile may not be the ancestor of Crocodylinae full status as separate fa­ Here the accumulating physiologi­ other living species but its physiologi­ milies. The relationships and origins of cal evidence provided, for the first cal capabilities are precisely those we the Gavialidae and Tomistominae will time, a feasible mechanism for such might expect to see in the ancestral remain unclear for the present, as dispersal. The Saltwater Crocodile had stock. there is insufficient knowledge of their been shown to be remarkably tolerant If, indeed, the freshwater and salt­ biochemistry or physiology. But accep­ of very high salinities and not .depen­ water crocodylines are derived recent­ tance of these ideas will also create a dent on fresh water for survival at sea. ly from sea-going ancestors, then the further evolutionary puzzle. Fossils be­ Large crocodiles are known to take to presence of salt glands in many of the longing to the genus Crocodylus are the sea and cross substantial barriers. living freshwater species is less para­ known from the earliest part of the Even small one-metre crocodiles are doxical than at first thought. The Tertiary, 60 million years or more be­ seen commonly on islands of Austra­ glands may have retained some of fore the living Crocodylinae are sup­ lia's Great Barrier Reef. Adult croco­ their salt-secreting ability (which is sig­ posed to have appeared on the scene. diles should be capable of surviving nificantly lower in all species than in If all our living species are new ones, many months at sea without feeding Saltwater Crocodiles living in sea then where did all the old species go or drinking. This marine capability is water) through some dependence of and why should they have disap­ combined with the ability to survive oral sense organs or membranes on peared so completely? As in most and reproduce not only in estuaries such secretions. Alternatively, the sciences, the solution to one puzzle but also in permanent fresh water, glands may function in maintenance of raises another batch to tantalise us. At hundreds of kilometres from the sea. It salt balance during periodic bouts of least with this one we'll be restricted is not difficult to envisage an animal aestivation, which appear to affect to dealing with fossils and won't have with these capabilities being able to most freshwater crocodilians living in any mythical crocodile tears to lead us cross substantial seaways, disperse hot, dry climates. But, if the lingual salt astray.D through island chains and establish glands of the crocodylines are relicts breeding populations. Combined with of a recent marine ancestry, then what the marked sea level fluctuations of of the lingual glands of the alligato- 542 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 SPIRIT MASK• SMILING HEADS•TY RANNO S •BELEMNITES • PLESIOSAURS • Z oks•PENIS GOURD• DIDGERIDO •DI

Actively secreting lingual salt glands of the Saltwater Crocodile. The secretions are three to five times more con­ centrated than the blood plasma and are the major excre­ tory pathway for excess sodium. Note the palatal valve at the back of the tongue, sealing off the mouth completely from the throat and internal organs. Photo: L. Taplin.

Write or phone for our free Comparison of the tongues of A, the Indian Mugger colour catalogue: The Australian Museum Shop (Crocodylus palustris) and B, the South American Specta­ P.O. Box A285, Sydney cled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus). Note the prominent lin­ South, NSW 2000 gual salt glands in the Mugger and their absence from the 6-8 College St, Sydney Caiman. Alligator and Caiman have small, relatively sim­ Phone: (02) 339 8350 ple lingual glands, which lack the ability to secrete concen­ trated sodium chloride solution. Photos: L. Taplin.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 543 ound in the central western por­ Following exploration came the Ruins at the abandoned Granites tion of the Northern Territory, miners and prospectors who eventu­ goldfield. The goldfield was disco­ the Tanami Desert is largely ally established workings on the vered in August 1900 by A.A. David­ unknown to most Australians. The Tanami and The Granites goldfields. son. The area was an important Simpson Desert, in fact, is probably Attempts were also made to run stock wildlife habitat in the past and, even better known by virtue of the many in several parts of the Tanami Desert though many of the medium-sized 'first' crossings reported from time to but neither pastoralism nor mining mammals are now extinct, it remains time. were very successful. Today the an important region for small mam­ Tanami is unique in that it is one of the mals. It is also a significant mythologi­ History and Exploration largest areas in Australia virtually cal site for Warlpiri Aborigines, being The early history of European unaffected by mining, pastoralism and related to a possum dreaming. Photo: exploitation in the Tanami generally European exploitation as a whole. I.R. McCann, A.N.T. followed the trend found in most other parts of Australia: exploration, Conservation which later, in 1982, had its sanctuary then mining, followed by pastoralism. Interest in the Tanami for conser­ status dissolved. During those years of However, Aboriginal occupation has vation purposes dates back to 1964 change, active wildlife survey work been of overwhelming importance when the Tanami Desert Wildlife Sanc­ was continued, confirming the Tanami and to this day exerts a major influ­ tuary was established, covering an as a unique biological area worthy of ence on the ecology of this sandplain area of 37,529 square kilometres. A more intensive research. However, region of spinifex and shrubs. number of wildlife surveys were car­ much of the region remained un­ The first European explorers ried out within the sanctuary and known and, in fact, had never been travelled in the Tanami Desert as early these confirmed the almost pristine traversed by anyone other than Abori­ as 1873 and, even in the 1930s, it was natare of the country as well as the gines. Even Aboriginal activity in many still being explored. Men such as W.C. presence of a number of rare animal parts of the Tanami had been absent Gosse, A.A. Davidson, W.R. Murray species. The status of this sanctuary, for 40 or more years as their tradi­ and M. Terry are unknown to the however, was soon to change. tional nomadic hunter-gatherer way majority of Australians, yet their jour­ In 1976 the Federal Government of life gave way to the more sedentary neys rank them in stature with such passed the Aboriginal Land Rights lifestyle of Europeans. notables as Sturt and Mitchell. Our (N.T.) Act and in 1978 the Warlpiri knowledge of early Aboriginal occupa­ people, who have traditionally lived Faunal Survey tion of the Tanami, its landscapes, within the Tanami, were granted free­ Between 1981 and 1984, two re­ mineralogy, flora and fauna would be hold title to an area of 90,000 square searchers contracted to the C.C.N.T. severely limited but for the endea­ kilometres. This grant included the were engaged full-time to survey the vours of these explorers. Tanami Desert Wildlife Sanctuary entire Tanami Desert. Their main

544 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 objectives were to determine what wildlife inhabited the region and to define areas of biological significance that were important for establishing conservation areas. Aborigines partici­ pated in the survey work. The older men and women, especially, had much to contribute to our knowledge of Tanami wildlife-particularly those species now regarded extremely rare or extinct. The three-year survey was both rewarding and disappointing. To­ gether with historical accounts and previous wildlife surveys, they re­ vealed a rich and abundant wildlife The Greater Bilby was found to be common in many parts of the Tanami Desert. comprising the following assemblage However, its continental range has been drastically reduced during the past 100 of vertebrate species: two species of years. Here, a female suckles its young. Photo: D.V. Matthews, A.N.T. fish, 17 amphibians, 90 reptiles, 188 birds and 41 mammals. A total of five new species were recorded for the Northern Territory-the Lesser Hairy­ footed Dunnart (Sminthopsis young­ soni), the skinks Ctenotus greeri, Lerista ips and L. aericeps, and an undescribed frog of the genus Cyclor­ ana. Significant species in terms.of, for example, their isolated populations or recent invasions, include the Western Chestnut Mouse, Delicate Mouse, Long-tailed Planigale, Pheasant Cou­ cal, Red-chested Button-quail, Painted Snipe and Grey Falcon. The Tanami is also home to two endemics-the skink Ctenotus tanamiensis and frog Uper­ oleia micromeles. Several rare and endangered spe­ cies were located during the survey work. The Greater Bilby, Spectacled Hare-wallaby and Northern Nailtail Wallaby were quite common in some areas. A small population of the rare central Australian form of the Com­ mon Brushtail Possum was located and an egg, considered by experts to be that of the elusive Night Parrot, was found. The Tanami is also home to the A number of Warlpiri men have been employed to help manage the critical only extant continental population of habitat of the endangered Rufous Hare-wallaby or Maia, mainly through the the Rabbit-sized Rufous Hair-wallaby. practice of controlled burning. Photo: D.F. Gibson. Known to the Warlpiri as the Maia, it once had a wide distribution through­ rowing Bettong, Brush-tailed Bettong, mouse, Short-tailed Hopping-mouse out much of South Australia, Western Golden Bandicoot, Western Quall and and Central Rock-rat), while none of Australia and the Northern Territory. even a small and apparently passive the large mammals have vanished. wallaby known to the Warlpiri as the Only one bird, the Malleefowl, is now Local Extinctions and the Yamarri. Only reported to be the size absent from the Tanami. These spe­ Effects of Fire of the Maia, this wallaby has not been cies represent a significant loss not The disappointing aspect of this positively identified by scientists and only to conservationists but also the work was finding that many species of will probably remain unidentified for­ Warlpiri. Many aspects of Warlpiri cul­ mammals about the size of the Maia ever. ture involve these animals in songs, had become locally extinct. Aboriginal It appears that about 58 per cent of dances, dreaming tracks and dreaming informants related the past occur­ the medium-sized mammals have dis­ sites. rence of a number of medium-sized appeared. This figure compares to less So, what caused these extinctions mammals that were no longer found than 19 per cent for small mammals over such a large slice of Australia? in the area. These included the Bur- (such as the Long-tailed Hopping- Traditionally accepted reasons for AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 545 extinctions, such as European exploita­ tion (particularly pastoralism) and the introduction of exotic animals, do not fit with the Tanami experience. It was clear that the extinctions were rapid and had taken place over a period of only 30 to 40 years as many species were abundant when the survey infor­ mants were children. The current theory is that fires (or a lack of them) may have had a major influence on these local extinctions. With the decrease in traditional Aboriginal hunting methods, which is directly related to the increase in Euro­ pean occupation in the last 30 to 40 years, came the decrease in the num­ ber of small, periodically-lit fires. This meant that fires caused by lightning, for example, instead of being checked by limited plant growth, could spread for thousands of kilometres. Large animals, because of their inherent

Particular emphasis was placed on the search for medium-sized mammal spe­ cies, many of which appear now to be locally extinct in the Tanami Desert. Here a Greater Bilby has been successfully obtained from a large termitaria by a Warl­ piri informant. Photo: D.F. Gibson.

this region. Controlled mosaic or The survey also established that patchwork burning is successfully five areas in the Tanami have signifi­ being used to manage the Maia cant conservation potential. It is colony. It helps maintain the protec­ hoped that, in the near future, national The fence-trap technique was used in­ tive spinifex cover for this medium­ parks will be established in the Tanami tensively during the survey of wildlife sized animal, while providing food in Desert and that, clearly, Aboriginal in the Tanami Desert. Many species of the form of regenerating grasses and people will have a major input into the frogs, lizards and small mammals, forbs. This use of fire will also, hope­ delineation and future management of which would otherwise be difficult to fully soon, be used to manage the hab­ these areas. document, were captured by this me­ itat for the only known location of the The Tanami Desert is an immense ans. Photo: D.F. Gibson. Common Brushtail Possum in the area of land but it is by no means self­ Tanami. protecting. The disappearance of so mobility, could avoid these fires. Small The Tanami survey also identified many mammals from this vast wilder­ animals might burrow underground areas potentially suitable for the rein­ ness area is a fair indication that the and afterwards gain nutriment from troduction of rare animals. A colony of land cannot be left to manage itself. the soil. But medium-sized animals, Maia has been established in one of After all the work undertaken in the even if able to escape death from the these areas with the help of Aboriginal Tanami Desert and the data base that fire, would probably die from lack of people who have traditional affilia­ has been established, conservation food. tions with the species and the rein­ areas would not only protect the flora, Research in the Tanami is currently troduction site. However, it will be fauna and landscape but also many directed towards determining exactly some time before it is known whether aspects important to the culture of the what effect fire has on the ecology of or not the program is successful. Warlpiri people.O

546 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 he great modern conservation basis. It should have been clear at this source of cash income. Money for Liissues are fought on complex stage that a great conservation victory gasoline, cartridges and snowshoes ideological grounds, not all of had already been achieved. However, was simply not available to them, so which are necessarily rational or even many animal rights groups persisted in that their ability to live off the land in in the best interests of a stable calling for an end to the seal cull and a hunter-gatherer existence was environment. Because some of these were making more and more strident destroyed. It seems that the animal issues are of great importance to our and, by necessity, less rational pleas. rights groups managed to destroy the tenure in the world, it is worth examin­ After all, their case could not now be last vestiges of traditional Inuit way of ing one or two of the major battles, to based on a rational conservation life-something that government and see if their eventual outcomes have policy: the best had already been industry, through many years of con­ lived up to the expectations of the achieved in this direction. tact, could not do. People who do not conservationists involved. With the E.E.C. ban on white-coat use their land lose much of their right The battle to stop the Canadian seal skins in 1982, these groups to it. What grounds will these people seal cull has been one of the longest achieved their end. However, the have now to oppose the building of and most passionately fought conser­ result was a disaster: thousands of pipelines and other ecologically disas­ vation issues of our time. The battle Inuit (aboriginal peoples of Canada trous projects in Canada's north? was fought for 20 years and effectively and Greenland) lost their sole or major Reduced largely to dependence on terminated in 1982 when the E.E.C. banned the import of white-coat seal pelts (primarily the pelts of baby Harp Seals). This was hailed at the time as a great victory for conservation. It has now become clear, however, that this was actually a great disaster-one that has adversely affected many conserva­ tion issues around the world. When world attention was first focused on the Canadian seal hunt in the early 1960s, it was clear that some­ thing was awfully wrong. The seal herd had declined to one and a half million from the 19th century total of about three million. By 1964 the hunting had become wasteful and unnecessarily cruel. However, due to conservation lobbying and increasing biological awareness, the Canadian Government began to regulate the • cull with an aim to eliminate unneces­ sary cruelty and, more importantly, to protect the seal stocks from overex­ ploitation. By the early 1970s the legis­ lation was clearly working. Experts sent by the 'Save the Seal Fund' and State Government veterinarians to the hunt areas could say by 1967 that seal­ ing was being carried out in a humane fashion. Also, seal numbers were re­ covering and, by the late 1970s, stocks \ had expanded from the 1960's low by 25 per cent to over two million. Most beneficial to conservation in the long term, however, was the fact that Harp Seals, due to the international interest shown in them, had become one of the best studied of the world's mam­ mals. The industry could thus be man- For many Inuit (aboriginal people of Canada and Greenland) seal hunting aged on a truly scientific and rational is their sole or major source of income.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 547 government handouts, their plight is We should be utilising more ecologi­ truly tragic. They have had their very cally costless species, such as the means of understanding and interact­ kangaroos, rather than sheep and cat­ ing with their world cut off in a similar tle, which cause damage to our inland way that Aborigines herded onto plains. reserves in Australia last century had. But this is only one implication of the cessation of sealing. It is reasona­ ble to assume that high fashion coats to utilise these ecologically appropri­ will still be made of something, now ate species, so that we can lessen our that seal skins are passe. One wonders dependence on our northern Euro­ whether they will be made of fine­ pean animal husbandry heritage, grade wool grown in inland Australia. which is clearly inappropriate here? Or perhaps synthetics made from non­ Compared to cattle and sheep, even renewable products. If wool be the large numbers of kangaroos would option, then the outcome is worse. appear to do little environmental Grazing of large ungulates on Austra­ damage. lia's inland plains has contributed Perhaps we can look forward to greatly to one of the great ecological the day when many of our needs will disasters of modern times; problems come from such well-adapted species. of salination and soil erosion have This would go much further towards already reached alarming proportions solving many of Australia's conserva­ in Australia, largely due to land clear­ tion problems, such as soil erosion and ance and introduced animals such as arid zone extinction, than if the kan­ cattle and sheep. Many mammals of garoo industry was destroyed. How­ the Australian arid zone are now ever, I fear greatly that we will lose our extinct for the same reasons. The eco­ victory. I only hope that, in contradic­ logical cost of producing wool in Aus­ tion to the views expressed daily by tralia is thus clearly very high. In 'conservation' groups in the media, a comparison, there was virtually no rational approach to conservation is ecological cost for the seal skins taken growing in this country and that such in Canada in the 1970s. The industry a tragedy can be avoided.O was well-regulated and, in ecological -Dr Tim Flannery terms, one of the cheapest ways to produce clothing. So, for conservation a victory was won, then lost. We can only hope that elegant ladies will wear their seal skin coats with pride, as badges that should read 'thoughtful protector of the FLIGHT THROUGH environment', and that one day this great tragedy can be undone. THE SPECTACULAR There . are obvious parallels LAND OF THE DREAMT/ME between the seal cull of Canada and 14 Days Australia's kangaroo cull. We are now FROM SYDNEY TO: Flinders Ranges (S. Aust.) - Coober Pedy - Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Olgas - Aloce Springs - West and at the stage that Canada was at in the East Kimberley RegtOns (IN. Aust.) - Broome - Ord River 1970s. We have won a great victory in Scheme - Bathurst Island (Timor Sea) - Darwin - Katherine Gorge - Kakadu N. Park - Arnhem Land producing our well-regulated and Region - Gulf of Carpentaria - Carnarvon well-run industry. But will further pres­ N, Park (Qld.) - Sydney. sure from animal liberationists turn We are looking for a small group for this unique flight mto remote areas. Aircraft 1s comfortable, this into defeat? What will happen if modern, turbo,harged Navato Chieftains. the kangaroo cull stops? No doubt our Depdrture dates for 1986; May J, June leather and pet food will still have to 14, /uly 26, August 76, September 13 come from somewhere. More cattle and sheep for the inland plains? And Please phone or write to: perhaps an even greater long-term battle will be lost. Kangaroos are FLIGHT THROUGH THE SPECTACULAR clearly less ecologically costly to our LAND OF THE DREAMTIME PTY. LTD. inland plains than sheep and cattle. C/o 368 Eastern Valley Way, Chatswood, N.S.W., 2067 Rather than trying to ban their use, Phone: (02) 406 6809 shouldn't those truly interested in con­ servation be trying to find better ways

548 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 DOING THE BIRD... Dance Routines in the Papua New Guinea Highlands

�UL SILLITOE There are many spectacular birds in Papua New Guinea. To the Wola people of the Highlands, certain birds provide inspiration for their ceremonial dances. They mimic the birds whose plumes they don, not only in visual splendour but also in their movements, habits and cries. This mimicry, however, is not limited merely to dance routines. It pervades many aspects of Wola life and there are remarkable lifestyle similarities between birds and people. In this article, Dr Sillitoe unravels the mysteries of 'doing the bird'.

His wig topped by a magnificent Enamelled Bird of Paradise headdress, a man parades, chanting in a dance. Photo: P. �Sillitoe. 549 shshshsh' cry. It does this [toss­ ing his head up and down in imitation] and they [the plumes] wave beautifully, back and forth." In their dancing, Wola men imitate this bird explicitly. They often chant .,; 'shshshsh, shshshsh'. Also, when par· "'Q,I ticipating in drum dances (where they u0 stand in one spot and wave their plumes by bobbing up and down), the men flex their knees in the same way that the bird bends- its legs as it displays. With the Black Sickle-billed tail feathers in their headdresses, the Wala men not only imitate the majes­ tic waving of this bird's tail plumes, but they also mimic the bird's display call-a 'brrrr, brrrr, brrrr' sound. When that bird dances, it attracts one or two spectators-the plain-feathered, dowdy-looking females and immature birds. It displays in an open situation, often perched atop a dead tree, its long tail feathers hanging vertically. It bounces rhythmically up and down, puffing up its feathers. This is copied by the men, who also bounce at dances with their chests pushed out. The bird makes a booming sound at ir­ Lihe people of Papua New Guinea tines. For example, some of the birds regular intervals as it displays, which is are renowned for their majestic, build and maintain an arena or 'dance imitated by the men who liken the colourful singsings or dances. In ground'.The name for this arena, how­ sound to the beating of a drum. the Highlands, the Wala people are no ma, is also given to the grassed clear­ The Superb Bird of Paradise also exception. Here men dance like birds. ings on which the Wola dance. Not makes a thumping sound as it displays, As one Wala man expressed it: only do the birds have a dance reminiscent of clapping, produced­ ground, but others congregate there the men think-by flapping its wings. It "The dancing of those birds to watch those performing, just as arid of men is the same, like makes this regular beat while bounc· people come, the Wala say, to watch ing up and down along a branch. they've 'joined'. Birds and men their own dances. have come together. When we Unlike the other birds, the Princess These similarities reach their zenith Stephanie Bird of Paradise performs no shoot birds carrying plumes, with the Enamelled Bird of Paradise­ we 'spear' these, imitating static dance according to the Wala. In­ its delicate, iridescent feathers are stead, it just flits about the trees, again them, [putting the plumes] valued above all others. The bird onto our heads ...when we with two or three spectators. It makes comes down from the forest canopy the imitated 'shshshsh' sound but with decorate [ourselves], we are to a springy branch or vine in the un­ somewhat like birds." its tail (not head) plumes. derstorey, bouncing up and down by The display of the Macgregor's When they dance, the Wala imi­ flexing its legs. According to one Gardener Bowerbird has never been tate the birds whose plumes feature in witness: witnessed by the Wala, for its fellow their headdresses. There are five birds, "Here's a small branch or spectators always warn of potential in­ in particular,· that they imitate-all of length of vine ...it [the bird] truders. Nevertheless, all agree that which display or 'dance'. They are the perches quietly with its plumes the dancers are the birds with the Enamelled Bird of Paradise (Pterido­ flattened down its back ...then orange head crests and it is these birds phora alberti), Macgregor's Gardener it waves its plumes to and that the Wola men catch to obtain Bowerbird (Amblyornis macgregor­ fro-those two plumes the crests for headdress fringes. diae), Superb Bird of Paradise (Loph­ Enamelled Bird of Paradise has Men wear bunches of fresh, oiled, orina superba), Black Sickle-billed Bird growing out of its ears. When brightly-coloured, variegated palm lily of Paradise (Epimachus fastosus) and it has them coming out of its leaves over their buttocks. These stick Princess Stephanie Bird of Paradise (As­ ears, it tosses its head up and up their backs and bob up and down trapia stephaniae). they stand erect. When they during the dance-just like the birds' There are countless similarities be­ stand erect like this [demon­ long tail feathers during their display. tween displays of these magnificently strating with his hands], it The Wola acknowledge they are plumed birds and the Wola dance rou- dances making its 'shshshsh, imitating these magnificent birds' dis- 550 VOL. 21 No. 12, AUTUMN 1986 plays by referring to their own dances A noteworthy association is that as iysh mol menay (literally 'tree drum between the Macgregor's Gardener lift'). Drum refers to the noise that Bowerbird and pigs, the latter being some dancing birds make and 'tree lift­ creatures the Wola regard highly as ing', initially puzzling in regard to hu­ exchangeable wealth. The Bowerbird man dancing, refers to the way some makes a range of ventriloquial calls birds' bounce up and down on small during its display, mimicking other bird branches, making them wave about. calls, humans talking, twigs snapping Another parallel between the bird and even babies crying. But the call world and Wola society is evident that fascinates them most is its imita­ when comparing the females. The fe­ tion of pig squeals. The Wola even male birds, whose job it is to lay and claim that the Bowerbird reproduces sit on eggs, are small, plain, unobtru­ the sounds of a pig kill, mimicking the sive and do not display. Wola women, squeals of animals followed by thud­ the bearers and rearers of children, are ding noises that replicate their being likewise dowdy and less prominent in clubbed to death. This acquisitive bird public affairs and, if married, cannot carries its interest in pigs even further, decorate themselves and participate in decorating the rim of its circular moss dances. Indeed, the only time they bower with pigs' droppings. It also decorate themselves is in mourning places here small pieces of charcoal and even then they make themselves and round, black berries from a less attractive, smearing their bodies melastomad shrub, which the Wola with white clay. So, as a rule, only men assert the bird mistakes for pigs' males 'preen' themselves and 'display'. droppings, maintaining that its object Exceptions include nubile girls is to surround the bower's perimeter (although infrequently) and brides. with pig faeces. During the marriage ceremony, a bride's decoration plays an important symbolic role in the bride-wealth distribution-a major ceremonial wealth exchange, in which context men frequently don their finery. A male Macgregor's Gardener Bower­ Ceremonial exchange is a central bird crest plumage in display position. institution in the political structure of Photo: Frithfoto, A.N.T. Wola society and self-decoration is in­ extricably linked with it. Full-dress decoration not only features in the shell, worn here, around the dances that accompany some cere­ neck ...just so, like a pearl monial exchanges, but several of the shell. Very good. It's excellent accoutrements that comprise the if it's [the back of the neck decoration are valuables used in ex­ plaque] somewhat like a pearl change, such as sea shells, feather shell, and it's [chest plaque] headdresses, ornamental axes and similar to a bailer shell." tigaso oil. A myth told by the Wola (see Parallels also exist between deco­ separate section) describes how birds ration (notably feather headdresses) came by their beautiful plumes and and exchangeable wealth. The Wola underlines the connections between saying kwiysh gemb ombuwkiy njuksiy finery and display, and ceremonial bay epitomises this (literally: Having just assembled an Enamelled exchange-the foundations of their Enamelled Bird of Paradise headdress Bird of Paradise headdress, a man tests stateless polity. The myth implies that foundation mounted give?). Men its springiness by waving it back and objects used as finery came out of throw this taunt into the faces of those forth. Photo: P. Sillitoe. chaos to reaffirm social order. For, who are slow in making an exchange Regarding the Superb Bird of Para­ without ceremonial exchange to payment. The implication is: "judging dise, the Wola liken its iridescent, which finery so closely relates, the by the long time you're taking to crescent-shaped feather plaques to leaderless political order of the Wola honour your exchange obligation to pearl shells which, together with pigs, would collapse into anarchy, as hap­ me, are you going to repay me with are the most highly esteemed wealth pened (according to the myth) in such splendour as a fully mounted items used for exchange. Some are primeval times when dogs rounded on Enamelled Bird of Paradise head­ worn around the neck for decoration. marsupials. dress?". Such jibes cut deep where As one Wola observed: Birds flaunt brightly coloured men's reputations depend on them crests or plumes in display for the meeting their obligations promptly "The Superb Bird of Paradise's same reason that men don finery-that and generously. chest plaque is just like a pearl is, to allure the attentions of females.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 551 How the Birds of Paradise got their Plumes-a Wola Myth

any animals, including casso- perience to his canine friends, telling As one Wala man put it: waries, marsupials, pythons, them how rare-flavoured he had "When, from time to time, we b·1rds and dogs, met one hot foun d possum fles h . Unti I this time, decorate ourselves with day at S·1n·1yphowma to stage a dance. dogs an d marsupia I s h ad been friends. Enamelled Bird of Paradise The python dec·1ded to decorate h'im- Th'1 s was t h e first occasion a dog had plumes and so on, then-oh, self magnificently for the event and eaten a marsupial. But when the we're very big, big men. Wom- ll 1 l 1l Put Ename ed and Black s·ck e-b' led possum-eater to Id h' 1s dog f rien ds how en's t houg hts are excited: 'I'll Birds of Paradise plumes on his head, tasty his meal had been, they turned marry that man', they think to together W·1th many other colourful h ungn·1 y on t h e. ot her marsupia I s at the themselves ... girls think to feathers from a range Of br·ightly dance. An a 1 m1gh ty f ig h t erupte d , t h e . themselves that they'll sing l feathered b·1rds l'ike parrots and or i·es. dogs k'II'I mg and eating marsupia 1 s. courting songs [with the finely He painted himself with designs using The fighting and bloodshed fright- decorated]." red, white and yellow earth. He put on ened the highly decorated python a new apron and hung a Hornbill's who fled in terror beneath the litter on For many of those who decorate beak around his neck. And so on, he the forest floor. All his ornaments fell themselves, courting and showing off put on all the things men decorate off as he ran away. Today, as a result, to members of the opposite sex is themselves with today. pythons only have a dull black and their main concern. It is also for this l While all the animals were danc- white skin. However, all the finery he reason that the Wa a prevent married ing, a Long-fingered Striped Possum dropped was picked up by those crea- women from decorating and partici- became sick with the heat and went to tures which have these things now. pating in full-dress events for, unlike a nearby stream for a drink. He wan- The Enamelled, Superb, Black Sickle- the polygynous males, they may not dered along the stream, drinking occa- billed and Princess Stephanie Birds of be married to more than one man. sionally, until he came to the spring Paradise came by their majestic When they marry, their courting days that was its source where, tired out, he plumes and the Macgregor's Gardener cease and for them to flaunt them- expired. Meanwhile, one of the dogs Bowerbird, his orange crest. The selves in full decoration would be at the dance also felt thirsty and went Shovel-billed Kingfisher obtained his immoral. l l to the stream for a drink, too. He silver-blue back feathers and the Horn- Here is yet another paral e with found the water extraordinarily tasty bill, his enormous beak. The Grey the bird world-the bird of paradise and wandered upstream drinking it, Honeyeater, Schlegel's Whistler and dances imitated by the Wala are male unknowingly following the possum. Dusky Orange Lory shared out the yel- courting displays. Interestingly, how- When he arrived at the spring he low paint among themselves, and the ever, the Wala are unaware of this for found the dead possum and sniffed Reichenow's Honeyeater, Black Butch- they believe these magnificent birds him. He smelled good. The dog saw er Bird and Short-tailed Paradigalla are celibate. They maintain that they l his long grub-winkling finger and bit it shared out the white. The Yellow- reproduce in an ear ier stage of l off and ate it. The finger was very ap- fronted Blue-eared Lory, Fairy Lory and development-as the dowdy-p umed petising and the dog ate all the de- Papuan King Parrot took the red paint. female and immature members of the ll ceased animal's paw. His appetite now And so on, everything was distributed species, a of which, the Wala believe, turn whetted by the delicious taste, he between those having today. That's eventually into magnificently made a meal of the entire possum. how these creatures came by them, plumed adult males. The dog returned to the dance, the objects we use to decorate our- So here are five beautiful birds that smacking his lips and related his ex- selves.D are believed to have nothing to do .______J with reproduction, an activity that Wala men maintain is enfeebling and dangerous.They believe the sexual act gradually drains away their vitality and essential life juices. A foolhardy man who engages in frequent sexual inter- - course hastens his own demise, reduc­ ing himself prematurely to the dry and wrinkled condition of old age. The ab­ stemious, on the hand, are supposedly healthier and live longer. Small wonder the Wala are attract- ' ed to birds that supposedly have noth­ ing to do with sexual matters and reproduction! They show their admira­ tion for these beautiful birds by per­ sonifying them in self-decoration and dance-in other words, by 'doing the bird'.D The massed ranks of plume-bedecked ; dancers present an awe-inspiring spec­ • tacle. Photo: P. Sillitoe.

552 VOL. 21 o. 12, AUTUMN 1986

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