Spring 1991 Volume 23 Number 10 $7.95

IS AUSTRALIA OVERPOPULATED?

CHARLES DARWIN In Tasmania

IN SEARCH OF A SIMPLE SOUL

TOP END DILEMMA Magpie Geese or Mangoes?

X-RAYS THE INSIDE STORY LE VAILLANT'S An Unnatural History?

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FREEPOST AAA10 AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM P.O. BOX A285 SYDNEY SOUTH N.S.W. 2000 AUSTRALIA Spring 1991 Volume 23 Number 10 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Published by BY FIONA DOIG The Australian Museum Trust 6-8 College Street. MANAGING EDITOR Sydney. SW 2000 Phone: (02) 339 8lll Fax: (02) 339 8313 belongs. Research ensuring a law's fit­ Trust President: Robyn Williams T A RECENT UINNER PARTY. I Museum Director: Desmond Griffin discovered several guests thought ness would benefit the knowledge-and avocados were native to Australia. thus the survival--of many . MANAGING EDITOR A When it comes to seafood and fish, Fiona Doig, B.A. Comm. Home grown maybe, but they are native SCIE TIFIC EDITOR to central America. In fact, the 'tra­ we readily consume local species. Georgina Hickey, B.Sc. ditional' Aussie meal presented con­ Unfortunately many, like the Murray EDITORIAL COORDINATOR sisted of roast lamb (sheep originate Cod, are threatened by introduced exotic Jennifer Saunders, B.Sc. from the Middle East), potatoes (from species. So developing our cuisine is CI RCULATIO MANAGER the Andes), peas (Eurasia) and pumpkin more than just about eating local foods. Cathy McGahey (Mexico and Guatemala). Careful management is vital. ART DIRECTION The nuts saved the even­ When it comes to food plants, our Watch This! Design ing. No token representative, either: track record is appalling. And pro­ TYPESE17'1NG they are our only large-scale commer­ duction isn't hindered by obscure laws. Character Typesetting cially farmed native food plant. Limited diversity of food plants is not a PRINTING We complain that Australia doesn't local problem, either. The vast bulk of Excel Printing Company, Hong Kong have a traditional fare. But thousands of food eaten around the world comes from ADVERTISING generations of Aborigines thrived on an extremely narrow range-about Kate Lowe bush foods, and settlers left a legacy of eight cereals and grains, seven veg­ Phone: (02) 339 8331 recipes for such delicacies as kangaroo­ etables and about four fruits. Fax: (02) 339 8313 tail soup and Quandong pie. One person is working to change Pager: (02) 214 7035 Its a pity we didn't continue devel­ that. Sydney-based bush food supplier SUBSCRIPTIONS oping it. I often fondly recall one glori­ Victor Cherikoff experiments with new Annual subscription (4 issues) ous sunny day in the Gulf of Carpentaria uses of bush foods and assists farmers Within Australia $A30 feasting on fresh crocodile. But despite to produce them. Wild tomatoes, Quan­ Other Countries $A42 the thriving crocodile farms, like kanga­ dongs, wattle seed, bunya nuts, lemon Two-year subscription (8 issues) Within Australia $ASS roo meat, archaic laws restrict its sale. aspen, wild rosella, Lillipillis and Other Countries $A78 If it was available in butcher shops, I'd Kakadu Plums are all being produced be a regular buyer. commercially and some are used in such New subscriptions can be made by credit We are still clinging to our imported delicacies as wattle seed ice-cream. card on the ANH toll-free hotline European cuisine and our land is suffer­ Vic's philosophy is simple: we need to 008-028 558 or use the form in the back of the ing: farming hard-hoofed stock pro­ diversify food production and we need magazine. If it has been removed. send motes land degradation. But before to do this by growing locally native cheque. money order or credit card authorisation to the address above. made condemning farmers, start by looking at plants. In the desert we would grow payable to the ·Australian Museum' in your dinner plate. Who is eating it? desert foods; in the rainforest, rainfor­ Australian currency. We should harvest species that are est delicacies. We end up with a variety All material appearing ANH is copyright. adapted to the environment, like kan­ of unique, locally distinct cuisines. Reproduction in whole or in part is not garoos. The meat is better for us, too: Most native food plants are unsuited permitted without written authorisation from it's low in cholesterol and fat. But if to monoculture. Unfortunately, we the Editor. sales are restricted, no one benefits. In commonly think of plants as 'native' to Opinions expressed by the authors are their Queensland, it is illegal to sell kangaroo Australia, rather than an area. Austra­ own and do not necessarily represent the meat for human consumption; in New lia's enormous regional diversity under­ policies or views of the Australian Museum. ANH is printed on archival quality paper South Wales you can sell it only if it's lines a need for nurseries to specialise suitable for library collections. not stored with other meat (for no in locally native food plants. Nurseries logical reason). In Victoria ministerial are just one starting point. Introducing Published 1991 approval must be obtained. Yet Emu bush food cultivation into agricultural ISSN--0004-9840 meat is legal in all States. To really courses is also vital. And an Aboriginal splash out, visit the Northern Te rritory training program in native food pro­ Australian Natural Australian Natural where you can also dine on buffalo, duction and harvesting is a must, so History is audited by History is proud winner of camel, donkey and crocodile. that we can both teach and learn all the Audit Hureau of the 1987. '88, '89. ·90 & ·91 If these absurd laws were lifted, about local bush foods from traditional Circulations. Whitley Awards for farmers could use many they Aborigines and future research. This Best Periodical. now destroy as pests. We could have a not only promotes cultural exchange, it thriving export industry. Diversity of also encourages ecologically sound Front Cover resources gives security against tough agriculture. We have much to learn The 18-century French ornithologist. Le Vaillant. times, something our farmers need. about this part of our heritage. Let's left a legacy of supremely illustrated books. His fanciful fiction coupled with genuine facts and But what about conservation? All stop ignoring it. observations led to a poor reputation as a species have sustainable limits: any ani­ Meanwhile, I'll just sit back and scientist. However his famous book on parrots. mal can be harvested without threaten­ munch on my Quandong pie with justi­ which features this Palm Cockatoo illustration. ing the ecosystem as long as the fiable pride in the knowledge that I am has been republished by lmprime to help conserve sustainable yield is not exceeded. This accelerating our return to a long­ the he wrote about. is where appropriate legislation neglected traditional fare. •

N N V O L U M E 2 3 U M B E R l O S P R I G 1991 745 C O N T E N T S IN THIS ISSUE BY GEORGINA HICKEY SCIENTIFIC EDITOR

N TIIE LATE 1700S. Fl

LETTERS Co1111ti11g 011 TroHblc: FROM THE ARCHIV ES Traditio11ally m, Exrnsc: Points to Po11dcr: .\"11;ht

A PHOTOGRAPH IN TIME Nc1mrd: .\lothba/1° .\lrsterr Dornme11tary photowaphy is Soll'Cd: Ho11ey 111 a Trip: · just like i11sHm11ce: it�, .\licroscopirnl ClHb: .\"of 111 l'XP(')ISill(' 1111til _1'01( lll'ed it. ft C1111tlict: Obituarr tiir a Cl'rlai11/_1· paid its u·<�1· rcce11/ly Liz,;rd: .\laybc .\iislcadi111;: /ilr a collcctio11 o( old .Hore Hurli·y Burl<'): °!11do11csia11 coshimcs. BY RIC BOLZAN 748 760 QUIPS, QUOTES & CURIOS Black-light Si}f1wt1m'_tiir the Hirds.': outh Austmli1111 Plaf.1p11s: Tell-talc Tail: Fossil I I 'hale Feet: Stay-at-home Flatbacks: Hut What About the .'V/osasaHrs?: Fceli11g P H O T O A R T Crook: Scal-bo111bi11g X-RAYS Dolphi11s: Goi11g. Goi11g. The hidd<'l1 1mrld 1f the X-my Go11c: Hot Sex _tin' \i){)doo Li/_1: phofoJtrapher rctl('als ma11_,. 752 poi11ts �( scie11t1jic i11fNesf­ STILL EV OLVIN G a11d also m1 111111s1111l form 1f INFERTILITY: A CONDOM art.' RARE & END ANGERED BY VIAURICE OIHEGt\ FOR SPECIES? .'V/ati111; bef1ffe11 spl'Cies is liki' THE GHOST BAT 802 m11ti11g bch1•ee11 i11di1•id11als. i11 The stead\' decli11e o( fht Ghost •:,:- \(II( rithcr sa_,. ·.vo· the _first Bar, ra11ge si11cc E;iropea11 /il11ce (Pm11ati11g lsolati11g seffleme11t il/11strates the .\frclw11ism) bHf. 1/you ca11't. 1111/11embili(v of C{ILl('-dwi'lling fh(')I there has to br a bats. Although prese11tly sfro11g prophylactic ( Postmati11g i11 the Top £11d. the reope11i11g lsolati11g Mccha11ism). of a11 old gold mi11e 11•ill BY GLEN I GRAM & almost halve the populatio11. RALPH l\IOLNAR BY SUE CHURCHILL QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 808 Oc1'a11 Hll('s; Snake Ml'ths: 762 Bird Adoptio11. THE LA ST WORD 810 W I L D F O O D S BIODIVERSITY: WHY SHOULD WE POISONING FISH VI EWS FR OM THE REVIEWS A11 old Aborigi11al method of FOU RTH DIMENSION PRESERVE IT? Field Guide lo Eucalypts catchi11g fish i11volvcs throwing just about e11eryone is on the \'olume 2: Behm•ioural pounded toxic pta11/s into pools IN SEARCH OF A biodiversity bandwagon. Bui Ecology of Gala/is: Fishes of a11d the11 skimmi11g the SIMPLE SOUL why should we buther thr Great Barrier Rl'C( a11d poiso11ed fish from the surface. ls there a11y biological euide11ce conserving species. Coral Sea: The Origi;,s of /11 many arMs of Australia to support the existence of a particularly those that ha1•e A11giosperms a11d their today, howcvcr, the method has soul? The best plaCl' to look is only recently been Biological Co11s1•q11e11crs: bee11 aba11do11ed. i11 the h11111a11 mind. disco11ered? Dinosaurs: The £11cyclopacdi11 BY TIM LOW BY MICHAEL ARCHER BY M. JULIAN CALEY �(Mammals. 764 806 816 812 VOLU ME 2 3 NUM BE R 1 0 S PRI N G 1991 747 F E E D B A C K activities. In which case. of course. out comes the ·tra­ dition· argument again. Alle­ gations that the Japanese cannot come to terms with Western philosophical or material concepts lose credi­ LETTERS bility in view of that countrv's swift rise to economic a;1d Comments. criticisms and congratulations from concerned industrial supremacy. Their correspondents. Readers are invited to air their views. environmental awareness is evidenced by their tendency lo exploit the resources (if Counting on Trouble Traditionally an Excuse justification as to why such other nations rather than In their excellent article on In the Last Word article practices should continue in their own. While Japan's drift slime moulds (ANH vol. 23, ''Whaling: The Cultural Gulf" the light of new information nets strip-mine other oceans. no. 8. 1991), Susannah Eliott in the Autumn 1991 issue and understanding. Other­ they are banned within 1.000 and Keith Williams use (ANH vol. 23, no. 8), much wise, why has that country kilometres of their own 'billion· in the sense of a of the information offered by discarded so many of the shores. million million. It is delightful the authors is accurate and it 'classist' and sexist traditions Ultimately. beyond claim to remember this rational is true that cultural consider­ and counterclaim. bevond of its feudal past? The propo­ ' system. But unfortunately ations are an important com­ nents of traditional argu­ what their ·experts sa,; and recent domination of scien­ ponent of international ments seem to be selective in what ours sav. the issue is tific literature in English by dialogue. A few points, how­ the extreme. whether or ni>t we are pre­ Americans now makes it con­ ever, are worth noting. The analogy of Inuit people pared to gamble once more fusing. Whaling nations, not only is also invalid. Although the with the few whale species There are two ways out of Japan, regularly introduce the take by native Arctic peoples still existing in ·commercial' this. One is to modify spell­ topics of tradition and racism places pressure on the numbers. One b,· one. m·er ing (as is done when we want into an otherwise rational depleted Bowhead Whale half the specie·s of great 'stationery' to mean writing debate over the killing of whales have been sentenced materials)-'billeon' for the whales. Many of the pro­ to the endangered species English-Australian usage. whaling nations have been list in a horrendous planetary perhaps? Alternatively we taking whales even longer game of lfossian roulette could make nouns out of pre­ than the Japanese. The fact while new but greed-based fixes and refer to gigan. of the matter is that these management techniques were tried and found want­ teran, petan, exan; in this perennial red herrings are at 11 ing. The whaling nations case "100 teran (10 ) cells." least as 'emotional' and Many American reforms in 'irrational' as some Western could not even play by the spelling and usage are good. claims regarding cetacean rules during the moratorium. But when they adopted a sys­ spiritualism. Once again they are telling tem that calls the fifteenth Tradition is about as hollow us they have it right-this time. We are simply not pre­ power of ten a quadrillion, an argument as can be put Japanese whaling: is tradition a they were having a bad day. I forward when the survival of hollow excuse? pared to believe them any agree with Eliott and a species is at stake. Japan more. population, the quotas are - Paul Hodda (Chairman) Williams that we should not shared many traditions with Australian Whale slavishly follow so poor a the West 500 years ago, low, the methods used are similar to those 'traditionally' Conservation Society lead. including human slavery and North Quay, Qld Thanks for the fine maga­ the wholesale slaughter of used for centuries. and the zme. animals for sport. 'Tradition' whale flesh and bone are con­ is an explanation of (or sumed or traded locally. A far - Peter Fannin cry from tht Japanese who Uluru Natural History excuse for) the practices of Points to Ponder Yulara, NT the past; it is not a valid have traded their oars for The quality of the pictures engines. their nets for har­ in A�H is without peer. poon cannons. subsistence Often I am astounded at the for the gourmet market and colours and incredible resol­ generally compromised their ution. I opened the Summer traditions almost beyond rec­ 1990-91 issue (vol. 23. no. 7) ognition. to Photoart and had a knee The allegation of racism is jerk when I read "The multi­ another handy tactic to intro­ faceted orbs of some Ta banid duce when one seems to be flies (March flies) double up losing the debate. Conserva­ as beacons to.. display bands tionists and the anti-whaling of vivid hues . In Canada and nations within the IWC have much of the rest of the world. consistently opposed all com­ tabanids are called 'horse­ mercial whaling, including flies', 'deerflies·. or 'bulldogs·, whaling conducted by the depending upon their size or Soviet Union and even Aus­ . I was about to call you tralia when whaling in those on this one, but a quick check countries was still in busi­ in my copy of CSIRO's The g.., insects of Australia u:: ness. Countries such as Nor­ confirmed 0 ...J way and lceland are currently that in Australia tabanids are 0 z the subjects of boycotts and indeed called 'marchflies'. I 0a:: An aggregation of slime mould amoebae. sanctions for their whaling apologise for my thoughts!

748 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Night Parrot survives has raised hopes of finding living individuals and studying them in the wild. By finding out more about this elusive species we can determine if its existence is threatened and start to make informed decisions about its conser­ vation. Such a program will not be easy-nor inexpen­ sive. Thanks to Dick Smith's generosity and commitment to the Australian environ­ ment. we have been able to establish the Australian Ceo­ graphic - Australian ight Parrot Fund to finance field­ work dedicated to finding and studying the ight Parrot. Australia is a big country. and the distribution of the ight Parrot occupies the majority of it. albeit much of it remote. This species seems to move according to local conditions. To avoid a ·needle in the haystack' situ­ ation. we hope to start our hunt by following up recent. reliable sightings . In this Tabanids: known as March flies in Australia. endeavour. the Museum Then the Autumn 1991 Night Parrot Reward would be grateful to hear of issue (vol. 2:l. no. 8) con­ AN II readers may be any good Night Pa rrot tained. yet again. a stunning interested in an update of reports in the future. collection of articles and pho­ events connected with the Updates on this project will tos rarelv seen. But I wish to story of the ight Parrot's be made periodically. argue t\�o points. First. in rediscovery (ANII vol. :tl. - Walter Boles the (�uips. Quotes & Curios no. 9. 1991). Australian Museum item "Snakes that Kno\\' In October 1989, Mr Dick When to Rise from the Smith. chairman of the Aus­ 'Dead"', as a biolo,gist keen tralian Geographic Society. Mothball Mystery Solved on spiders and snakes. I offered a reward of $50.000 I was very interested to would correct the first state­ for the first acceptable evi­ read the item "Millipedes. ment in this article. which dence of the Night Parrot's Marigolds and Mothballs" in read "Most I orth American continued existence. This the Quips. (�uotes & Curios kids have seen the non­ offer was valid for two years column (ANII vol. 23. no. 8. venomous.. Ho gnose from its announcement. 1991 ). My Australian wife Snake ... . I doubt even one When Wayne Longmore. Shirley and I saw four grack­ in 100 has even heard of the Max Thompson and I found les performing the mothball snake and that one in 1.000 the dried carcass in October 'anting· procedure in our gar­ has seen even one. I have 1990, we were unaware of den on 20 June 1985. She had seen at most a dozen in the this offer. We stopped in <;cattered a few mothballs on wild and I\·e been looking for Boulia to ring the Australian ii small patch of freshly them in eastern USA. Museum and tell a few people planted grass in an attempt Second. in the Archives of our find. before disappear­ to repel squirrels. under a article "The Ta le of William ing for another week of field­ group of three Douglas Fir Wall's Whale", the second­ work in remote country. trees beside our driveway. last paragraph infers that the During this time we were We observed the birds pick­ species. Catodon a11s/ralis. oblivious to the growing ing up the mothballs and rub­ has been synonymised with excitement surrounding our bing them on their backs. another species. Pliyseter discovery and the conster­ under their wings and else­ macroceplw/11s. Species nation at the Museum's where on their bodies. over a names are svnonomised. not inabilitv to contact us. period of ten minutes. We species. In· this case. the After our return to Svclnev. thought we had seen some­ I "r 1h� cumplm J & H ,111r) name Catodo11 a11slralis has the Australian Museum· made thing new but soon dis­ ·M1k· h 1r nur Sk1·prn� 8J� lfo� l'r, C imd l· been declared a junior syn­ a claim on the Australian covered we hadn't. I onym of the name Physrler Geographic reward. In Feb­ consulted our copy of John K. \J111c 111acrocepha/11s, the senior ruary. Dick Smith presented Terres· The A11d11bo11 Societv \ddre" . the cheque for $50.000 to Dr Ell(yc/oprdia of North A111ai­ -Robin Leech Des Griffin. the Director of rn11 Hirds (Alfred A. Knopf...... Po,tt

VO LU M E 2 3 N UM B E R 1 0 S PR I NG 1991 749 ing", found that "grackles in ·anting' will even use moth­ balls in their feathers as a substitute for ants. A woman in Milwaukee. Wise.. put mothballs in her vegetable garden to prevent cottontail rabbits from eating the young green plants, and observed one morning that a flock of grackles were picking up the mothballs in their bills and preening with them, rubbing them under their wings and over the feathers of their bodies." We had the pleasure of visiting Australia last April. The highlight was seeing a mother and baby wombat crossing a forestry road dur­ ing daylight! I musn't fail to tell you how much we enjoy your great publication. We have sub­ The mothball mystery solved for one ANH reader. scribed to ANH for about 25 unteers are still needed to excursions to places of species are much more likely years and have nothing com­ help the scientists monitor interest and collecting speci­ to be preserved in the fossil parable here. I get a lot of wild bee populations, mens for examination. record than the intermediate pleasure in reading and re­ measure pollen loads, ident­ Enthusiasm rubs off onto forms between them. reading our collection! ify plants, and study the newer members. who can Since co-authoring the -Alan Brown interactions of bees and participate in this hobby hypothesis nearly 20 years Oakville, Canada native pollinators. Volunteers without fear of isolation. The ago. Gould has taken pains to will work on two-week teams club is a non-profit organis­ point out that it is not anti­ at Flinders Chase ational ation and accepts anyone l)arwinian. that it relies upon Park, Kangaroo Island. They over 11 years with an interest natural selection. and that it need no scientific knowledge. in microscopes and involves biological continuity or experience. just enthusi­ microscopy. Teachers are between species. It does not I asm. a willingness to work also encouraged to promote contradict l)arwin's view that hard and a desire to help and the club and its activities, as an absence of intermediate learn. Readers can find out this is where an interest in forms between one species more about the 1991 and microscopy should be and its presumed descendant 1992 teams by calling Earth­ started. is due to an imperfection of watch on (02) 290 1022. Anyone interested in join­ the geological record. In fact. -Hayley Anderson ing or needs more infor­ it strengthens Darwin's case Earthwatch, NSW mation can contact The by explaining why such inter­ Secretary, PMCA, 28 Valley mediates are likely to be con­ Road, Hazelbrook. NSW fined to a small area and a Microscopical Club 2779. short time span (thousands Readers of ANH mav be - Michael Dingley or tens of thousands of interested to know about the PMCA vears). In common with much Postal Microscopical Club of �f our current understanding Australia. It enables mem­ of evolutionary processes, it is a of Darwin's Earthwatch volunteers. bers from all parts of Aus­ Not in Conflict rejine111enl tralia to participate in the In the Still Evolving article theory. Honey of a Trip microscopical sciences­ "The Tempo of Speciation" The question raised by I read with interest the particularly natural history (ANH vol 23. no. 8, 1991). Ingram and Molnar ("Are article by Graham Pyke "Api­ specimens. The Club circu­ Glen Ingram and Ralph Mol­ species individuals or arists versus Scientists: A lates sets of prepared micro­ nar give the impression that abstractions?" ) can be Bittersweet Case" (ANH vol. scope slides together with a Eldredge and Gould's hypoth­ answered. They are abstrac­ 23, no. 5, 1991). A H comments book to all mem­ esis of evolution by punctu­ tions. each being linked to a readers may be interested to bers to study in their own ated equilibria is in parent species by a series of know that they can help find time. A newsletter, Amateur opposition to Darwin's theory generations. some of which some possible solutions to Microscopist is sent to mem­ of the origin of species. cannot be attributed to either this dilemma. bers, which includes articles Gould and Eldredge maintain species. Sometimes we can Earthwatch is an organis­ on techniques, history. for­ that species tend to remaui find such intermediates, as ation that funds scientificfield mulae and letters. Although more or less unchanged for between Homo ereclus and H. research by placing paying members are scattered long periods and that the ori­ sapiens; often they elude us. volunteers out into the field throughout Australia, we gin of one species from The article was ill-served to work with scientists. Such keep in touch via the news­ another often (but not by the accompanying illus­ an expedition is being led by letter and by sending slide always) is the result of rapid tration. Two axes of the Dr David Paton on the effects sets. The club encourages evolution in a small outlying three-dimensional diagrams of introduced Honeybees on members to prepare their population of the parent were labelled 'morphology', native flora and fauna of own slide sets and to meet species. Should this happen, whereas one was presumably Kangaroo Island. Paying vol- other local members for the parent and daughter intended to measure geo-

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 750 graphical separation. The Maybe Misleading dashes, representing 'specia­ Mike Archer's article on tion events' were almost conservation and the fossil invisible and the colouring record (A H vol. 2:�. no. 8. (presumably intended to indi­ 199 I) raises some interesting cate geographical separation) questions. He develops the was incomprehensible hypothesis that studying the - Ronald Strahan fossil record gives us a good Australian Museum idea of which species arc >­ likely to become endangered <"' or extinct. suggesting that co"' :::; Nr gardi11 g /Irr diagram. species whose lineages :c u unfor/unalely /Irr colour did gradually dwindle. or that "'< w 110/ print as Wl'II as llrl' orig­ have never been very species � inal. As for /Ire · 111orplroloJ(y' rich. may be in danger of "' :E: ::, label 011 two axis. ii is corrrcl extinction. But does this hold w V\ and as ii appears in /he oriJ(­ ::, for modern Australian extinc­ :E: i11al (as slated, ii is based 011 z tions? In all. 20 mammal < :::; £/drrdgr and Gould. 1972). species have now become < -Ed. I-"' extinct since 1788. of which l. V\ ::, one (the Thylacine. the < example used in Archer's The now extinct Gould's Mouse (Pseudomys gouldi1). article) fits his case. It has a a limited colour range. Notes long fossil record, which has More Hurley Burley lately become diminished in accompanying an exhibition range and species. Of the Frank llurley produced of Hurley's work I saw some remaining 19, however. nine many other coloured photo­ years ago claimed that he wa · were murid rodents, which graphs of New Guinea life the first outdoor colour pho­ come from one of the most during World War 1. an tographer. rapidly radiating and wide­ earlier date than stated in It was also revealed by spread lineages of mammals. Photoart (A H vol. 23. no. O'Keefe that Frank Hurley one had shown the least 8. 1991). Many of these are used combination printing to sign of going extinct before in the possession of the Aus­ enhance his work. In fact. 1788. The remaining marsu­ tralian War Memorial. and many of his most famous 'Freckles' in her twilight. pials were also widespread others. according to the book Flanders photographs were (1986). are Obituary for a Lizard and from very speciose Hurlry al War given an artistic lift. often Recently our pet Blotched groups. o less than six were held by the State Library of because conditions were so Blue tongue Lizard ·Freckles· rat-kangaroos and wallabies. . The atrocious that good prints died. She was already an many of which were spread author. Daniel O'Keefe, were impossible. and his adult when purchased in 1966 over vast expanses of the points out in his introduction additions annoyed war his­ from a pet shop in Campsie. Australian continent. The that Hurley's photographs of torian C. E.W. Bean. She outlived all the other ani­ other extinct species were Flanders (now Belgium) and One cannot blame Frank mals we have kept over the bandicoots. again mostly Palestine were not hand­ Hurley for helping along his years. including two other widespread. The late Pleis­ tinted. Frank Hurley used a New Guinea works. adding Blotched Bluetongues tocene extinctions of Aus­ pioneer colour process. with artificially the yi\·id colours ('Boney· and 'Little Fella'), tralia were no different. It two plates being exposed. his camera was frustratingly two dogs. a cat. ducks. a was often the widespread and one producing a black-and­ unable to capture in the early goose. a chook. budgies. rab­ common species from rapidly white positive and the other a I92Us. bits. guinea pigs, fish and radiating lineages, such as colour screen. the result -Ellen Waye various others. Di pro/odo n. that went being sometimes patchy with Rosebud, Vic. 'Freckles' bore four little extinct. ones soon after we acquired Conversely. many species her but unfortunately none of that. according to Archer's view, should be endangered, them lived long. We don't 3: are not. Although suffering V\ know how long Blotched ....z Bluetongues are supposed to locally (like all of our indigen­ 0 ous fauna). the Platypus and >- live. but ·Freckles' must have <"' come close to being a record. Koala remain widespread. a:,"' The Musky Rat-kangaroo has :::; The secret of her long life w would definitely have been not declined at all, while the � lack of stress. Every day she Queensland Lungfish appears to have expanded its range "',.: would crawl out from under "'< (albeit initially with human a:, the banana leaves in her pen, :::; have some snails or banana to help). w...., I have a feeling that we live :c eat, lie in the sun, then crawl I- back under the banana leaves in strange times. when the :i: w normal rules of extinction do X in the evening. There was not I- much else she could do, not hold. To use the fossil � record in ways that Archer real Iv. z She always behaved herself suggests may result in us .:3 C< and never bit anyone. She is using all of our resources to 0 w protect the wrong species. :c sadly missed by us all. I- :E: -Michael Shea -Tim Flannery 0 Mt Colah, NSW Australian Museum One of Hurley's war photos. e: VO LUM E 2 3 N UM BE R 1 0 S PR I NG 1991 751 p 0 T p 0 u R R like the glowing end of a torch. Perhaps the most intriguing species tested is the Golden Conure (Aratinga QUIPS, QUOTES quarouba) of South America. Except for some dark green feathers on the wing, the entire bird is a uniform & CURIOS golden yellow. Yet. when it is COMPILED BY GEORGINA HICKEY placed under the UV. a bright square patch appears on its SCIENTIFIC EDITOR nape, contrasting with the non-reacting yellow feathers on the rest of its body. These obser vations Black-light Signature for strongly suggest that parrots the Birds? can see into the UV range. Birds are highly visual ani­ Few studies have been car­ ma Is . as their brightly ried out on UV perception in coloured plumages would birds. Hummingbirds, like suggest. The means of colour bees and other nectar­ production are much the feeding insects. can pick up same in all groups­ UV 'signposts' on flower pet­ birds just take it to unrivalled als directing them to the food heights. The colours of the source: and work on the navi­ feathers result from two gation systems of pigeons major sources: pigments and implies that they, too. can structure. or an interplay of Eastern Rosella under normal light (left) and ultraviolet light (right). detect UY. But parrots have the two. not been the subject of simi­ Structural colours owe ments are known-but only but lorikeets were found to lar perceptual studies. their existence to the way just (their chemical struc­ be UV inert. The ability to perceive cer­ light is reflected from the tures have not yet been dis­ Certain conditions are tain colours can be detected surface layers of the feather. cerned). One is yellow. the apparently necessary to by looking at the vision pig­ The true colour of such other may be yellow, orange obtain the desired reaction. ments in the retina of the feathers is not that which the or red. Both pigments have First. the parrot must have eye. In most birds that have observer normally sees. Blue been reported only in par­ yellow in its plumage or at been studied there are three is the most prominent struc­ rots. One of the yellow parrot least mixed in green feathers. such pigments in the cone tural colour. It arises when pigments has a fascinating Thus the plumage of the pink receptors, one each sensitive the feather absorbs all the property: it fluoresces under and grey Galah (Coca/us rosei­ to red. blue and green. This other colours. reflecting only ultraviolet (UY ) or black capil/a) does not fluoresce gives birds the same trichro­ the blue portion of the light light. under black light. Second. matic (three-colour) percep­ (similar to the reason the sky This fluorescence was the yellow has to be the cor­ tion as humans. In pigeons. a is blue). 'Blue' feathers are originally reported by Otto rect yellow. A number of par­ fourth cone pigment has been really brown. The other well­ Volker in 1937 (j. Ornitho/. rots have only the non­ discovered. one apparently known structural phenom­ 85: 136-146) but. for some fluorescing yellow or have sensitive to UY. This would enon is iridescence, such as unknown reason. little has both yellows distributed on give them tetrachromatic in the feathers of the peacock been done on this unusual different parts of the body. (four-colour) perception. and birds of paradise. property since. It is usually Our initial reaction was Similar work may demon­ Pigments are responsible relegated to a throwaway line that this was an unusual but strate that parrots, too, have for the other colours of feath­ at the end ·of textbook dis­ not particularly Earth­ the visual capacity to per­ ers. Blacks, browns and cussions on feather pig­ shaking phenomenon: how­ ceive UY. some oranges are usually ments. ever, after more specimens There are obviously many caused by melanin pigments; In early 1991, Max Thomp­ passed through our hands. unanswered questions arising yellows, oranges and reds son (Southwestern College, our observations started to from our little bout of curi­ result from carotenoid pig­ Kansas) and I, for no other suggest that this was poss­ osity. Attention to the bio­ ments, manufactured from reason than to satisfy our ibly more biologically signifi­ chemistry of the fluorescing carotene in their food. In curiosity, decided to witness cant than we had fi rst pigment and to visual percep­ almost all cases, the colour in these 'glowing' parrots for thought. Species such as the tion of parrots (and other most green feathers comes ourselves. Borrowing a very Eastern Rosella (P latycercus birds) will fill some gaps in from the combination of yel­ basic UV apparatus from the eximius) and Hooded Parrot our knowledge. Of particular low pigment with a structural Australian Museum's Miner­ (Psephotus dissimi/is) glowed interest is the significance of blue. These two groups of alogy Section, we turned out more or less all over; in other the apparent UY signals on pigments are found in almost the room lights and pro­ species the pigment was some species of parrot. all groups of birds. Less ceeded to wave a range of restricted to those areas Behavioural studies may widely distributed are por­ parrot specimens under the often associated with social show that 'glowing' body phyrins, which are usually UV source. Several reacted or courtship displays (fore­ parts are important in the warm brown but may strongly from many parts of heads, napes, crests, cheeks day-to-day interactions of occasionally be green (tura­ the body; others fluoresced and shoulder stripes). The these birds. Conversely, coverdin, found in only a few only from restricted areas; crest of a Sulphur-crested these may amount to little bird families) or magenta and some showed no evi­ Cockatoo (Cacatua ga/erita) more than just another colour (turacin, restricted to the dence of the special pigment fluoresces brightly, but is in a visual spectrum that turacos or plantain-eaters of at all. Cockatoos and most outdone by the forehead of exceeds that of humans. Africa). Australian rosellas and grass the Budgerigar (Melopsitta­ -Walter E. Boles Two other feather pig- parrots fluoresced strikingly, cus undulatus), which looks Australian Museum

752 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY South Australian Platypus Platypuses are ·semi­ Things are looking brighter restrained in a captive for South Australia's Platypus stream· and are not captive in (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). the true sense. Leaving this There is a ray of hope in a argument aside. Wamsley has State where populations of proved it possible to breed the little monotreme have Platypuses in confinement suffered very serious and shown that it is also declines in the wild. possible to reintroduce them John Wamsley manages into situations of suitable ··warrawong" Fauna Sanctu­ habitat and lack of predator ary in the Adelaide Hills. He pressure. The progeny from reintroduced Platypuses to projects such as this might the Adelaide Hills when he one day be used to bolster released six animals. cap­ South Australia's declining tured on Kangaroo Island. wild Platypus population. into man-made ponds on his provided other factors that property between 1988 and limit their sur\'ival in the wild 1990. The sanctuary is sur­ can be modified. rounded by a fence that Interestingly. the Platy­ excludes foxes. cats and John Wamsley with one of the juvenile Platypuses bred in South Australia. puses captured on Kangaroo dogs. The pond environment Island by Wamsley. and which has been modified to provide In January this year Wam­ ing. Twelve hours later, after are the core of his breeding the Platypuses with suitable sley sighted at least one. and a gruelling all-night ordeal of program. were descendants habitat by lining the edges possibly two. juvenile Platy­ watching and waiting, one of of animals released there by with a thick cover of dead puses on one of the ponds. the juveniles (a three-month­ David Fleay in 1940. The tree branches and trunks. Excited by his observation. old male) finally swam into Platypus had not existed on This measure performed a he contacted Platypus biol­ the net and was captured. Kangaroo Island before this dual role: first. it provided a ogist and ecologist Tom Wamsley maintains that release. Fleay is also re pon­ large area of substrate for Grant to verify his sighting. these juvenile Platypuses sible for the first captive invertebrate larvae. which After setting nets on the represent the fir t successful breeding success of Platy­ are a critical food resource pond Grant almost immedi­ breeding of the Platypus in puses at Healesville. Victo­ for Platypuses: and second, ately caught a Platypus. Dis­ captivity for 4 7 years and the ria. in 1944. it provided cover under which appointingly, however. it was second ever successful cap­ the monotremes could con­ an adult female-not one of tive breeding. Other schools -Ford Kristo struct burrows. the juveniles they were seek- of thought argue that the Animal Image Photography

Tell-tale Tail Sea shakes of Australia's Great Barrier Reef lead a secretive life. They spend most of their time concealed among corals in order to dodge predators such as sharks and White-bellied Sea-eagles. and risk exposure usually only when foraging for food. courting and mating, or surfacing to breathe. It follows that com­ plete concealment-including the tail-is important for a sea snake. A tell-tale tail pro­ truding from a clump of coral could be, literally, a dead give away of the snake's pres­ ence to a predator. The Olive Sea Snake has a photosen­ remove their tails from light the sea snake's tail remains But how does a sea snake sitive tail to ensure it is pulled out of and that tails are concealed unresolved. In a variety of tell when it is completely hid­ sight of predators. more often in daytime than at frogs. toads and sala­ den? This was the question night, supporting the hypoth­ manders. the skin has been asked by biologists Ken Zim­ onto an inactive snake. onto esis that this 'light sense' in shown to be photosensitive. merman and Harold Heatwole the head or onto the mid­ Olive Sea Snakes increases and in mammals. fish and from the University of New body, the snake moved only the effectiveness of conceal­ amphibians electrical >­ England. Armidale. after two. four and two per cent of ment by removing the tail responses to flashes of light er underwater observations of the time respectively, but from view of predators. As on skin have been recorded. CD� the Olive Sea Snake (Aipysu­ when the tail was illuminated the authors explain. wnen :::; However. no single of w er rus laevis) indicated that the movement occurred 78 per both ends of the snake can receptor has been found and ::, tail was sensitive to light. cent of the time V.... (Copeia detect that they are out of it is thought that different a: During underwater obser­ 1990: 860-862). Further the light. it is likely that the forms of receptors may be z <( vations made at night it was experiments in laboratory :::; whole animal is concealed. involved in each case. <( found that when a torch beam aquaria showed that Olive The exact nature of the er V'l.... ::, was directed near but not Sea Snakes will directly light-sensitive receptors in -S.H. <(

VO LUM E 2 3 N UM BE R 1 0 S P R I NG 1991 753 The fossil whale Basllosaurus isis used its hind legs to guide itself during mating. Reconstruction with the ankle extended and foot facing upward. From this resting position, the animal could move the hind limbs a ···��,�f«t11 little, rotating them down and �(\I "*-'•,,,._.,._LiL•.tt 1:1 UIU ICIDta outward. The authors argue 0 � that, because there is little Skeleton sign of degeneration in the bones and joints and fittings for powerful muscles, and the knee has a powerful locking mechanism, then it is likely kneecap Enlarged Hind Limb the legs had a function. Although the hind legs of Fossil Whale Feet understand one of the most wall.) The Fayum discovery B. isis were probably all but Skeletons of hundreds of fascinating but little-known is helping to fill in the gap: it useless for swimming and long-extinct whales have evolutionary transform­ seems that, although the hind could not have supported its been discovered by scientists ations-that from terrestrial, legs of this 42-million-year­ weight out of water, they may under the drifting desert four-footed land mammals to old whale may have been have served a different sands of the Zeuglodon Valley fully aquatic, legless whales. greatly reduced (comprising purpose-as important aids in the Fayum of northern cen­ Until now, there has been only three per cent of the in reproduction. (In modern tral Egypt. The remains are frustratingly little known animal's total length), they whales, remnant pelvic bones mostly those of Basilosaurus about the skeletons of early were probably nevertheless anchor the reproductive isis, a long, serpent-like whales. In modern whales, still functional. organs.) In the ancient Basi­ creature that lived some 42 the front legs are paddles and US scientists Philip Gin­ losaurus the legs were per­ million ·years ago in ancient the hind limbs have disap­ gerich, Holly Smith and haps used as positioning z seas that once covered North peared almost entirely, all Elwyn Simons have found guides during copulation � Africa. The most exciting that remains being part of the that the femur ('thigh' bone) which, the authors suggest, § aspect of the find is that pelvis. (A few whales have faced forward and evidently may have been quite tricky in � these whales had hind legs bony nodules, which were lay within the body wall. The such large, serpentine (Science 249: 154-156: once limb bones, embedded rest of the leg lay outside the aquatic animals! 1990). They will thus help us in the muscles of the body body, pointing to the rear -S.H.

Stay-at-home Flatbacks A rare insight into the lives of Flatback Tu rtles, and a possible explanation for the uniquely restricted distri­ bution of this marine species, has been found in sea-eagle nests. Unlike the other six species of sea-turtle, which all have pan-oceanic distri­ butions, the Flatback (Nata­ tor depressa) is restricted to the Australian continental shelf. The pan-oceanic species are generally thought to achieve their wide distri­ bution via a pelagic (open­ geog. 17: 275-278; 1990). The Flatback Turtle is the only Turtle, with its clutch size ocean) juvenile phase, during Despite the fact that adults sea-turtle that is restricted to the much smaller than that of which they are at the mercy from all but one sea-turtle Australian continental shelf. other sea-turtles and off­ of the currents. Hatchlings species are found in Great spring up to three times enter the ocean shortly after Barrier Reef waters, and that open ocean before they can larger than its pan-oceanic birth and are rarely seen until two of these species nest in fall prey to sea-eagles. relatives, appears to have they emerge as young adults the area, the only juvenile Reproductive strategy in adopted the latter strategy. in shallow coastal waters. sea-turtle carcasses found in marine creatures tends to Queensland biologists sea-eagle nests belonged to favour either the large clutch -K.McG. Te rry Walker and John Par­ Flatbacks. The explanation of small offspring broadcast menter inspected the feeding preferred by Walker and Par­ widely as a pelagic phase, or Dr Suzanne Hand, a biologist stations of the White-bellied menter is that juvenile Flat­ the small clutch of larger­ at the University of NSW, and Sea-eagle (Haliaeetus leuco­ backs remain in the same sized offspring not widely Karen McGhee, a freelance gaster) on 35 Great Barrier shallow coastal waters as the dispersed so that the individ­ science writer living in New­ Reef islands and found evi­ adults of the species. Pre­ ual has a greater chance of castle, are regular contribu­ dence that Flatbacks do not sumably juveniles of the surviving initial predation tors to QQC. Bio- 0 have a pelagic phase. (j. other species take to the pressure. The Flatback L______, 754 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY But What About the Mosasaurs? We've all heard of the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 AUSTRAllA'S NATURAl HISTORY million years ago, but what , ,I REED BOO.KS about the mosasaurs? These ------t were a group of marine rep­ Hl:."P/J DINOSAURS Of AUSTRALIA tiles that, together with ------. Dr John Long three other major reptilian Explanatory text and detailed line drawings of over 50 dinosaurs and animals of the Mesozoic. groups (pterosaurs, ichthyo­ 160 photographs and line drawings. H/B S19.95 saurs and sauropterygians), also vanished from the face of the Earth at this time. Recent research on mosa­ saurs by two Belgian scien­ tists, Theagarten Lingham­ Solier and Dirk Nolf, has produced significant results that may shed some light on the mysterious 'Cretaceous­ Te rtiary boundary event' that THE YOUNG NATURALIST SERIES caused the extinction of the Exploring Nature in Lakes, Rivers and Creeks dinosaurs (among other ani­ Noel Tait/Robyn Stutchbury, mals) (Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Exploring Nature in Cities & Towns underwent an adaptive Courtenay Smithers Nat. Belgique Sci. Terre 59: radiation just before they became Exploring Nature in Forests, Woodlands & Heaths 137-190; 1989). extinct. Harry Recher Mosasaurs were giant rela­ Exploring Nature in The Deserts tives of goannas that lived name) that may have been Penny van Oosterzee/Stephen Morton during the late Cretaceous, used to extract prey from Reed and the Australian Museum have combined to produce an informative series of environmental books 80 to 65 million years ago. under rocks or out of soft Colour photographs. H/B S12 95 each Throughout most of their his­ mud. Plotosaurus, a Califor­ tory mosasaurs seem to have nian mosasaur, had a large THE CENTRE been uniform in structure: number of evenly sized, Penny van Oosterzee/Reg they were large (some over backwardly curved teeth, Morrison This book focuses on Australia's .. 15 metres long) with limbs probably used for catching arid zone. one of the last frontiers -, converted into paddles and fish. of ecological knowledge. �. deep, flattened tails for So it seems that mosa­ 220 colour photographs. H/B ., swimming. During the 1980s saurs had embarked on an S39.95 {'l-, an American palaeontologist, adaptive radiation into sev­ RIVERSLEIGH Judy Massare, made a classi­ eral different feeding modes Prof. Michael Archer/Or Suzanne Hand/Dr Henk fication of how the Mesozoic just before they became Godthelp The story of animals in ancient rainforests of inland marine reptiles fed. She extinct. Lingham-Solier and Australia.where superbly preserved remains ranging noted that at the very end of Nolf also believe that differ­ from 25 m1ll1on to 50.000 years ago. have been the Mesozoic, during what is ent types of swimming were found. 200 photographs. reconstruction artworks. known as Maastrichtian time, evolving at this time. Ploto­ H/B S3995 the divergent mosasaur Glo­ saurus seems to have had a AUSTRALIAN SNAKES bidens appeared. Most mosa­ more advanced type of undu­ Dr Richard Shine saurs probably ate large fish latory swimming than other The biology, Ille history, reproduction. feeding and or ammonites but Globidens mosasaurs, and Plioplatecar­ act1v1ty patterns are discussed was a 'clam-buster'. It fed on pus seemingly developed its Fully illustrated. 100 colour shellfish, bivalves and the paddles into hydrofoils and photographs. line drav11ngs. H/B like, by crushing the shells swam, or rather 'flew', S29.95 and extracting the soft through the water like mod­ THE NATURE Of HIDDEN WORLDS bodies. ern sea lions. Mary White Lingham-Solier and Nolf It has been argued, not -, A Journey through time re-creating ancient environments. have examined and re­ always convincingly, that From the author of The Greening of Gondwana. examined other mosasaurs dinosaurs were actually 320 colour photographs. maps. reconstructions. H/B S39.95 from the Maastrichtian and declining in numbers and found that there was a diver­ diversity when they became WILDLIFE Of GONDWANA sity of feeding habits at that extinct; but not so for mosa: Or Patricia Vickers-Rich/Dr Tom Rich time. Carinodens, a small saurs. They were in the pro­ The incredible story of how the ancestors of today's vertebrates bred western European mosasaur, cess of becoming more and adapted. had laterally flattened teeth diverse in both feeding and 410 colour photographs. geological for dealing with crustaceans swimming behaviour when maps. palaeontalog1cal charts. line drawings. H/B S49.95 !5 or nautiloids. In one species they were caught by the � the teeth were multi-'Cusped. extinction event. Whatever GEMSTONES Of THE SOUTHERN � Goronyosaurus, from Niger- caused the extinctions at the CONTINENTS BIRDS OF THE NIGHT David Hollands ia, had a long, narrow snout end of the Cretaceous came Dr Lin Sutherland 3 The rocks of Gondwana. their minerals. ores and A field and photographic :i with relatively few teeth and abruptly for mosasaurs and gems have existed for 250 million years. The study of Austral1a·s � may have fed on the young of was not the result of a grad­ Australian Museum gemstones collection 1s nocturnal birds � other marine reptiles; while ual deterioration in their featured to reflect their ant1qu1ty. 250 colour 120 colour photographs. H/B S4995 � Prognathodon, found in Bel­ environment. photographs. H/B S49.95 e: gium and the USA, had pro- -Ralph Molnar 3 = jecting teeth (hence the Queensland Museum Available in bookshops throughout Australia L.....:...__..:.______VO LUM E 2 3 N UM BE R l O S PR I NG 1991 ____::======..J755 Feeling Crook ing the hypothalamus to CRF keeps the necessary a bacterium chose to become Feeling lousy is part and release a substance called fuel readily available. At the feverish by moving to a parcel of being ill. We want to corticotrophin-releasing fac­ same time. sleepiness and warmed area of a terrarium sleep. our joints ache. we tor (CRF). It is I L-1 that aching muscles tend to curb where their basal tempera­ feel cold and feverish. we makes us sleepy and our our activities and conserve ture rose a few degrees. look terrible. and food and joints ache by making our energy while the expens­ When lizards were prevented sex lose their appeal. Scien­ neurons more excitable so ive business of reproduction from going to the warmer tists have identified more that they are inclined to react is inhibited until a more area. Kluge found that they than 60 diseases that produce to things they would normally opportune time. were less likelv to sur\'ive the same array of symptoms. ignore. CRF is best known I L-1 also causes one of the the infection. despite the fact that they for preparing the body for the most striking of flu symp­ The immune system. it infect different organs. As ·fight or flight' reaction to toms: fever. It does this b\' seems. works better when Robert M. Sapolsky. a neu­ stress. CRF blocks energy raising the temperature a·l you are running a fe,·er: T roendocrinologist at Stanford storage so that energy is which you feel comfortable. cells multiply more readily University. explains these diverted to the muscles and so that at the normal basal and antibody production is crummy symptoms are dampens appetite. the sexual temperature. 37 C. you will stepped up. Also. many caused bv the bod\''s efforts drive and reproductive pro­ be feeling cold and various viruses and bacteria multiply to rid itself of a� invading cesses. warming responses will be most efficiently below 37 C: pathogen (Discover July 1990: It seems that CRF is also activated. This represents a when fever is induced their 66-70). Central to this is the needed to fight infection. As big investment of energy. For doubling time slO\\'S and. in immune response. which Sapolsky explains. a show­ example. in malarial fever. some cases. pathogens stop involves a variety of cell down with a virulent patho­ metabolism increases by dividing entirely. (But not all types scattered throughout gen can require as much almost 50 per cent with much bugs are inhibited by heat. the body. To communicate energy as a showdown with a of this energy expenditure and too high a fever will dam­ with far-flung members. the rampaging rhino. To mount a going towards generating age you along with the bug.) immune system uses chemi­ defence against infection. the heat through shivering. Sapolsky concludes that the cal messengers that travel in immune response requires a Running a fe,·er. howe\'er. observations suggest that the bloodstream and lymph great deal of instant helps fight infection. As e,·i­ fever-reducing drugs such as fluid. These include interfer­ energy-cells must divide d enc e. Sapolsky quotes aspirin may not always be ons and interleukins. and migrate at a tremendous experimental work by Mat­ such a good idea. and per­ One of the interleukins. rate. cvtokines (chemical thew Kluge. from the Univer­ haps the best remedy for the I L-1. influences the brain. messengers) and antibodies sity of Michigan Iedical flu may simply be to endure affecting such things as tem­ must be hurriedly syn­ School. in which cold-blooded feeling crook. perature regulation and caus- thesised and secreted-and lizards that were infected by -S.H.

::,� V'>..., �::, z et ::::; et >-"' V'> �::, ::? �"' -' � Why do you always get that same crummy feeling when you're sic.k?

756 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY The Museum is alive with activities, performances and events. You really must see "Luk Luk Gen! (Look Again!)", an exhibition of contem­ porary art from Papua New Guinea. It's open daily from September 17 to December I 5. Aboriginal contem­ The use of explosives in the porary art is featured in Seal-bombing Dolphins tuna-fishing industry is likely to affect Explosives used by the "Boomalli Artists" and the hearing and echolocation of "Issues in Print - Aboriginal Posters", on show now tuna purse-seine fishery in dolphins. the eastern tropical Pacific until October 12. Unique and original art from this could be causing widespread searchers and conserva­ Sydney-based Aboriginal artists group, together with deafness. disorientation and tionists is the likelihood that posters from the Museum's own collection. stress problems among dol­ the close-range detonation of Hurry in! phins. The mammals are sub­ explosives causes temporary From October 5 to october 12 we celebrate Aboriginal jected to the explosives or permanent hearing loss in Artists Speak Week with dance performances by during a technique known as those dolphins that survive Gamilaroi, music, films, and activities forthe family. ·setting on dolphins·. the physical stress of the Large Yellow fin Tuna nets. Because of the reliance You can share in the spirit of Carnivale with an (Neolh11111111s 111acropter11s) by these animals on echolo­ exhibition by photographer Effie Alexekis and historian and dolphins form mixed cation and hearing for Leonard Janiszewski. There'll be Greek dancing and schools. which makes it con­ communication. social inter­ storytelling on some days too. Opening on October 28 venient for fishermen to net actions. navigation and forag­ is "Now You See Them... " - their tuna catch by locating ing. the ramifications for an a rare opportunity to view and herding dolphins. When afflicted dolphin could be our extinct or endangered bombarded with explosives potentially fatal. mammals and birds. It will (often of a type known as In April 1990 the US Con­ be showing until December ·seal bombs' because they gress introduced a ban on the 8. were originally designed to use of explosives on US tuna And coming up ... "Shaping keep seals away from fishing fishing vessels. coinciding Sydney - Sydney's Kids". A operations) the dolphins with a decision by three of celebration of the city's become confused. slow down the country's major tuna can­ diverse culture. Watch for and form protective schools ners not to buy any tuna details of this Festival of on the surface. The fisher­ caught by the method of set­ Sydney event, in January men then set their purse­ ting nets on dolphins. How­ 1992. seines. drawing them around ever. explosives and the the dolphins and associated setting on dolphins technique tuna schools. More bombs are still being used in the are dropped at the open side eastern tropical Pacific by FOR INFORMATION ON MUSEUM ACTIVITIES of the net as the two ends are vessels from the fleets of PHONE THE MUSEUM ALIVE LINE ON drawn together to discourage other countries including 339 8181 the e cape of dolphins and Mexico, Venezuela and Pan­ uJ u tuna. ama. And it is noteworthy < uJ australian c.. It is well documented that that a number of US tuna z uJ uJ many dolphins drown from fishing vessels have. since "'"" fatigue or injuries sustained the April 1990 legislation. >­ v, uJ during this procedure. How­ changed their country of ""..... ever, what is not fully registration to Mexico . 6 College St. Sydney Ph (02) 339 811 I ::, museum 0 Open 7 days, IOam-Spm u understood but concerns re- -K.McG.

VO LUM E 2 3 N UM B E R l O S PR I NG 1991 757 Going, Going, Gone Most of these wasps build Spider wasps of the famil­ contiguous clay cells ('mud ies Pompilidae and Sphecidae daubers'). each packed with feed on a genteel diet of nec­ several paralysed spiders tar. fruits and honeydew. but plus a single wasp egg. their larvae insist on meat. A less pampered life is led To satisfy this demand the by the larvae of the Red Col­ female wasps hunt. sting and lared Wasp (Platyderes col­ paralyse spiders (sometimes /aris). This robust pompilid after spectacular battles) to wasp chases and grapples provision burrows or clay with large spiders. like the cells for their carnivorous off­ 0/ios huntsman spider pic­ spring. After provisioning, tured. It inserts its stiletto­ the female lays a single egg like sting until the spider within each nest and seals it. collapses. but this time the Within these secure confines paralysis is only light and the wasp larva hatches and soon wears off. Meanwhile. immediately begins the the wasp lays an egg on the voracious consumption of its front of the spider's abdomen live but helpless spider com­ near the waist. In this pos­ panion(s). ition the spider's legs cannot From a spider's viewpoint brush off the tiny larva when pompilid wasps could be it hatches and begins biting termed Public Enemv 1 o. 1. into its host's cuticle. ·oon spiders being their only prey. recovered. the spider con­ They are remorseless tinue its usual life. seem­ hunters. pursuing their vic­ ingly oblivious to the little tims into crevices and silk maggot-like larva chewing a retreat tubes. Some are hole in its back. However. as powerful insects (up to 35 the larva grows. gorging millimetres long) that are itself on abdominal tissues capable of attacking large spi­ and blood. the spider rapidly ders, like wolf. huntsman and becomes more and more trapdoor spiders. Such pom­ debilitated. The photographs pilids need only one spider to were taken when the parasi­ stock each nest. This is tised but still active spider usually a previously exca­ was first observed. then :1.4 vated soil burrow to which hours later when the spider the prey must be dragged already appeared to be dead. some distance overland. the and after 36 and 72 hours. by wasp navigating by brief which time the spider had reconnaissance flights. These been devoured and the wasps bite off the legs of engorged larva started spin­ larger spiders so that they ning its cocoon. The wasp are easier to carry. One pom­ emerged from its golden pilid even attacks funnel-web pupal case 34 days later. This spiders but, as with trapdoor particular specimen. how­ spiders. these large. burrow­ ever. did not survive to ter­ ing spiders are not dragged rorise another generation of off. They are simply left para­ spiders and now resides on a lysed within their own bur­ pin in the Museum's insect rows, each accompanied by a collection. single wasp egg. -Mike Gray By contrast. the generally Australian Museum smaller sphecid wasps hunt insects as well as spiders. An 0/ios huntsman spider was The spider-hunting species parasitised and slowly devoured over a favour smaller prey. 72-hour period by the larva of a Red especially small orb weavers. Collared Wasp. In the last frame the jumping spiders and flower adult wasp is shown emerging from its spiders. These may be flown cocoon. or dragged to the nest site.

758 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Hot Sex for the Voodoo Lily Sex in plants isn't always the passive and uninspiring event it seems. In some plants reproduction has evolved into what could almost be described as an elaborate act of passion dur­ ing which the temperatures in the flowers soar. The gen­ eration of heat during bloom­ ing has been reported in a wide variety of plants includ­ ing palms. water lilies. cycads and aroids (arum fam­ ily). to which the \'Oodoo lily belongs. The heat serves to volatise compounds produced in the blooms. which are then broadcast as putrid odours attractive to would-be insect pollinators. Experiments in the 1930s identified the natural trigger of heat production in these plants as calorigen. However. much more recently llya l

VO LUM E 2 3 NU M BE R 1 0 S PR I N G 1991 759 FROM THE ARCHIVES iodide, and sensitised on the spot with silver nitrate. They are identifiable by a creamy-brown colour, and usually an uneven emulsion coating. To day the equipment and materials are less "Documentation photography is like expensive and easier to use, but the insurance: expensive and possibly demands for both quality and quantity unnecessary until the day you need it. " are higher. This raises the issue of the value of documentation photography, and the reasons for maintaining those photo­ graphic records. Will the photograph ever be used, and if so, when and how? The attitude taken at the Australian A PHOTOGRAPH IN TIME... Museum is that documentation pho­ tography is like insurance. Expensive and possibly unnecessary until the day you need it. It was for this reason that BY RIC BOLZAN a project was undertaken in 1985 to photograph fragile items from the PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION, AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM Museum's Pacific anthropology collec­ tion prior to transfer into a newly con­ structed and higher quality. storage '' URING THE EARLY YEARS OF THE also form part of a continuous photo­ area. camera, everyone had a pri- graphic record of the investigation of During the photography of these D vate idea of its usefulness." So the natural environment and indigenous fragile items an intriguing mystery wrote Gail Buckland in her book First peoples of this region. The early col­ emerged. About 50 objects originating photographs to describe a seven-and-a­ lection contains about 10,000 glass plate from the Marind-Anim people of Irian half-pound potato photographed in the negatives with images as diverse as Jaya were recorded as six ceremonial 1850s, presumably to confirm its exist­ manta rays, animal habitats, plant fos­ costumes. They shared the same few ence for the record. Something as sils, starfish, thylacine skeletons, registration numbers, but didn't seem apparently straightforward as a docu­ archaeological specimens, ethnographic to fit together. A conservation project mentation photograph is considered artefacts and Aboriginal people. was being planned by the Anthropology useful or useless depending on whether The collection, however, is not static. and Materials Conservation Depart­ it satisfies the needs of the viewer. The Photography Section is still ments at the time, so it was decided to The Australian Museum has been col­ involved in the documentation of conserve these objects and unravel the lecting, documenting, and storing items material gathered for research, display mystery. This was not only because of of scientific interest for over 150 years, and publication. One constant challenge their fragility, but also their cultural and photographing some of those for for museum photographers has been importance, having been used in an just over the last 120 years. These what to document and to what degree. 'angai' (feast), and being representative photos were taken firstly using the col­ During the period of the collodion pro­ of Marind-Anim material culture. The lodion wet plate process from the cess, each glass plate had to be coated, Marind-Anim people have lost much of 1850s, then the silver gelatine dry plate exposed and then processed before the their cultural heritage through contact process from the 1880s and finally flex­ emulsion dried. Hence a photograph with European missions and govern­ ible film from the turn of the century. was not made without some careful ment. According to Walker and Man­ Thus the Australian Museum not only consideration of its usefulness. The soben (1990), "The loss of ritual and has some of the earliest scientific emulsion consisted of guncotton dis­ ceremonial life and the breakdown in photographs taken in the world, they solved in ether, containing potassium the traditional belief system has left these people somewhat dispirited and directionless". The larger pieces were constructed from sago spathe, covered in ochre, decorated with seeds (Giddy Giddy and Jobs Tears), and held together with fibre and sticks. Smaller pieces were made with sticks, cut feathers and bits of wood and looked like some kind of dart. Under close examination all the pieces showed signs of repair with the same materials, indicating that they had been used a number of times for cer­ emonies and were prone to disinte­ gration under normal conditions of use and storage. The obvious questions were asked as to why they were no longer complete. = Had some larger objects fallen apart as a result of poor storage or were they separated for ease of storage? Was there some error in registration in the past? What did the original objects look The original documentation photograph of a feathered back ornament, which was part of a ceremonial like? costume used by the Marind-Anim people in the Dema Goes ('ghost of the crab' ceremony). It was taken The search was on. Written records in 1916 by Charles Outton and has since been used as a guide to its conservation and reconstruction. showed that in July 1915 W.W. Thorpe,

760 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY to determine how much deterioration had occurred. Thus, due to a decision to photograph some of those objects and keep the negatives, a more accu­ rate reconstruction and conservation was possible 75 years later. In the case of the Marind-Anim ceremonial items this early decision to take documen­ tation photographs was most fortunate indeed. But does the photograph only serve that purpose? A conservator is interested in the physical construction of an object, an anthropologist in its A recent colour documentation photograph of a design and context, and a photographer portion of the same Marind-Anim feathered back in the total appearance of the image. ornament shown in the black-and-white photo­ Incidental or peripheral details may graph, taken during the conservation project. contain indicators about the culture or practices of the time the photograph was taken. For example, how many portraits taken in the last century are now more interesting for the clothing fashion, or details of vehicles or build­ ings in the background, than the ident­ ity of the subject? It can also reveal information about the photographic pro­ cess. In the plate reproduced here, it is possible to deduce from the weather­ boards in the background and the dif­ fused but direct lighting that the photograph was taken outdoors on an Detail shot showing the seeds and ochre that form overcast day using daylight rather than part of the decoration of this and other ceremonial studio lighting. But to the original pho­ TRAVEL LONGS Lightweight, costumes made by Marind-Anim people early this tographer the object itself was the aim windproof, wash and wear pants feature century. of the photograph and the background zip close storage and deep hand pockets was irrelevant or incidental. That prin­ plus a concealed passport pocket. In the Museum's ethnologist, had asked ciple is still the same for all Australian mens and womens styling. Mens: Ebony, Mr L. Berkhout, Assistant Resident at Museum photography, however with the Blue, Sage. Sizes 71-101. Womens: Blue, Merauke, south-eastern New Guinea, if availability of more 'dedicated' equip­ Sage, Blueberry. Sizes 10-16. he could collect any 'ethnographica' ment, it's possible to produce negatives $109.00 from that area for the Australian in which all non-essential information is DRYTECH is THE most comfortable Museum. In reply, the Museum excluded. But by doing this we are now fabric for garments whether for all received from Berkhout a letter and eliminating evidence about the photo­ weather travelling or as part of a winter three cases of material in October 1916. graphic process and possible clues for layering system. Any perspiration vapour Berkhout stated "The ethnographica is future pictorial analysis. is transferred away from the skin. gathered from some feasts of the There have been many changes to Drytech is lighter, dries faster and the Australian Museum collections over shrinks less than any other 'Marindanim' (the people that live on I the coast between the Bensbach River the years, in attitudes, priorities, frJ bodywear fabric we've tested and and the Marianna Street. .. ) at Wendoe, resources and documentation methods, does not retain body odours. Dutch South New Guinea." In exchange as well as the condition of those objects Tuchpolo he requested that the Museum send him within them. The Museum is no longer Blue/Sage, " ...a collection of poststamps from Aus­ seen as just a repository for curiosities, Tuai/Blueberry $ 59 .00 tralia, New Seeland, Papua New Cale­ collected for their own sake, but a Tucbtop RedmaJ, donia and other Colonies, for I am resource for information and under­ Blue/Red, collecting stamps ... ". Thorpe replied, standing. Research and the mainten­ 'Ieal/Blue $ 59 .95 undertaking to send a collection " ... in ance and improvement of the collections , Tuchcrew due course", and requested more infor­ are central to that aim. • ·:• Blueberry, mation about the use of the objects. 45 � 'Ieal, Blue $ .00 However there are no records of any Tuchpants further correspondence and thus lim­ Suggested Reading 11111'!:��� ited information about the objects, how ,_ Blueberry, Van Bal, J., with collaboration of Verschueren, Father ,_, Tuai, Blue $ 45 .00 they were used, their significance or J., 1966. Dema: desaiption and analysis of Marind­ whether Berkhout received his stamps. Anim culture (SouthNew Guinea). The Hague: Hijhoff. SydHy 507 Kent St Ph: (02) 2642140 The search provided some infor­ K. lnstituit voor Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde trans­ Mll'Ndl 5Z7 Kingsway Ph: (02) 525 6829 Jh1dallyl1 Kosciusko Rd Ph: (064) 562 922 mation, but the project was hampered lation Series 9. Cllblm 11 Lonsdale St, Braddon Ph: (06) 257 3883 by a lack of visual information about the Walker, M. & Mansoben,J., 1990. lrian Jaya cultures: Mlllllunie 360 Little Bourke St Ph: (03) 670 4845 original appearance of the costumes. 18: 1-10. Ila HIii 8 Mar1

762 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY A\.IGATl:\'.G BY THE SU.\/, 1\100:\" A:\"D. TARS, E\'ERY ;s.;Q\X' A'.\D THE'.\ THE Hc�IPBACK WHALE'S JOL:Rl\EY E'.'-:DS I'.\ DISASTER \X'HEN IT BECO�IES STRANDED ll\ SHALLOW \X'ATER. Excuse me, do you have a bucket? DETER.;\lll\ED TO DO EVERYTHI. G POSSIBLE TO SA\'E OUR RARE, RE.v!Al'.\l'.\G _ � WHALES, 0:--JE OF THE NATIO'.\AL PARKS & WILDLIFE Foc:,.;oATIO

-.,,-,i· .. ... � The Foundation is an independent. non-gO\·ernment body For 20 years the Foundation has been ,.._-orking quietly to \YOrking closely �,·ith the :'-Jational Parks & Wildlife Ser-ice prese1Ye some of the best features of our natural heritage. (that manages and maintains the Parks) to fund special putting money to',\·ards '.\ational Parks. endangered projects. such as the Whale Stranding Kit. species. historic sites and facilities for Park ,·isitors. Each year nearly one million dollars is raised for special Other Foundation projects include : projects through indi,·idual supponers. corporate .,. Establishing international class access to the \X'orld Heritage sponsorship and donations . rainforests perched on the escarpment of the Darrigo Plateau: As a supporter of the Foundation, you receive : .,. Free entry permit into any :'-Jational Park. tate Recreational .,. \X'alk\,·ays to the clouds - 60.000 visitors tramp 12 to 18 Area and or Kosciusko :'-Jational Park. aving you up to kilometres through the Kosciusko summit area e,·ery S9.00 e,·ery time you visit: summer - these ',\·alk',\·ays protect the fragile alpine em·ironment: .,. The biannual Coo-ee magazine. informing you of the f special projects unden,·ay. \Yith park and \\·ildlife .,. a,·ing from extinction the Lord Howe Island \X oodhen information. through a capti,·e breeding and release programme: In addition, the Foundation·s Annual Report is available to .,. 100.000 children learn from and enjoy Seasonal Ranger you if interested. and you may contribute to a project of ',\·alks and camps in over -10 >lational Parks during school your choice. holidays.

I,------7 I WOULD LIKE TO BECOME A SUPPORTER OF THE NATIONAL PARKS & WILDUFE FOUNDATION OF NSW I � '� K \ et· Free entry permit into any ;>,;ationalPark and late Recreation Area. D 36 I -v If,,, (sa\·ing up to S5.50 each time you \·isit) f � ·a· � � Free entry permit into any National Park. State Recreation Area & Kosciusko National Park. ,5 I ';: t' :;: (sadng up to 9.00 each time you \·isit) D I . ,, ,<, ,,, I want to help sa1·e the �-hales �-iih a donation to the \X'hale Stranding Kit. S ____ 0 �� D _ r .\' 0 _,.,\ '- < 1 understand that my donation is fully tax deductible.

Please accept my cheque money order enclosed. or debit my Bankcard Mastercarcl No. ______

Expiry elate __ / __ / Cardholder's name ______Signature ______

Addres ------Postcode _____ :,.;ationalPark entry permits correspond with both the financial year (July I to June 30) and calendar year (January I to December 31 ). ubscriptions paid after .\lay I and October 31 will join the succeeding entry permit full year. Please return this form to: The Chief Executil·e. 1':ational Parks & Wildlife Foundation of ;'\S\X' GPO Box 2666. Sydney 'S\X' 2001 telephone (02) 2-17 -971 WILD FOODS

"This technique resembles the white man's way of killing fish by dynamiting pools, and Derris on Dunk I stand became known as 'wild dynamite'."

POISONING FISH

Mullet and Garfish were caught by Aborigines in central Queensland using Quinine Berries (and an BY TIM LOW unknown plant). These very bitter berries were also used by bushmen to treat fevers. NATURE WRITER mass (after dipping it into the water. and while held in the left hand) with a AST \'E:\I< I \\ E:S.T TO l:\llL\ A:\ll ST:\\Ell ing of Aboriginal hunting techniques, I nulla-nulla. The action i repeated until two weeks at ludumalai Wildlife knew these people had used a fish the bark and leaves are macerated. and Sanctuary in the mountains south poison. then the bundle is thrown into the pool. ofL Mysore. I was walking along the In the early literature on Aborigines In a few minutes the fish rise to the river bank one day. keeping an eye out there are many accounts of Aborigines surface gasping and making extraordi­ for elephants, when I came upon a man throwing pounded plants into pools to nary efforts to get out of the infected and two women at work in the shallows. intoxicate or kill fish, which were then water. Death ensues rapidly, but the They were wading about in muddy pools gathered up, cooked and eaten. E.J. fish are quite wholesome as food.·· formed in the eroded rock. hunched Banfield, for example, author of Co11- This technique resembles the white over intently, gathering up small shiny fessio11s of a beachcomber, told in 1909 man's way of killing fish by dynamiting objects. As I got closer I realised these ·of Dunk· Island Aborigines using the pools, and Derris on Dunk Island objects were dead fish. The women's creeper Derris trifoliata: "The Aborigi­ became known as 'wild dynamite'. sarees. folded at their backs to make nes tear up the plant branches, leaves, Other accounts of fishpoisoning were deep pouches, held at least a kilogram flowers and all, coarsely bundle them given by northern Queensland eth­ of fish each, and the man's bag con­ together. and. wading into an enclosed nographer Walter Roth in 1901, by R. tained a similar amount. From my read- pool where fish are observed, beat the Hamlyn-Harris of the Queensland Museum and Frank Smith in 1916, by Sydney ethnobotanist Joseph Maiden in 1917, and more recently in 1985 by Jeremy Russell-Smith working in Arn­ hem Land. Described were a range of techniques employing the pounded fruits, leaves. bark or roots of more than 30 different herbs, vines. shrubs and trees, including Water Pepper (Polygonum hydropiper). Quinine Berry (Petalostigma pubescens), Ta pe Vine (Stephania japonica), Coolibah (Euca­ lyptus microtheca) and various ( species). These poisons appear to have been most widely used in north­ ern Queensland but were unknown in

The bark of the Cocky Apple (Planchonia careya) was widely used as a fish poison in northern Queensland. According to Banfield it was "an

A haul of small fish gathered from the muddy pools at Mudumalai after the poison was applied.

764 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY EDUCATIONAL--- TOURS

ed by academics, our trips attract interested and arLticulate travellers. We have photo-geo-bio-history tours, archi-culture-geo-photo tours ... where we discuss everything! 1991 TOURS LA LORD HOWE ISLAND school holidays. Geologist and naturalist guides. Dec. 14-21. Tape Vine was a fish poison of Aborigines near Nerang in southern Queensland. Lengths of the beaten stems $1,220 (accom. and flights) + food. thrown into waterholes or rock pools were said to act very quickly. LA HOW THE BLUE Ta smania. and central and 'outh Aus­ aged about half a metre in depth. A MOUNTAINS FORMED tralia. short way upstream I found an earlier Jenolan Caves, Kanangra Walls, Hamlvn-Harris and Smith tested poisoning site of a similar length but many of these poisons against captive onlv four to six metres in width. Kowmung River, fire trails and a fish and found marked differences in '£'he fish poisoners at Mudumalai are farm-stay. Nov. lSpm-17 ex potency. Some plants did not seem to tribal people of the Kurumbas tribe. Canberra - $230; Nov. 22pm-24 work at all. while others were effective They are thought to be descendants of ex Sydney - $195. in concentrations as low as 1: 10.000. early hunter-gatherers who settled in The active constituents appeared to be India thousand of years ago. E\·en LA FLINDERS RANGES either alkaloids. saponins. or the less today their farming skills are limited. 4WD minicoach into lovely hidden effective tannins. although they are very adept at the valleys and world-class fossil sites. The fish poison u ed at Mudumalai. trapping and training of elephants for according to local biologists. is the local fore try work. They still depend camping. Oct. 26-Nov JO. $1.650 green fruit of a local shrub Randia on the forest for their needs. gathering dumentosa. I sought out this plant and wild honey, catching fi h (with small LATOP END OF G.B. REEF found that its crushed seeds had a very lines and hand-held nets as well as spawning coral, SCUBA. Nov. 24- soapy feel, indicating the presence of poison ). and even scavenging meat Dec. 8. $3,100 ex Cairns. saponins. When thrown into a small from the kills of Tigers. Their fish confined pool, the crushed seeds poisoning skills probably date back strongly repelled small fish. Saponins thousands of years, and may give us an 1992TOURS were also the active constituent in the insight into the methods deployed by Foam-bark Tree (Jagera pseudorhus) Australia's Aborigines. among whom USSR, CHINA, ICELAND and the \·ine Faradaya splendida, two the practice is largely forgotten. • LA very powerful fish poisons used by HAWAII, A EASTER ISLAND, Queensland Aborigines. JAPAN, LA WEST USA, Most descriptions of fish poisoning in Suggested Reading AFRICA, MEXICO, CANADA, Australia are cursory or anecdotal, and Banfield, E.J., 1909. Blacksas fishermen. Old Geog. POLYNESIA AND MANY important details remain unrecorded. /. 24: 43-62. While it is clear that both salt- and LA AUSTRALIAN TOURS freshwater fish were poisoned. it is Hamlyn-Harris, R. & Smith, I., 1916. On fish poison­ uncertain whether fish could be ing and poisons employed among the Aborigines of For our programs and newsletters Queensland. 5: 1-22. poisoned in open stretches of water, or Mem. Qld Mus. Write, phone or fax only in small confined pools. At Mudu­ Maiden, J.H., 1917. Fish-poisons of the Australian malai I noted that the fish poisoners had Aborigines. In The forest flora of New South Wales. REPLY PAID 8 (no stamp) very carefully blocked off the pools Vol. VI. Government Printer: Sydney. Dr David Roots where they worked. At the upstream Russell-Smith, J., 1985. Studies in the jungle: people, end a well-built wall of rocks reinforced fire and monsoon forest. Pp. 241-267 in Archaeo­ with earth sods were stilling the Aow of logical research in Kakadu National Park, ed. by R. water, while the downstream exit chan­ Jones. Aust. Natl Pks & Wildl. Serv. Spee. Publ. nels had been blocked with rocks and No. 13. 12 SturdeeLane stems of nearby plants (Polygonum and ELVINA BAYNSW 2103 Ludwigia species). The enclosed area Tim Low. a nature writer livin!fin Brisban!', is Phone (008) 249 762 (02) 979 5540 of pools and channels was about 20 tlu> author of four books about plants. thr most Fax (02) 979 5561 metres wide, 25 metres long. and aver- recent brinlf Hush tucker and Hush medicine.

VO LU M E 2 3 N UM B ER l O S PR I N G 1991 765 there is the conflict: between the cau­ tion of the professional scientist and the "Henderson-Sellers sees the greenhouse politician, always wanting to refine data and avoid uncomfortable haste, and on warning as, in a way, good news, the other hand, the citizen and activist, because it has focused worldattention who finds that a 50 per cent chance of on an urgent spring-clean that was oblivion is far too much to tolerate. Henderson-Sellers recognises that long overdue. " the social decisions are a matter of value judgment and properly so. "By the time we scientists are all absolutely certain it will be much too late to avert most of the changes that mankind is currently facing." Therefore, we must A WARM WARNING act immediately. Henderson-Sellers sees the greenhouse warning as, in a way, good news, because it has focused world attention on an urgent spring­ BY ROBYN WILLIAMS clean that was long overdue. She is also impatient with media ping-pong about ABC RADIO SCIENCE SHOW whether greenhouse alarms are sud­ denly void because new information has come along. She sees such news ER MISLEADING TITLE IS PROFESSOR OF kind will have added sufficient quan­ stories as inevitable and annoying, a Physical Geography (Macquarie tities of them to cause a climatic product of the newspapers' desire University) but she is, in fact, a disturbance equivalent to an effective always to dredge up some new angle, H preferably in contradiction to the last. mathematician. After she arrived in doubling of COi alone over its pre­ Australia from England three years ago, industrial level." Meanwhile, she surges ahead with more than one person described her to Of course, policy-makers are wary, her research. It is various: numerical me as 'formidable'; yet she is also a especially in government, of making modelling and monitoring at a global collector of keepsakes from Winnie the commitments three years ahead, let scale of atmosphere, hydrosphere, cry­ Pooh, with the world's largest library of alone 50. So Henderson-Sellers asks osphere, land surfaces and biosphere; Pooh books written in over 20 different "When will we be certain that mankind's and studying clouds by means of satel­ languages! Whatever the confusions, pollution is having a global-scale effect lites. She is also a principal investigator Ann Henderson-Sellers is just the sort so as to cause climatic change?" in NASA's Earth Observing System of scientist we need in the '90s: an The word "certain" bothers her as a project for the 1990s. Some of the land­ expert on changing climate. scientist. They don't go in for concepts surface studies take her to the prairies She was born in Sheffield on 7 March like certainty. "I was expecting of Kansas where, as part of the World 1952 and, despite attendance at the demands of high levels of confidence Meteorological/UNEP studies, they are Universities of Bristol and Leicester, from the scientists in the same way as examining the way the grasslands retains that Yorkshire forthrightness I imagine most of us would want to be handle solar radiation and moisture. that comes in so handy when arguing pretty near certain, say 90% sure, that It is fascinating to behold where a about the significance of greenhouse. our bank is in a sound financial state. I talent for doing sums can take a bright Having shown a startling propensity for was startled to discover that the vast young woman these days. Not only to doing sums when young, she naturally majority ask for only 50% confidence the crucial and most sensitive regions of concentrated on maths and physics at from the scientific community before scientific analysis, but to centre stage school and for her first degree. But then political action should be taken about of political debate. The sky's the limit, came the worry: "where is all this greenhouse." no doubt about that. I only hope that leading?" She didn't fancy being locked This conclusion came as a result of a Pooh, the bear with little brain, doesn't up in a cold cell with pencil and pad, or survey she did in conjunction with the become forgotten in the process. • even a flash computer. She preferred Greenhouse 88 campaign organised by being out in the world, preferably with the Commission for the Future. So As ExecutiVI! Producer of the ABC Radio Sci­ an eye on the sky-she is a keen astron­ ence Show, Robyn Williams has the opportunity omer. So what better than climatology? Professor Ann Henderson-Sellers. to interview many interesting people in science. She was just in time for the green­ house debate. She became deeply embroiled in it almost as soon as she set foot in Australia. Her book The greenhouse effect: living in a warmer Australia (1989), written with Macqua­ rie University colleague Russell Blong, came out after she'd been living here barely a year. It is a clear guide for the non-expert, a handy summary of the facts. Throughout, the emphasis is on the complexity of climate, the extra­ ordinary i"nterplay of cloud, wind, sun, ocean currents, volcanoes and, indeed, ourselves and our wastes. About the human factor she has no illusions. "The rate of buildup of green­ house gases in the atmosphere is now accelerating so fast it can be confidently estimated that by about AD 2030 man-

766 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Youcan learn a lot about the history of MacquarieStreet just by looking at the pavement.

Macquarie Street's Sydney Hospital hasn't Further down the street you'll find the site In an effort to pay tribute to this, Caltex,

always enjoyed such an established and con- where the Female School of Industry once stood. in association with the NSW Public Works

servative title. In 1826, before anybody had even heard ol Department. has laid twenty Os �� 8H A commemorative footpath ·u,i�rO-UX...U Last century, the 'Feminism.' the colony ran short of servants. �-��-��n.-r.,;::N_-..wu,,oo site was occupied by Accordingly, the ladies ol the colony set plaques along Macquarie

a hospital which was up the Female School ol Industry in ordet to Street, each marking a his-

teach their lesser sisters "every branch ol

liquor of the day, namely, Rum. household work." The site is more appropriately So ii you want to find out what Sydney was

In 1810, three Sydney businessmen built occupied now by the Mitchell Library. really like in the early days, look out for the

the city a magnificent hospital in exchange !or Thefact is, Macquarie Caltex Commemorative Plaques on your next ���� the coveted monopoly over the city's Rum trade. f���:. l Street is more than just This became the Rum Hospital. and stood another city street You could learn a

complete until 1876, when the central block was It is Sydney's, if not lot simply by watching

demolished to build the present Sydney Hospital. Australia's, most interesting thoroughfare. where you walk.

Wh"x 011 (Ausual,a) Pei L1m11rd THE COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUES SPONSORED BY (lncorponrrd 1n :-,.;s\\') Ct-tM CCAOOl2 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTOF

"Our resources were, and still are, simply being mined to support the unlimited growth of an affluent society. " AUSTRALIA: OVERPOPULATED OR LAST FRONTIER?

BY TIM FLANNERY

MAMMAL SECTION, AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

USTRALIA IS AN ENORMOUS LAND. AT 7.6 million square kilometres, it is nearly the size of the United AStates of America, yet it currently sup­ ports only 17 million people. Such simple figures and comparisons have long led economists and politicians to propose that Australia could become a southern giant, as dominant in our sphere of economic and political influ­ ence as our northern ally. But recently a new perspective on our future has been voiced. It is the.view, propounded by many biologists and geographers, that Australia is a poor and already overpopulated land. Which view prevails will dictate the quality of life for all Australians in future. The purpose of this article is to examine these perspec­ tives, and their planning and policy implications. To biologists it is clear that Austra­ lia's capacity to support a human popu­ lation of a given size depends largely on the productivity of its ecosystems. Economists argue that we can ignore such factors and sell our human resources (through manufacturing etc.) to buy food and whatever else we need. But, as I will explain later, this may not be an option in future. Furthermore, to assess Australia's carrying capacity for humans solely upon land area is wrong.

Is Australia already overpopulated?

VO L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 to placental mammals such as our­ selves, and so may have a positive advantage over placentals which, because of their higher metabolic rates, demand more food and in more regular supply. No doubt the lack of large, warm-blooded carnivores in Australia (see "Mystery of the Meganesian Meat­ eaters", ANH vol. 23, no. 9, 1991) is also due to low and erratic biological productivity. Biologists are only now beginning to understand how all-pervasive the ENSO cycle has been in influencing life strat­ Australia is unique in the extent it is influenced by the ENSO (El Nino-Southern Oscillation) cyde, hence egies in the Australian biota. Over most the continent's extreme droughts and deluges. of Australia nesting among birds is truly aseasonal, being initiated by the onset l'STRALIAN ECOSYSTEMS ARE VERY seen in plants from elsewhere, and of substantial rains. Many species are A different to those of other regions. most simply grow slowly. Phosphate, longlived but may not breed success­ The most striking feature of almost the that essential element for plant growth fully for most of their lives. In a year entire continent and its surrounding in agriculture, is toxic in 'normal' levels when rainfall is high they can produce seas is its low biological productivity. to many Australian natives. Phosphates multiple broods in quick succession, and The causes are very thin and infertile also change the soil biology, allowing the young birds themselves mature very soils, and an erratic climate. certain fungi to grow and insects to quickly and begin reproducing. More­ On a continent-wide scale Australia is thrive. In our naturally poor soils these over, up to 30 per cent of Australian unique in its geological stability. This organisms, against which our plants bird species are nomadic, wandering means that no significant new soil is have no defences, are held in check. over the country in order to find being created because there is no avail­ Also testimony to Australia's poor locations where survival is possible. able source of raw materials. Large­ bioproductivity are our native animals. It is also instructive to look at those scale mountain building (which leads to Reproductive rates of Australia's oldest Australians who have had the longest rock breakdown and thus soil formation) native rodents (which arrived five experience of surviving in Australia's ceased long ago in Australia, and ash­ million years ago) are far lower than unique conditions. Before European producing volcanoes (another good those that arrived around two million contact Aborigines lived in small, source) are largely absent. What soils years ago. But even these relative new­ nomadic bands at far lower densities we have are generally thin because they comers are slow breeders compared than Australians currently do. They have been stripped away and not with the rats that arrived from overseas never developed agriculture. This is not replaced over the aeons, and they are in 1788 (see table). This situation may because they were 'primitive'; rather it leached of nutrients because they are so have arisen because, over time, the rats is probably a deliberate adaption to old. In a sense our soils are a 'fossil' have lowered their reproductive rates to Australia's extreme conditions. Under resource as they are no longer being match the low fertility of the environ­ ENSO conditions one can never store made in usable quantities. ment. And low rates of reproduction are enough food to outlast the long and The Australian climate is also unique only part of a general biological slow­ frequent droughts. Furthermore, very worldwide in the extent that it is influ­ down. It is thought by some that thi!i few regions possess sufficiently fertile enced by the E SO (El Nino-Southern phenomenon may be part of the marsu­ soil to even make the attempt worth­ Oscillation) cycle. The E SO cycle pials' secret of success in Australia. while. The highlands of New Guinea results from changes in sea surface Marsupials have lower metabolic rates provide striking proof that the lack of temperatures over the Pacific, and a (that is, lower 'running costs') relative agriculture among Aborigines is not single cycle is around ten years in dur­ ation. No other continent is so influ­ enced by ENSO, which is responsible 1 for Australia's extreme droughts and ,000 � deluges. During El Nino years major droughts crucify our agricultural and pastoral industries. Then at another (shorter) par t of the cycle Australia experiences rainfall much above the :700 j� 'average' (in practical terms there is no average-it's either bucketing down or dry!), flooding major river systems and filling ephemeral lakes. This happens around once a decade, with much larger floods at greater intervals. Innumerable biological phenomena reflect these aspects of our soil and climate. An everyday example comes from our gardens. Anyone who has 100 -i tried to grow Australian native plants knows that an application of fertiliser is the kiss of death to many species. This 1870 1900 1930 1960 1980 is because over millions of years Aus­ DATE tralian plants have adapted to infertile soils. Many develop lignotubers that Ralnfall over much of Australia Is highly Irregular. Once every few decades great floods sweep over the allow them to store scarce nutrients, Inland, bringing a surge of vegetation growth, followed by rabbit plagues and fire. For the rest of the time, others recycle nutrients in ways not rainfall Is minimal.

770 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY simply the result of isolation or culture. cautious. Perhaps the lesson of the our habits. We must deal with people as There, a genetically and technologically hunter-gatherers (to keep population they have acted in the past, and as they similar group of people, who were also within 20-30 per cent of carrying exist now, in order to make progress in long isolated, had developed agriculture capacity) is a wise one to follow. If we determining future action. by 10,000 years ago. Today some high­ did so, then we should aim to stabilise There is no doubt that, since 1788, land valleys support up to 1,614 people Australia's population at 6--12 million in European population, affluence and per square kilometre-the highest rural the long term. technology have led to enormous population density on Earth. These rare Modern economics and technology environmental degradation. As has and privileged areas are an extraordi­ adds a level of complexity to these basic been documented in previous issues of nary contrast to the situation in Aus­ biological constraints. For humans, ANH ("Plague in the Pacific", vol. 22, tralia. Indeed, other supposedly impact on their environment results no. 1, 1989), much of Australia's fragile 'primitive' aspects of Aboriginal culture from the interplay of three factors: and low-productivity fisheries and agri­ may be adaptations worthy of our notice population, affluence ( = demand + cultural lands have been degraded or and possibly imitation. The hunter­ consumption) and technology. If the destroyed. It is possible to argue that gathering lifestyle is the only truly sus­ interplay of these three factors results much of this environmental degradation tainable one that we know about. in environmental degradation, then we has nothing to do with human overpopu­ Agriculture, on the other hand, has an can say that a region is overpopulated. lation. However, this is wrong. Cer­ appalling long-term track record. The To an extent, overpopulation in this tainly much damage was done when key to the success of hunter-gatherers sense can be remedied by technological Australia's population was around five is that they normally keep their popu­ change and lowered consumption (the millio11, but then the technology side of lation so low that they rarely exceed technology and affluence parts of the the equation (lack of erosion control, 20-30 per cent of the carrying capacity interaction) but, if we make assump­ inappropriate stocking rates etc.) was of their territory. They thus never nor­ tions about future change in such areas, contributing disproportionately to the mally damage their environment (an we create a hypothetical species-one problem. Also, much damage, particu­ important exception, of course, is when that might exist if only we could change larly in fisheries and soil loss, can be people first invade a new land). litter size lltters/yur number after O THERE IS AMPLE EVIDENCE THAT (av.) (av.) oneyur Australia is an extraordinarily poor continentS in terms of primary pro­ old endemics 2.5 1.5 2-5 ductivity. What does this mean for us enclemk Rattus 4.5 2.5 9-25 20th-century Australians? The quality lntrocluced Rattus 8 6 hundffds and quantity of arable land is a basic determinant of human population. Esti­ Some reproductive data on Australian murids. The old endemics have been in Australia for around five mates made in the 1960s based upon million years, the endemic Rattus for one or two million years, and the introduced Rattus only since rainfall statistics suggested Australia 1788. The slowdown in reproduction that correlates with length of time in Australia is probably an had just under 125 million hectares of adaptation to Australia's low-productivity environment. arable land. In 1976 Dr H. Nix of Canberra, using a more sophisticated and reliable method based on climate, soil and terrain data, came up with an estimate of only 77 million hectares. More recent information, based in part upon satellite imagery, suggests that the real figure (not as yet calculated) is even less. Around 22 million hectares (the best of our land) is currently used for agriculture. Already 70 per cent of this is degraded and in need of soil restoration programs. Much degraded land will have to be taken out of pro­ duction if current intensive use con­ tinues. Even if it could be rehabilitated (an enormous task), Australian food exports stopped, and national parks, forest and urban sprawl over the 77 million hectares transformed to farm­ land, Nix estimates that Australia is capable of feeding only around 50 million people. This is a maximum population, but clearly not an optimum or desirable one. Given the realities of soil loss, and the desire to keep some national parks and forests on better soils, a more realistic population may be 20-30 million. If we take into account our erratic climate, the uncertainty of the figures and of restoring our degraded land to full productivity, and the difficulties of reversing population growth, we could quite rightly be more

The Introduced Black Rat (Rattus rattus) with Its typically large litter.

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 771 Even if the population remains stable, Australia will find it difficult to boost its agricultural exports because And what of the option of ceasing of the erratic dimate and poor-quality soils. growth now? Perhaps the most dramatic scenario imaginable in this regard laid directly at the feet of overexploita­ of the most simple needs will become a involves an immediate cessation of tion. Our resources were, and still are, major problem for many nations within a immigration and a rapid fall in the birth simply being mined to support the short time if current trends continue. rate to around 1. 3 children per couple unlimited growth of an affluent society. The loss of Australia as a gross food (that of Catholic Italy, which has the Because we are part of a world econ­ exporter would only hasten the situ­ smallest family size of any nation). omy, there are ways that we could ation. Were this to happen, our population continue to fuel such growth if we really would probably peak at 17-18 million, wanted. We could sell our minerals, O WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIO S OF then begin a gradual decline. What labour or tourism potential at an even Scontinued population growth, or a impact would such an event have? The faster rate in order to buy food for a population reduction, for Australia? At greatest immediate effect would be to population larger than 30 million. Many the current rate of growth (which is the slow the pace of 'development'. The economists argue that Australia's popu­ fastest in the Western world) Australia's urban sprawl that consumes Sydney's lation must reach a 'critical mass' so population will continue to grow indefi­ environment at an unprecedented pace that our manufacturing industry has a nitely. It will reach 26 million by 2030, today would cease. Likewise the devel­ sufficiently large domestic market to be the bulk of whom will inhabit cities of opment of freeways, bridges, tunnels competitive. Defence experts also six or more million people. Amenities and such like would slow as the need for argue for a larger population for will of course become more and more them, which is driven by an ever­ defence reasons. A quick look at the squeezed. On the resource side, the increasing population, became less. state of the world, however, suggests need to increase national income will Some kinds of development, however, that building Australia's population become paramount. It will not be diffi­ would not slow. Large tourist develop­ beyond our land's carrying capacity cult to find reasons to pillage the last of ments, including new coastal tourist would be very foolish. Australia is one our renewable resources to solve an cities, would probably not be affected as of only half a dozen reliable food­ immediate problem. Environmentalists their demand is not driven by local exporting regions worldwide. Presently who oppose such moves will be easy to growth. Likewise, there would still be a world population stands at 5. 3 billion, discredit. Indeed, I very much fear that need for expansions of airports, hotels increasing at a rate of nearly 100 million this trend has already started, with the etc. as the need for them is partly people per year. At the same time our recently passed 'resource guarantee' driven by tourism. The down side of soils, forests and oceans are all rapidly legislation. Ultimately, of course, con­ such changes would be a need for being exhausted. Any nation that tinued growth has no future. But the redeployment of labour as the housing counts on buying products such as food point at which it ceases determines the and construction industries shrank. very far into the next century is wealth available for a given population Positive effects would include a release extremely foolish, for the procurement from then on. of capital from the property and land

772 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY development markets, and the nine billion dollars spent each year in infra­ structure for our population increase could be put towards developing alternative industries and improving technology. The pressure for sawlogs would be reduced such that much old growth forest would be left untouched. And our cities, and the cost of living in them, would become more bearable. A falling birth rate would mean smaller class sizes and a better quality of education. Indeed, savings could be made in many child-related areas. Clearly, the aged would be expected to contribute more to society than at pre­ sent. Compulsory retirement would

Indigenous agriculture in lrian Jaya. Even before European technology, the highlands of New Guinea supported some of the highest rural population densities on Earth.

VO LU M E 2 3 N UM BE R 1 0 S PR I NG 1991 773 774 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Ever-increasing urban sprawl: Australia adds one million people to its population every four years. become a thing of the past, while com­ pulsory saving schemes such as super­ annuation would become more important. The populate or perish argument as it $69 DOUBLE relates to defence is a bogus one. It 1 min. Beach· 10 mins. City entirely disregards the impact of tech­ DIA. DIAL PHONES · PARKING · nology (which is extremely important, AIR COND. · COL. T.V.· OCEAN VIEWS· BUS AT DOOR · SHOPS 100M · as the recent Gulf War shows) and, in SPECIAL LONG STAY RATES any case, it is certain that Australia Pool in garden setting could never support a population of 200 Alice Lie. Restaurant . Views million. Does this mean that we will Prices subject to variation always be vulnerable to attack from ALICE MOTEL Indonesia? It has also been argued that 30 Fletcher St, Bondi (02) 30 5231 we must populate Australia 'fully' or people will come and take our land for themselves. The kind of invasion envis­ aged has never been fully resolved, although it is always assumed to be a military one. Demographic trends, however, suggest that Australia could face another kind of invasion soon-a flood of economic and ecological refu­ gees. For example Indonesia, even with its excellent family planning program, will add another 100 million people over the next 20 years. Indonesian agricul­ ture is presently running at full capacity, and it seems unlikely that SHERPA EXPEDITIONS sufficient food can be grown within this t NAME: ------of time to feed the increase. Food imports ADDRESS: . ______will probably be necessary. Military conquest to obtain our agricultural lands OUTDOOR TRAVEL 55 Hardware St MELBOURNE 300'.J 1031670-7252 would be counterproductive in this situ­ � c )1102 ation, as fighting would break vital food ______.. supply lines, causing immediate and critical food shortages. Our best defence against both refugees and the .,------,Gipsy Point Lodge military may be the means to help people at home-through a reliable food export industry, and expertise in man­ aging growth and degraded environ­ ments. Australians must decide how many of us there will be. The Hawke Govern­ ment has caused Australia to support the most rapidly growing population in the Western world, and yet that govern­ ment has no population policy. Because of the nature of demographic change, decisions made today will shapef Aus­ Situated at the head of beautiful tralia in 2030. It is no longer suficient .\\allacoota Inlet and surrounded by to blunder on, blind to long-term conse­ Croajingolong National Park. the quences. If there ever was a critical time for a population policy, it is now. • Lodge pro\·ides a relaxing, comfortable base from which to explore a uniquo::, unspoiled area rich in bird !iii:, tlora Suggested Reading and fauna. Package holidays for bird Ehrlich, P. & Ehrlich, A., 1990. The population observers and field naturalists. Other explosion. Simon and Schuster: New York. act i\·it it:s include fishing, boJt ing, Nix, H.A., 1990. The environmental base. Pp. 22-27 swimming, surfing and bushwJlking. in International agriculture. Special Issue of Agricul­ tural Sdence. First class, all-inclusi\·c accommoda11on in the Lodge or sdf-contJincd cottages. Dr Tim Flannery is a research scientist at the Australian Museum, and a founding member For further details contact (NSW branch) of Australians for an Ecologi­ Alan Robertson cally Sustainable Population. He was recently Gipsy Point Lodge awarded the Royal Society of New South Wales Gipsy Point, \"ictoria 3891 .\ustralia Edgeworth David Medal for the advancement of Telephone: (051) 58 8205 Australian science. ._I ______.J V 0 L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R l O S P R I N G 1991 775 . . J1JSTOI RE N �A rr UR h.;LI_J£ D l!..': S

P.\R NT F,LEV!\.11--'LA PEOPLE IN HISTORY

"Today we should remember Le Vaillant not as a 'liar: but as a man who made important contributions to ornithology. The conservation of parrots is a fitting memorial. " PARROTS, LIES & BIRD BOOKS: THE LEGACY OF LE VAILLANT BY MURRAY D. BRUCE FREELANCE NATURE WRITER, BIOCON RESEARCH GROUP

N 1801, A 48-YEAR-OLD FRENCHMAN. the first of its kind to treat these birds largest private collection of European Franc;ois Le Vaillant, launched an comprehensively, an achievement dem­ birds. By the time of his first visit to ambitious publishing venture. He onstrating Le Vaillant's supreme grasp Paris in 1777, Franc;ois was an excellent wouldI simultaneously issue, in parts, of the subject. It was also a work that marksman, having notched up 14 years' three lavishly illustrated folio books of was destined to have an impact on experience in hunting, collecting and birds. Napoleonic France was at its zenith parrot conservation in Australia more studying birds around Metz and neigh­ and there was a ready market for anything than a century and a half after his death. bouring parts of Germany. For three colourful, gaudy and expensive. Le This is a somewhat ironic and interest­ years he studied the bird collections Vaillant, as the most famous ornithologist ing extension of a French ornithologist's available in Paris and continued with of his day, was the perfect choice to work, considering the man never set collections in Holland. attempt this feat. He had reached the foot in Australia! Le Vaillant was anxious to explore pinnacle of his fame with books on his Born Franc;ois Vaillant in 1753 in and collect in an area hitherto unknown voyage of exploration to Africa but his Paramaribo, Surinam (South America), for its birds, in an effort to build up a observations were entangled in a fabri­ his father was the Consul for France collection, make a contribution to sci­ cation of fanciful fiction. Now was his (the 'Le' was added to his name later ence and become famous. There was chance for scientific credibility. when he began his travels). His love of little support for him in Paris but his This came with his book on parrots- adventure and the mysteries of the Dutch contacts and Dutch background natural world came early in life when he in Surinam together with his familiarity accompanied his parents, both keen with the Dutch language made the Cape As if to reinforce the fictional side of his writings naturalists, on journeys into the South Colony of southern Africa an ideal and later reputation as a 'liar', Le Vaillant's title American rainforests. At ten, his family choice. He departed from Holland in page illustration is not a real species, but resembles returned to northern France to settle in December 1780, arriving at Cape Town his 'Rajah Lory-Parrot', a presumed variant of the their home city of Metz. Franc;ois in April 1781. He made two extensive Purple--naped Lory ( domicellus) of the became an apprentice apothecary to a journeys eastward and northward Moluccan Islands, Indonesia. M. Becoeur, who aJso then had the before returning to Europe with a col-

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 777 lection of over 2,000 birds, plus mam­ mals, insects, plants and ethnological material. Back in Holland in November 1784 he sold most of his collections to a wealthy friend and Treasurer of the Dutch East India Company, Jacob Temminck. Inter­ estingly, Temminck's son inherited the collection and sold it to the Dutch Government in 182 0 to form the nucleus of a public museum in Leiden with himself as Director. In January 1785 Le Yaillant returned to Paris and presented to the natural history museum a stuffed giraffe he shot on his second journey. It was the first com­ plete specimen to reach Europe and became a great exhibition prize for the Museum. It also demonstrated Le Yail­ lant's taxidermic skills, which greatly enhanced the value of the specimens he sold to rich, private collectors. He was now well on his way to becoming rich and famous.

HE EAGERLY AWAITED HOOK OF HIS TRAVELS appeared in 1790as Voyage deMonsieur Tle Vaillant dans /'interieur de /'Afrique par le Cap de Bonne Esperance dans les annees 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 et 85. It was a book that captured the public imagin­ ation and became a 'best-seller'. Many translations appeared within three years. <( "'"" It was also used and misused by the ::::; Revolutionary Government to compare :c u the equality of French people with the <("" u.J V"l image of the ' oble Savage' (an idyllic ""u.J lifestyle free of the trappings of civilis­ :E ation) as presented by the philosopher i;l � Zizarsst'" Rousseau. Rousseau considered nature :E z as not simply a philosophical principle and <( the source of all rational and scientific "" investigation, but also a criterion that V"l.... :::, could be used for the elimination of <( oppression and injustice. Le Yaillant was le Vaillant, the eccentric 18th-century French ornithologist. shared his passion for nature with three wives a more romantic follower of Rousseau's and ten children. doctrines and even dedicated a bird to Narina, the attractive daughter of a Hottentot chief he had met, and named another after his servant. Because of his poor writing style, the book was edited anonymously by his father, who based it on notes, sketches and conversations with his son. The French Revolution had stopped his hunting trips in the country but he was kept busy organising his collections and working on his books. During the Reign of Terror (1793-1794), during which people were executed for oppos­ ing the government, Le Yaillant was imprisoned for some months and only narrowly escaped the guillotine with the fall of Robespierre, an influential politi­ cal figure, in July 1794. A sequel, his Second Voyage . .. , finally appeared in

A female Red-cheeked Parrot ( Geoffroyus geof­ froy1), named after Professor Geoffroy St Hilaire (zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Paris). le Vaillant notes a male and female were brought back by Captain Baudin from Timor. However, this species was not definitely reported from Australia until 1914.

778 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 1795, but only after the fervour of Of the 'Blue-faced Parakeet' (, Trichog/ossus haematodus, most probably from the revolution had subsided. For this book Moluccas or New Guinea) Le Vaillant says "Mr Holthuysen could not tell me from which part of India this Le Yaillant hired a professional writer. specimen of his collection came." On the question of its being specifically distinct from the 'Blue-headed Casimir Varon, who was very liberal Parrakeet', Le Vaillant says "let us then leave these questions unanswered, rather than poorly solved, for with the text. Le Yaillant's desire to natural history has too many of these conjectures already!" increase his popularity, as well as the emotional upheaval of imprisonment, may well explain his deliberate over­ sight of Yaron's wilder flights of fantasy. The sequel was also a best-seller, with many translations issued. Both books ran into several editions during Le Yail­ lant's lifetime. In spite of such artistic license, few travel books have captured as much public attention or stimulated and focused as much interest in Africa. By contrast, the Scottish explorer of Ethi­ opia and the Blue Nile, James Bruce, published an accurate account of his travels in 1790. Although this too was a best-seller, he was not believed and was scathingly satirised by vulgar com­ parisons with the adventures of the fictional Baron Munchausen, created by Rudolph Raspe. Le Vaillant's success during the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror and the rise of Napoleon suggests it was a welcome diversion for his readers. Today these books would be described as 'travel journalism' with,

Ededus Parrot (Ededus roratus). Le Vaillant stated that this was a male, but it is now known that males are predominantly green and females red. This is unusual in birds.

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 779 in Le Vaillant's case, a racy narrative skimming over truth and inaccuracies alike to keeping the reader engrossed. Le Vaillant's writings have also been described as literary gems that enchant the true ornithologist, for both his Voy­ ages were replete with bird obser­ vations and the author's youthful enthusiasm. Le Vaillant was now ready for his first and most famous bird book, Histoire nature/le des oiseaux d'Afrique. It was issued in 51 parts from 1796 to 1812 and formed six volumes (a seventh remains unpublished). Other editions and two German translations also appeared. The book reveals Le Vaillant's familiarity with European bird collections and his taxidermic skills. However, in a critical review in 1857, the Swedish ornithol­ ogist C.J. Sundevall pointed out that, of the 284 species included, at least 50 came from outside Africa and another ten were based on artefacts (specimens composed of the parts of two or more species). For example, in 1806 Le Vail­ lant described-and claimed to have observed feeding on a carcass-a cuckoo from South Africa that was revealed many years later to occur only on the island of Java where it is now endangered (the Sunda Coucal, Centro­ pus nigrorufus). Edgar L. Layard, in his Birds of South Africa (1867), dismissed Le Vail­ lant as a liar, on the strength of Sunde­ vall's conclusions. Later workers have been kinder and pointed out that, by overlooking the faults, Le Vaillant's con­ tributions laid the foundation for African ornithology. In the second edition of Layard's book, the author R. B. Sharpe said "it is greatly to be regretted that [Le Vaillant's] work contains a large number of species introduced into the book as African which are in reality inhabitants of totally different coun­ tries; in fact, on many occasions he admits the circumstance. The late M. Jules Verreaux, who knew [Le Vaillant] personally, told us that it was quite by accident that these extraneous species were introduced into his work, that his intentions were perfectly honest, but that many of his specimens were lost, and were not at his disposal when he wrote his book in Europe. He conse­ quently figured many species in his book which he fancied that he had seen in Southern Africa, and that he had no deliberate intention to deceive. In the case of several species which were made up of two or three different kinds of birds, Verreaux stoutly held that [Le Vaillant] was himself deceived, and that he really believed the specimens placed in his hand to be individuals of some

A variant of the Red Lory of the Moluccan Islands ( bomea). Le Vaillant says this bird is "more commonly found on Borneo Island." Salvadori, in the parrot volume of Catalogue of birds in the British Museum (1891), records that he thinks this to be an artificial bird, but without explanation.

AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY 780 Le Vaillant perpetuated an error by stating the Seven-coloured Parrotlet (Touit batavica) was common on Java. Its original describer, Boddaert, gave it the scientific name 'batavica' (Batavia = Jakarta) in 1783. Possibly both were misled by reports of Sonnerat "who saw this Parakeet on Lu�on Island" and "describes it in his voyage to New Guinea". But this is impossible as this bird comes from South America.

species which he remembered to have seen in South Africa." After all, such faults were not unusual in his day. Aus­ tralia has the famous example of Pierre Sonnerat who claimed in 1772 to have found the Laughing Kookaburra (Dace/a novaeguineae) in ew Guinea (hence the name), where it has never been recorded. Sonnerat had used this and other species to enhance the results of his covert expeditions during which he and his uncle smuggled spice plants to Mauritius in an attempt to break the Dutch monopoly in the East Indies (now Indonesia). Today Le Vaillant is not as well known as he should be because he adhered to Count Buffon's older method of French nomenclature, rather than the system of scientific nomenclature intro­ duced by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (the one still used today), which rapidly gained a. foothold in France after the death of the influential Buffon in 1788. Even though others stole the credit for Le Vaillant's new species, often recognising his discover­ ies by adopting the distinctive French names, Le Vaillant refused to adopt the ·artificial' systems of Linnaeus and his followers. Indeed, he used his books to criticise that system by drawing on his extensive field experience with African and European birds. He was interested in the behaviour of birds and had no interest in the anatomical studies of the 'cabinet' naturalist. During this controversy with his French compatriots, and with his Birds of Africa still being issued, he began his new enterprise in 1801. Le Vaillant had studied more bird collections and seen more birds in the field than any of his contemporaries, and what better way to demonstrate this than by issuing grand, illustrated works! But there was another reason behind his new venture. The famous artist Jacques Barraband had introduced the new process of cop­ per engravings partly printed in colour with retouching by �and (already used experimentally in Le Vaillant's African volumes), and a large rival work exploit­ in 24 parts and formed two volumes thologist who had never been to Aus­ ing this technique was about to begin with 145 plates featuring 90 species of tralia could have an impact on the publication. With Barraband's plates and parrots. It is regarded as the corner­ conservation of Australian parrots. Le Vaillant's texts, three separate stone of parrot I iterature and so Strangely enough, this is indeed the works emerged: Histoire nature/le impressed two Frenchmen that they case, for in 1988-over a century and a d'une partie d'oiseaux nouveaux et rares each published a supplementary vol­ half after Le Vaillant's death-and on de /'Amerique et des lndes; Histoire ume: A. Bourjot St Hilaire in 1837-1838 the other side of the world, a unique nature/le des oiseaux de paradis et rolli­ and C. de Souance in 1857-1858. presentation copy of Le Vaillant's great ers (1801-1806), including a supplement work on parrots was acquired by the (1818); and the third and most famous, conservationist Lord Alistair McAlpine. Histoire nature/le des Perroquets (1801- T IS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE HOW THIS He obtained it from Sydney antiquarian 1805). His work on parrots was issued I eccentric 18th-century French orni- Brian Chester, who had purchased it VO LUM E 2 3 N UM B ER l O S PR I N G 1991 781 from a private French library. This remarkable copy, which had been pre­ sented to the famous zoologist and administrator of the Paris natural his­ tory museum, Count Bernard Germain Etienne de la Ville de Lacepede, includes 14 life-sized watercolour head­ studies, a frontispiece and a special hand rendering of 143 of the original engravings by Barraband and Pieter Barbiers, with foliage and flora. The incentive to contribute to parrot conservation, as well as make this his­ toric work available once more, soon led to plans to produce a facsimile, which Brian Chester and Lord McAlpine published in 1989 in two editions. The total of 158 colour prints, with original French letterpress plus the text translated into English for the first time (a vast improvement on the often misleading contemporary English trans­ lations of Le Vaillant's travel books that did not help his reputation in England), and presented in two hand-crafted boxes, has been selling at an after­ publication price of $20,000. Also avail­ able is a single-volume library edition for $375 (smaller format, without the French letterpress). The proceeds of the sales of these new editions, expected to total around $3. 5 million, are earmarked for the conservation of Le Vaillant described the Eastern Rosella as "Indisputably one of the most beautiful of the rich parrakeet parrots through a special captive breed­ tribe". The specimen illustrated was owned by Madame Josephine Bonaparte. She had a profound influence ing program at the Pearl Coast Zoo at on the natural sciences and her estate boasted a unique array of plants and animals from around the world Broome in Western Australia. induding kangaroos, Dwarf Emus (now extinct) and Black Swans. Set up by Lord McAlpine, breeding pairs of all but the rarest of threatened species are kept in a complex of smaller aviaries away from the main public Bloody Parrot Swindle areas. Foreign species are also rep­ Le Vaillant gives a detailed and well­ Parrots have undergone a particular resented. The breeding program fea­ argued discussion of what might cause process, invented by savages. This pro­ tures incubators and brooders for hand variegation or spotting in the feathers cess, they ascertain, involves plucking rearing young birds, while nesting of parrots. He kept a live Chestnut­ the feathers from the bird and then material is replenished in the breeding breasted Macaw for two years and rubbing the new growthwith the blood aviaries to encourage renesting (double noted that extra red feathers appeared from a species of tree-frog which is brooding) during each breeding period. with each moult. At that time some common to Guiana". Instead, Le Vail­ Pearl Coast Zoo has bred more of the naturalists believed that "such spotted lant believed that disease was the threatened Hooded Parrot (Psephotus cause. He was remarkably close to the dissimilis) than any other zoo in the truth, for recent work by Rosemary world. This gives an opportunity for a Low, Curator of Loro Parque in the future release program. Canary Islands and author of Parrots Graeme Phipps, General Curator of of South Americ:.a (J. Gifford Ltd, Lon­ Taronga Zoo in Sydney, provided the don, 1972) puts the condition down to ornithological commentary and updated a nutritional disorder. She has men­ nomenclature for the reprinting. He tioned that it can be diet-induced by points out that three of the species adding fish oil to the diet of hand­ featured by Le Vaillant are now extinct reared birds. This practice was fol­ and half of Australia's amazing variety of lowed by Amerindians who collected parrot species may be extinct within the nestlings, hand-reared them and sold next century unless drastic action is them to bird-traders, who paid a pre­ taken now. The Royal Australian Orni­ mium for unusually coloured birds. The thologists Union's report Threatened condition need not be a permanent birds of Australia (1990) lists 11 species one, as appropriate diet can result in of parrots, including two already con­ the development of normally coloured sidered extinct (the Paradise Parrot, feathers. Given that the microstructure Psephotus pulcherrimus, and the Nor­ of feathers and details on how colour folk Island Kaka, Nestor productus). in feathers is formed are only relatively The remainder, although from different recently known, Le Vaillant's reflection regions of Australia, share the common is quite interesting. problem of having specifichabitat needs Chestnut-breasted Macaw (Ara severa) . - Graeme Phipps and retreating under the onslaught of Taronga Zoo habitat change by humans. Biologically, parrots have a slow

782 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Is Le Vaillant's macaw Cuban or Hispaniolan? This with 1990 reports indicating only one ant contribution to parrot conservation, question is somewhat academic now that the wild specimen known to still survive! possessed a lifelong passion for his macaws of both islands are extinct. Unfortunately, most parrots live in trop­ birds that continued until his death in ical rainforests and deforestation is an 1824. To day we should remember Le breeding and replacement rate but can, added-if not the major-threat. While Vaillant not as a liar, but as a man who if not too disturbed, maintain stable most parrots are hardy and long-lived made important contributions to orni­ populations within a given area. This birds that adjust well to captivity, an thology. The conservation of parrots is means larger parrot species that -are ever-increasing number may be doomed a fitting memorial to one of the great unable to adapt to changes face an to survive only in captivity, if they can l)ioneers in the study of birds. • unpredictable future if their habitat is be saved at all. destabilised. A major problem world­ An exception may be the ongoing wide for the survival of many parrot efforts to save New Zealand's flightless species is that not enough is known Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) by estab­ Suggested Reading about them in the wild. Field studies lishing populations on uninhabited, Forshaw, J., 1989. Parrots of the world. 3rd ed. have often provided a key to survival vermin-free islands (a successful tech­ Sydney: Weldon. and the development of population man­ nique for other endangered New agement plans (for example, locating Zealand birds). There may be a middle Le Vaillant, F., 1989. Histoire nature/ledes Perroquets ground. While a number of species have {Natural history of parrots/. Faes. ed. lmprime: Syd­ preferred nesting sites, understanding ney. feeding habits and preferred food been pushed to the brink of extinction, plants). The Puerto Rican Parrot (Ama­ with some famous examples of recov­ Low, R., 1984. Endangered parrots. London: Bland­ zona vittata) is the classic case. How­ ery, it is also important to breed ford Press. ever, in too many cases the survival of species in captivity whose numbers are Quinton, J.C. & Robinson, A.M.L. (eds), 1973. Fran­ a species may only come from captive still reasonably secure, not only to rois Le Vail/ant: traveller in South Africa. Libr. of breeding programs to ensure a viable develop and improve breeding tech­ Parliament: Cape Town. stock of individuals in order to maintain niques, but perhaps also to keep some Wetherbee, D.K., 1985. The extinct Cuban and Hisp­ some degree of genetic diversity (a species from getting on the critical list. niolan Macaws (Ara, Psittacidae), and description of a captive gene pool). This is a key role for Lord McAlpine's captive breeding new species, Ara cubensis. Carib. 1. Sci. 21: 169-175. zoos. Reintroduction into the wild of program deserves all the support it can captive-bred stock may be possible. get. We can't afford to lose any more Parrots are popular as pets and the parrot species nor can we afford to lose Murray Bruce is a freelance writer and too much time tackling the problem. researclwr specialising in birds, conservation, trade in live birds is now threatening to travel and tlw history of zoological exploration. increase the likelihood of population There are a number of such programs His research has taken him to about 60 coun­ crashes of whole species or significant for parrots around the world and this is tries extensively in the Asia-Pacific region. parrot populations. The pet trade is one of the few groups where the sup­ Murray co-authored TIU! birds of Wallacea blamed for the demise of the world's port of aviculturists may be consider­ (1986), a comprehensivereview of tlw bird fauna rarest parrot, Spix's Macaw (Cyanop­ able. of the island regions between Borneo and New sitta spixii) of north-eastern Brazil, Le Vaillant, who inspired this import- Guinea.

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 5 P R I N G 1991 783

"Horticultural projects in the Northern Territory cannot justify modification of the wildlife environment to improve their economic viability." MAGPIE GEESE, MANGOES & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

BY PETER J. WHITEHEAD CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

ESPJTE LIVING IN THE WORLD'S DRIEST those conflicts are not always as obvi­ inhabited continent, Australians ous as drainage schemes or use of have been slow to recognise the wetlands for waste disposal. Indeed extraordinaryD conservation and rec­ they may be difficult to predict in reation value of wetlands. Fortunately advance. An interaction between the that realisation dawned before our lar­ Northern Territory's most abundant and gest and most spectacular freshwater conspicuous waterbird, the Magpie wetlands were subject to the damming, Goose (Anseranas semipalmata), and drainage schemes and pollution that the development of horticulture in the robbed much of southern Australia of its Top End provides a striking example of swamps, billabongs and lakes. A con­ the difficulties facing such efforts. The certed effort is now being made to conflict is resolvable and may in the protect the diverse wildlife of the Top broader Australian context be relatively End's huge river flood plains by devel­ trivial. Nonetheless it demonstrates oping comprehensive wetland conser­ that the framing of a strategy for 'eco­ vation strategies. logically sustainable development' in At the core of these strategies are which governments, industry and con­ attempts to integrate development with servation grouvs are now engaged is conservation, to reduce the potential the first step in 785 long and difficult for destructive conflicts. However, process.

The Magpie Goose wreakshavoc on theTop End's horticultural businessbut, btause the bird life Is a major drawcard for tourism, heavy culling Is not feasible. A successful strategy for 'ecologlcally sustainable devtlopmtnt' Is needed. EW ENVIRONMENTS FLUCTUATE MORE Magpie Goose at nest. Note the hooked bill, which Ferratically than Australia's seasonally is ideal for digging in dry soils as well as for sifting dry tropics. The wet season's spectacu­ through mud for small food items. lar storms and monsoonal deluges alter­ nate with dry-season droughts that may screamers (family Anhimidae) of South last for more than eight months. The America, and resulted in its elevation to wetland fauna not only has to cope with a family of its own, the Anseranatidae. the extreme seasonal cycle, but must As recognised by Stephen Davies and also deal with great year-to-year vari­ the late Harry Frith, who did much of ation in the total amount of rain, its the early CSIRO research on Magpie timing and its distribution across the Goose ecology, the unusual feet and landscape. Rates and depths of wet­ other morphological oddities contribute season flooding at particular wetland to the bird's capacity to exploit a range sites are unpredictable. causing equally of habitats. While weakly webbed feet capricious shifts in the representation may compromise swimming and diving and persistence of different types of efficiency, the long unwebbed portion of wetland vegetation that provide food, the toes, including an opposable fourth shelter and nest sites. toe, permit actions quite beyond true Such variable environments do not geese and ducks. Magpie Geese are favour the evolution of highly special­ adept at clambering through thick ised animals, because a resource swamp vegetation, grasping and manip­ exploited today may be gone tomorrow. ulating grass stems for nest building or The animals that dominate such places bringing seed heads within reach, and tend to be generalists, with the ability perching in trees away from potential to exploit a range of resources that wax predators. The clawed feet are also and wane in their relative availability. used as weapons in disputes between The ecology of Australia's unique Mag­ males and for defence against preda­ pie Goose exemplifies this principle. tors. The robust hooked bill is well This unusual bird has defied simple suited for digging up roots and bulbs in taxonomic categorisation. The generic dry soils, but the bird also retains the label Anseranas literally translates as fine structure of bill and tongue needed duck-goose, while the specific name to separate small seed and other semipalmata recognises the partial web­ organic particles from water or mud. bing of its heavily clawed and most Behavioural and physiological flexi­ ungoose-like feet. Recent biochemical bility complements this morphology. studies have confirmed the species' Magpie Geese usually nest in flooded divergence from the true geese and grasslands or sedgelands but, when ducks (family Anatidae), established its these habitats are unavailable, they may greater affinity with the equally unusual nest in low shrubs or trees. By water­ fowl standards, Magpie Geese usually produce unusually large clutches of eggs. But, if suitable food supplies are low early in the wet season, they may not nest at all. When all else fails, they abandon unfavourable sites and fly long distances in search of better conditions. Clearly the Magpie Goose is admir­ ably adapted to exploit a range of vari­ a b I e habitats that are patchily distributed in space and time. But a refined ability to exploit such a habitat jigsaw does not guarantee survival, especially if some elements of the puzzle are entirely lost. By about 1900, conversion of the temperate wetlands of Australia's southern States to cattle and sheep pasture was so advanced that no amount of ecological flexibility could compensate, and huge regional popula­ tions were totally extinguished. The Magpie Goose persists in large num­ bers in the Northern Te rritory (surveys between 1984 and 1990 have returned estimates ranging from 1.1 to 2. 4 million) and other parts of tropical Aus­ tralia because modification of wetland habitats for agriculture has been minor. The ability to perch in trees away from predators is Fortunately, there is little pressure in one reason for the Magpie Goose's success in the the Top End to repeat the drainage Top End and one of the features that have made it schemes of southern Australia for pas­ a significant pest of tree crops. The feet are partially toralism. Indeed, pastoralists and con­ webbed and heavily dawed, allowing the bird to servation authorities are cooperating to exploit a wider range of habitats than are available restore freshwater wetlands damaged to true geese and ducks. by saltwater intrusion. Some land-

786 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY -' 0: ::::, u Cl i------'� V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 787 holders (although by no means all) have Unregulated use of subterranean their domestic supply. also agreed to exclude exotic pasture waters may interrupt flows to spring­ These effects are at least potentially species from Magpie Goose breeding fed swamps and fringing rainforests, controllable. A second source of serious sites. Surprisingly, developments in and so degrade or destroy these habi­ conflict between horticulture and wild­ well-drained upland areas present the tats. Many of the Top End's major life is less simply regulated: the Magpie more immediate conflicts. seasonal freshwater wetlands overlie Goose has developed a taste for exotic sediments of marine origin, and adjoin fruits. ORTICULTURE BASED PRINCIPALLY ON tidal rivers. Excessive drawdown of the Native fruits are not a significant H exotic fruits and sustained by dry­ freshwater aquifers used for irrigation component of Magpie Goose diets. season irrigation is seen to have con­ may cause intrusion of saline waters. Fruit-bearing trees do not occur in pre­ siderable potential in the Top End. Sites Evaporation concentrates the dissolved ferred sedge and grassland habitats, with soils, drainage and a water supply salts from water brought to the surface and are too dispersed in adjoining Euca­ suitable for horticulture do not include for irrigation, whether contaminated lyptus woodlands and forests to support wetlands, but they often abut them. with marine salts or not, and so flocks of such a large bird. Regular Environmental issues arising from a increases mineral loads in runoff to consumption of fruits such as mango, conjunction of horticulture with natural adjoining wetlands. Careless use of bio­ rambutan, and a variety of melons is, wetlands include impacts of irrigation cides or fertilisers may result in pol­ therefore, further evidence of the on regional water regimes, and the risk lution of aquifers or of the runoff from behavioural and morphological flexibility of pollution with biocides (herbicides horticultural sites, affecting wildlife or of the Magpie Goose. and insecticides) or fertilisers. humans who depend on the aquifer for The birds are probably attracted to

788 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY new horticultural plots by ploughing or of temperature by providing shade. other soil disturbance that makes for And, at the core of the problem, the easy digging to extract roots, tubers plots ultimately provide a rich and con­ and rhizomes. Irrigation also stimulates venient source of food. growth of grasses to provide grazing Magpie Geese feed on windfalls, but like that exploited by Magpie Geese also attempt to consume ripe or unripe after early wet-season rains. Puddles of fruit from the tree. Many bi-rds seem to water from spray or drip irrigation confine their attentions to low-hanging attract birds in the late dry season, as fruit that they can reach by extending to natural water bodies contract and their full height of about 80 centimet­ become increasingly crowded and res, or jumping from the ground. fouled. Magpie Geese consume a lot of Others clamber about in trees to take water, much of which appears to be fruit from higher branches and, in the used for evaporative cooling. Growing process, dislodge fruits that are eagerly trees also help the birds avoid extremes consumed by birds lurking below. The strong hooked bill that is such an Magpie Geese like to eat a range of exotic fruits efficient digging implement also deals cultivated in the Top End, like honeydew melon effectively with the tough skins on fruit Newly hatched Magpie Geese. Nests are usually (shown here), mangoes, rambutan, watermelon, like mangoes. Even when fruit are not made in flooded grassland and these birds produce rockmelon and sweet potato. consumed, they are often so marked as much larger dutches of eggs than most other to be unsaleable. waterfowl of similar body size. Magpie Geese also make good use of layouts designed to facilitate orchard With the benefit of hindsight it is management and end-of-season har­ perhaps unsurprising that a highly vests. Neat spacing of trees provide mobile generalist herbivore should find useful flight paths for arrivals and such man-made environments irresist­ departures of these large and relatively ible. These gardens concentrate all of clumsy birds. Pruning of lower the major resources sought by Magpie branches gives free access to irrigation Geese in the late dry season. Nonethe­ points and low-hanging fruit under indi­ less the problem does not appear to vidual trees, while providing an uninter­ have been predicted by either agricul­ rupted view of potential predators, tural or wildlife authorities. It can be including horticulturists. The number of predicted, however, that in the absence birds exploiting these characteristics of of an appropriate management exotic fruit orchards is now sufficient to response, the problem will increase. cause major damage, including total First, Magpie Geese are long-lived losses of some experimental crops like birds (up to 27 years in the wild) and rambutan. Sprawling melon crops are the fruit-eating habit once established even more vulnerable. Root crops are will persist in populations. Second, the so far little grown in the Top End, but social behaviour of the Magpie Goose Magpie Geese are accomplished forag­ will ensure effective transmission of a ers for succulent roots and tubers, and mango-eating 'tradition' between gener­ have shown a willingness to sample ations. Goslings remain with their par­ sweet potato crops at local experimen­ ents for the first year of life and, during tal farms. this time, probably learn locations and

Newly ploughed land attracts Magpie Geese because it is easy to dig for roots and tubers.

VO L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 789 ..... c,: ::, u 0

�0 Peter Whitehead (right) and assistant Kurt Tschimer preparing a Magpie Goose for banding in order to track movements of family groups from nesting areas.

methods of exploiting dry-season food ettes of birds of prey tend to be XPANSION OF HORTICULTURE HAS BEEN resources. Third, unless compensated, ignored. On very small plots, active Eidentified as a significant develop­ increasing diversion of water resources dogs may offer some relief but are likely ment objective for the Northern Te rri­ to agricultural and urban development to tire on larger plots, or when they tory. Diversion of natural resources to may tend to reduce the dry-season have to cope with large numbers of tJ,is end is justified on economic stability of natural wetlands, forcing geese. grounds, including the need to diversify Magpie Goose populations into greater Aversive conditioning, like chemical a narrow industrial and commercial dependence on alternative habitats, treatment of the most accessible fruit base. But the Te rritory's most signifi­ including the horticultural oases. to render it distasteful or cause tem­ cant industry by far is tourism, which is During their major studies of Magpie porary distress (such as emetics), highly dependent on wildlife. Thus the Goose ecology in the 1950s, Frith and would have to be carried out on a large environmental impact of horticulture Davies recognised that destruction of scale over long periods. Magpie Goose has a direct economic as well as a local breeding sites would be the most flocks are extremely fluid and, although conservation dimension. No longer can effective way to halt Magpie Goose birds tend to return to the same general the extirpation of entire populations, depredations on rice crops. Experience areas to feed, the composition of indi­ nor the destruction of significant num­ at rice farms showed that killing birds at vidual flocks and their precise foraging bers of Magpie Geese on crops be the crop site and attempts to deter sites change from day to day. contemplated as legitimate protection them with lights or noise were ineffec­ Experience across the world shows measures. tive. Adult birds have few predators, that by far the most effective pest con­ A commitment to sustainable devel­ and the response to even the largest of trol methods involve physical exclusion. opment obliges regulatory and planning Australian raptors (the White-Bellied Good perimeter fences help, but authorities to avoid the knowing cre­ Sea Eagle, Haliaelus leucogasler) is exclusion of aerial pests requires total ation of destructive land-use conflicts. little more than a temporary crowding enclosure of individual trees or plots Horticultural projects in the Northern together. Thus kites or other silhou- with suitable netting. Appropriately Territory cannot justify modification of designed netting (that is, relatively con­ the wildlife environment to improve spicuous and fine-meshed) is a good their economic viability. Rather they general response to pest problems should attract support only if they because it can exclude all of a diverse remain commercially viable in the face suite of winged pests, including fruit­ of crop losses to wildlife, or continue to bats. Netting can deal with some large be profitable despite the costs of non­ X: insect pests like moths, and so reduce destructive pest exclusion measures. u insecticide use. Disadvantages include The obligation to minimise conflict 8z high installation and maintenance costs, extends to the need to balance compe- � and complication of orchard mainten­ 0 � Mangoes chewed by Magpie Geese. ance or harvest. Magpie Geese and gosllngs. 0

790 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY

soils. But neither the interests of indi­ vidual growers nor the collective health of the industry will be served by under­ estimating known and potential ver­ tebrate pest problems. While it may be unreasonable to expect all problems potentially arising from a development to be anticipated, a willingness to promptly acknowledge and correct mistakes is indispensable. Otherwise the strategy for 'ecologically sustainable development' that is attract­ ing so much attention will do no more than add to the collections of pious conservation platitudes already clutter­ ing bookshelves. •

Suggested Reading The author observes a Magpie Goose. An airboat has to be used to get through the heavily vegetated swamps. Frith, H., 1967. Waterfowl in Australia. 2nd ed. Angus and Robertson: Sydney. tition for water resources between ticularly sensitive to reduced water Whitehead, PJ., Wilson, B.A. & Bowm,ln, D.M.J.S., developed and natural systems, and to flows or aquifer drawdown. 1990. Conservation of Northern Tenritory coastal avoid pollution. The proportion of avail­ The history of broad-scale agriculture wetlands: the Mary River floodplain. Biol. Conserv. able water resources that can be in the Northern Terrtory is a dismal 52: 85-111. diverted without significant off-site det­ one, characterised by costly failures. riment is not easily predicted, and man­ Constraints like infertile leached soils, agement regimes should include the a capricious climate, and an abundance Peter Whitehead is a wildlife biologist with the Conservation Commission of the Northern Ter­ capacity to respond rapidly to evidence of vertebrate and invertebrate pests ritory in Darwin. He works primarily on con­ � of adverse change detected during have been too often ignored or under­ servation and management of wetland fauna 8 ongoing monitoring programs. In some estimated. Prospects are brighter for a and their habitats. After a period working on � cases this might include the local sup- diverse horticultural industry based on aspects of the biology and management of croco­ 0 plementation of water at spring-fed scattered small holdings, sited to diles. he is now concentrating on waterfowl, � swamps or rainforests that appear par- exploit patchily distributed suitable including the Magpie Goose. ------BBC Television Presents . . . COMPELLING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING PROGRAMMES TO FASCINATE AND ENTERTAIN YOU

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794 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY R E p T L E s

Charles Darwin, circa 1880.

"He made significant discoveries about reptile biology that were many years ahead of their time." CHARLES DARWIN IN TASMANIA BY RICK SHINE & MARK HUTCHINSON DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY QF SYDNEY SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

OST EOUCATED AUSTRALIANS WOULO and its inhabitants: "Farewell Australia, recognise the name of Charles you are a rising infant and doubtless Darwin-not only because one of some day will reign a great princess in ourM capital cities is named after him, but the South, but you are too great and also because of his discovery of evol­ ambitious for affection, yet not great ution via natural selection. However, enough for respect; I leave your shores many people do not realise that Darwin without sorrow or regret". An exciting actually visited our shores during his recent discovery, due to detective work famous voyage on HMS Beagle, or that by an Australian scientist and a he explored several parts of this librarian, has changed that picture quite country. Until very recently, even the dramatically. Darwin not only collected >- cc: < few who knew of Darwin's visit were specimens here (many of them species cc: a:, unaware of any particularly interesting that would not be formally described by ::::; discoveries he made here, and the most scientists until much later), but he also z=> frequently repeated quote from Dar­ made significant discoveries about rep­ .., Q 0 win's Australian travels concerns his tile biology that were many years ahead ii: general disappointment about the place of their time. �a:, ;S >- Hobart around the time of Darwin's visit. ..,V, cc:,_ => 0 u

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M 8 E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 795 Frank Nicholas is an animal geneticist at the , and Jan transcribed some of Darwin's original notebooks, Nicholas is a librarian at the Mitchell induding those detailing his visit to Hobart in Library. While researching for their February 1836. recent (1989) book on Charles Darwin's travels in Australia, they discovered of his activities revealed by the Nicho­ that some of Darwin's original las' investigations. Even if you are notebooks-kept in his home in Kent, interested exclusively in very 'modern' southern England-had never been branches of biology (like molecular gen­ transcribed. Darwin's niece, Norah Bar­ etics or highly mathematical ecology), low, had transcribed and published most it's still fun to look back at the activities of her uncle's notebooks, but it appears of earlier workers who have been con­ she became tired of the task. Quite a lot cerned with the same types of animals of Darwin's notes from his Australian as oneself. When the 'earlier worker' in travels had apparently lain undisturbed question is the father of evolutionary since his death. When Frank and Jan biology, the thrill is even greater. Com­ transcribed them (no easy task, bine this with the fact that little scien­ because Darwin's handwriting was tific work has ever been carried out on atrocious!), they found a gold mine of the Tasmanian reptiles, and you'll begin original biological observations. to understand why the discovery of The most exciting section of the Darwin's forgotten notebooks was so notebooks (at least to us, because we important to us. Not only had someone are both evolutionary biologists bothered to look at 'our' animals over interested in Tasmanian lizards) con­ 150 years ago, but that 'someone' was the British Museum (Natural History) in cerns Darwin's observations on the rep­ probably the greatest biologist who ever London and the Museum of Zoology in tiles in the vicinity of "Hobart Town", lived. Cambridge-the two likeliest places for where he visited in February 1836. (His As one of the first trained biologists Darwin to send his specimens-and notebooks of the time are actually to visit Tasmania, Darwin put a lot of drawn a blank in both places. Perhaps headed "1835": it's nice to know that effort into collecting, describing and they were lost in transit, or destroyed, even Darwin could make simple errors!) preserving examples of the species he or are sitting at the back of some dusty He spent 13 days in Hobart and its encountered. His descriptions went shelf to be eventually rediscovered­ environs collecting fossils and observ­ into his notebooks, and the specimens like the notebooks-in years to come. ing the local wildlife and geology. He themselves were killed, preserved and In any case, all we have to go on for spent most of one day in an unsuccess­ labelled so that they could be shipped most of the specimens is Darwin's ful attempt to climb Mount Wellington, back to England for more detailed study descriptions. trying to move through the thick veg­ by Darwin himself or by other experts. The job of identifying the species is etation on the wetter southern side of The first challenge for us, obviously, is complicated by the general similarity in the mountain. Realising his error, he to try to work out exactly what species size, shape and colour of many of the climbed the mountain successfully the were actually described by Darwin. To Tasmanian lizards. Recent biochemical following day, using a different route. do this, you can usually hope to have research-comparing blood proteins Still, these must have been two very two sources of evidence: the actual and liver enzymes-has shown that strenuous days, and bear testimony to specimens themselves, preserved and there are quite a few very similar Darwin's physical fitness at this time, lodged in a museum, and the descrip­ species that can be hard to tell apart one day before his 27th birthday. tions and/or sketches made at the time. without close examination. For To a professional biologist, however, Clearly, the specimens offer the stron­ example, as you travel up Mount Well­ Darwin's observations on the local ani­ gest evidence but in this case most of ington, you'll often see small brown mals were the most interesting aspect them can't be found. We've looked in lizards scurrying across the rocks, all

796 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY the way from the base to the summit. cryptus), breaks down so that they form One of six paintings by Augustus Earle that make up Most of these were always considered hybrids and no longer behave as separ­ a panorama of Hobart. These were drawn In the to belong to a single species, the Tas­ ate species. It's a marvellous demon­ 1820s, about ten years before Darwin's arrival. manian Tree Skink (Niveoscincus pretio­ stration of evolution in action, and sus), but recent detailed research has Charles Darwin probably would have cool. Hence, we have a pretty good' shown that the lizards at the top of the loved it if he was around to see it today. chance of working out exactly what mountain are a different species, now He might have been particularly species he actually found. In all, he called the Southern Snow Skink (N. interested in the fact that these skinks described six lizards and one snake. micro/epidotus), because they only are all Tasmanian endemics (that is, Frank Nicholas has kindly given us his occur in alpine habitats. Where they they are found nowhere else), because transcription of Darwin's notes, and we occur together, around the tree line, this type of evolutionary radiation of think that we have a reasonable idea as the two types don't interbreed; that is, animals on small islands (especially in to the identity of most of the animals they behave as separate species. Bio­ the Galapagos) turned out to provide that Darwin collected. chemically they are also distinct and on important clues to Darwin as he pon­ closer inspection are subtly different in dered the origin of species. Still, the HE FIRST LIZARD HE DESCRIBES ("NUMBER size and colour. In these and other similarities in colour and size of the T1358") had "scales on the centre of species it's hard to be certain of identi­ Tasmanian skinks mean that it can back light greenish brown, edged on fication unless you're prepared to go to be pretty difficult to tell what kind of sides with black; scales on upper sides the trouble of counting the number of lizard you have simply from a written of body greyer with less black; on lower scales around their bodies. And just to description. sides reddish; belly yellow with numer­ make it worse, there are other parts of Fortunately, Darwin left fairly ous narrow irregular waving transverse Tasmania where the distinction between detailed descriptions of the reptiles he lines of black-these lines are formed the Southern Snow Skink and a third collected, and there are only a dozen or of the lower margin of some of the species, the Mountain Skink (N. oro- so species in the area because it is so scales being black. Head above grey,

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 797 beneath whitish. Motion of the body eaten a small venomous snake. same burrows as their parents for the when crawling like a snake-not very The second of Darwin's lizards first year or so of life. active: in stomach beetles and larvae: ("number 1359") had "two longitudinal The third and fourth lizards that Dar­ common in open wood." The colour of black bands, marked with chains of win described were both smaller this animal, and its snake-like crawling yellowish white spots: upper parts of species, the kinds often encountered in motion, indicate that this was a She-oak sides irregularly black with ditto marks: large numbers in the suburbs as well as Skink (Cyclodomorphus casuarinae). belly whitish: tail simply brown-soles the bush. Lizard "number 1360" Indeed, the preserved specimen sur­ of feet pale coloured". The "chains of ("above pale brown, with very numer­ vived the voyage and was identified and white spots" show that this specimen ous little transverse undulating irregu­ described by Thomas Bell when the was a White's Skink (Egernia whitii). lar black narrow bands; sides richer zoological results of the Beagle voyage This species, with its striking dots-and­ brown,-tail same as body but paler; were published in 1843. The specimen dashes colour pattern, is one of the few soles of feet black") was probably the now sits in the British Museum, one of for which we have some detailed eco­ Spotted Skink (Niveoscincus ocellatus), only three of Darwin's Australian lizards logical information, due to the work of whereas "number 1361" ("whole upper to have found its way to its intended J. L. Hickman of the University of Tas­ surface dark blackish brown, each scale resting place. Bell found only beetles mania who reported on its habits and with 4 to 6 minute longitudinal and larvae in the stomach of his speci­ diet in a 1960 article. White's Skink digs streaks-the black colour far prepon­ men, but a recent study by Sydney warren-like burrows under stones or in derant. Belly reddish: throat white: University biologist Glenn Shea showed sandy soils. Like most Tasmanian rep­ soles of feet black") was probably the that these lizards have very broad diets. tiles (there are only three exceptions) it Metallic Skink (Niveoscincus metalli­ They eat large numbers of small snails, produces live young rather than laying cum). The Spotted Skink is a rock and vne that Glenn examined had even eggs. The babies seem to stay in the specialist, using crevices and cracks for shelter, and basking and hunting for lmf�"i� �\��..; prey on the rock surface. Its handsome colouring is very effective camouflage on lichen-covered boulders. The Met­ allic Skink is primarily a terrestrial dweller of the leaf litter and is probably the most common reptile in Tasmania. It is certainly the most widespread, from sea-level to subalpine elevations and from the dry midlands to the satu­ rated western coast. This success, rather surprisingly, does not carry over to the Australian mainland, where the Metallic Skink is generally uncommon and confined to southern Victoria. The red belly noticed by Darwin is charac­ teristic of the species and develops in most (but not all) adults of both sexes. As with many aspects of Tasmanian lizard biology, the function (if any) of this bright colour is not known. Darwin's fifth lizard (''number 1362") is recorded to be "same genus as 1358" and "slightly dark 'Wood Brown' with central longitudinal band crossed by about five broad very irregular bands of 'Umber Brown': tail with ditto and gen­ erally darker.-Beneath paler with most obscure undulating dark lines: top of head reddish Brown: iris orange, pupil black... Held by the tail, collapses its front legs, close to body.. .Tongue, coloured fine dark blue". There is no doubt that this animal was a Blotched Blue-tongue Skink (Tiliqua nigro­ /utea)-no other Ta smanian lizard except the She-oak Skink has a blue tongue, and no other species has such a colour pattern or would allow anyone to hold it up by the tail without dismem­ bering that part of its body to escape. This identification is confirmed by Dar­ win's notes on its behaviour: "Animal so z 0 torpid and sluggish a man may almost V, z tread on it, before it will move. I lay :i: down close to one and touching its eye ::c: with a stick it would move its nictitating "" membrane and each time turn its head i a little further: at last turned its whole Darwin collected a total of six lizards and a snake from Tasmania. Clockwise from top left, the lizards are: body, when upon a blow on its tail ran the She-oak Skink, White's Skink, Spotted Skink, Metallic Skink, Blotched Blue-tongue Skink and Mountain away at a slow awkward pace, like a Dragon. thick snake. Endeavouring to hide itself

798 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Biologist Glenn Shea with a copy of Zoology of the voyage of HMS Beagle (1843) and a St,e-oak Skink. The bottom figure in the book is the She-oak Skink, described by Thomas Bell who found only beetles and larvae in the stomach of Darwin's specimen. Glenn has since discovered that the She-oak Skink's diet is actually quite broad and indudes large numbers of small snails and even a venomous snake. in a hole in the rocks-appears quite nians unfamiliar with the much larger inoffensive and has no idea of biting." monitor lizards to which this name is All of these details fit in with the identi­ correctly applied. Monitors are absent fication of the animal as a blue-tongue. from Tasmania. Darwin also dissected Although now placed in separate gen­ his blue-tongue and discovered a era, blue-tongues and the She-oak remarkable fact. He records "stomach Skink are close relatives as Darwin capacious full of pieces of a white mush­ suggested. However, this relationship room and few large beetles ...: hence was not widely accepted by professional partly herbivorous!" We now know that biologists until long after Darwin's orig­ herbivory is common in many groups of inal insight. large lizards, but this was almost cer­ Darwin devoted a lot of space in his tainly the first scientific record of her­ notebook to the blue-tongue, undoubt­ bivory in a skink. Indeed, there has still edly impressed by its large size, beauti­ been very little in the way of detailed ful colouration and unusual behaviour. scientificstudy of the diets of any of the Darwin reported that this species was Tasmanian lizards, and overall we know "not uncommon on sunny grassy hills". little more in 1991 than Darwin did in Blue-tongues are still common in the 1836. warmer parts of Tasmania, as evi­ One final lizard described by Darwin denced by the distressing frequency is harder to identify. He described "liz­ with which they are killed on roads ard 1364" as having "along the back, a during the spring mating season. Con­ space ash coloured, which contrasts trary to Darwin's experience, Blotched over the loins: in centre of this chain of Blue-tongues can be most irascible transverse marks connected together when first encountered, hissing and of richest brown: within these marks, gaping to expose the blue and pink white spots, and central pale brown line tongue and, if given the chance, biting down whole back: -sides mottled with hard. Their size is impressive compared all the above colours. Belly ash, with to the other much smaller Tasmanian few minute longitudinal dark streaks. A Blotched Blue-tongue Skink displays its vivid lizards, so much so that they are corn- Head with transverse ones of the dark tongue to intimidate an aggressor. . monly misnamed 'goannas' by Tasma- brown: common: I believe also at Syd-

VO LU M E 2 3 N UM BE R 1 0 S PR I NG 1991 799 ney." We are fairly sure that this animal North America) venomous snakes are Darwin mistakenly identified the Black Tigersnake was a Mountain Dragon (Tympanocryp­ very easy to distinguish from harmless (family Elapidae) as harmless. However, he correctly tis diemensis), although it is surprising species. The harmless ones (like grass reported it bears live young, the first scientific that Darwin didn't mention the rough­ snakes and the Garter Snake) are long record for this family. ened scales characteristic of this group. and thin, whereas the dangerous Our confidence comes from an entry in species (like vipers and rattlesnakes) elapids, so they are all venomous. One G.A. Boulenger's 1885-87 Catalogue of are short and fat. Unfortunately, the species (the White-lipped Snake, Drys­ the lizards in the British Museum (Natu­ same rule doesn't hold completely true dalia coronoides) is so small that it is ral History), which lists a male and in Australia (or Asia or Africa, two fairly harmless, but the other two-the female of this species, collected by C. areas that Darwin never visited). The Black Tigersnake (Notechis ater) and Darwin, Esq., in Tasmania. venomous family Elapidae consists the Copperhead (Austrelaps super­ Lastly, Darwin also collected a snake mostly of long, thin snakes, but these bus)-are highly venomous. Darwin and seems to have had no idea of how include deadly species like cobras, almost certainly didn't realise this, close he may have come to an untimely mambas, taipans and the like. All three because he refers to his specimen as end. In Britain (and, indeed, most of species of Ta smanian snakes are "Coluber"-that is, a member of the

800 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY family Colubridae, the harmless snakes. + NOWAVAlLABLE + Darwin described his snake as "Hair Brown with much Liver Brown­ beneath mottled grey". This regrettably The Scented Ape terse description could apply to any of the three Tasmanian species, although The Biology and Culture of Human Odour the Black Tigersnake is perhaps the most likely based on its colour, distri­ D. Michael Stoddart, bution and abundance. If so, it's sober­ Department oJZ-oology. University oJTasmania ing to think that one unlucky bite could have changed the history of biology. As Humans devote lime and effort to removing natural body odour it was, Darwin obviously decided to err and replacing il with sexual allractanl odours derived from on the side of caution and apparently plan ls and animals - we seem to need to smell of something thumped the snake to death with a other than people! Yel of all the apes. stick. He was not bitten and actually we are the mosl richly endowed with made a very interesting observation: ''The abdomen being burst in catching scent producing glands. the animal: a small snake appeared from This book examines the sense of smell the disrupted egg: hence ovoviporous: is this not strange in Coluber?" Up to in humans. comparing it with the that time, the conventional wisdom was known functions of the same sense in that vipers were the only viviparous other animals. Odorous cues play a (I ive-bearing) snakes (hence their role in sexual physiology and name), and that all other snakes repro­ behaviour in animals and there are duced by laying eggs. As we now know, clajms that odour can play the same live-bearing habits have evolved inde­ pendently in about 100 different types role in humans. The place of odours of lizards and snakes, usually in cold and scents in aesthetics and in areas like Tasmania. However, as far as psychoanalysis serves to illustrate the we can tell, Darwin's observations were link between the emotional centres and the first scientific record of live-bearing the brain. in an elapid snake. So, remarkably, Charles Darwin not The material is presented with as much explanation of the only collected a fair proportion of all the technical detail as possible lo make lhe book accessible lo a wide Tasmanian reptile species, but he also made some interesting observations readership. about their natural history-like her­ 0 521 39561 5 Paperback $39.95 bivory and viviparity-that would not be rediscovered for many years. The diets of lizards and the sex lives of snakes may not rank highly as conversation + AVAILABLESOON + topics to many people, but they are important to understanding the basic biology of these poorly known little creatures. Speaking personally, as pro­ Natural Hazards fessional biologists, it gives us a warm glow to think that some of the first Threat, Disaster, Effect, accurate scientific observations on 'our' animals were made by that intrepid Response young Englishman who was later to change the way we all view the natural Edward Bryant, world. • Senior Lecturer. Department of Geography. University of Wollongong. NSW Suggested Reading Whether natural disasters are explajned through myth and Hickman, J.L., 1960. Observations on the skink lizard legend or satellite forecasts and computer models. many people Egerniawhitii (lace pede). Pap. Proc.. R. Soc. Tas. 94: feel that we are powerless in the face of a hostile environment. lll-118. This book describes the processes. predictability. e.Kt.enl and Nicholas, F.W. & J.M., 1989. Charles Darwin in impact of all natural hazards affiicting this planet. Australia. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Shea, G., 1988. On the diet of the Sheoak Skink, In spile of the destruction caused by hazards in lerms of social Cydodomorphuscasuarinae. Herpetofauna18(1): 7-!d. dislocation, psychological trauma and the damage bill. the book is optimistic, demonstrating that although natural phenomena Dr Rick Shine is a Reader in Biology at the cannot be avoided. climatic hazards in particular can usually be University of Sydney and a Research Associate predicted and their effects mitigated. of the Australian Museum. He studies the evol­ ution, ecology and reproductive biology of Aus­ 0 521 37295 X Hardback $85.00 tralian snakes and lizards. Dr Mark 0 521 37889 3 Paperback $35.00 Hutchinson is Curator of Reptiles at the South Australian Museum and is interested in the eoolutionary relationships of the Australian Cambridge University Press, PO Box 85, Oakleigh 3166 fauna.

VOLUME 2 3 NUMBER l O SPRING 1991 801

relate the animal to its environment­ mental attributes that should urge us to "Is there a biological basis for a consider that many creatures other than ourselves have a sense of 'self'. distinction between body and soul Psychobiology is the study of the way evident in the activities of the mind?" the 'minds' of animals work. It is a relatively young science whose focus comes closest to addressing questions about the distinction between body and mind. What do psychobiologists con­ clude about concepts of 'mind' and IN SEARCH OF 'self'? William Uttal suggests that "mind is to the nervous system as rotation is to the wheel", rotation being A SIMPLE SOUL the sum of the wheel's organised move­ ments and not an independently exist­ ing thing. Morgan Hunt suggests that mind is to the brain as a flame is to a candle or digestion is to the stomach. BY MICHAEL ARCHER The brain is what is; the mind is what SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE. UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES the brain does. Should we, he argues, conclude that digestion is a spirit that inhabits the stomach, or that flame is a E FIRST AHC SCIENCE SHOW I EVER ones if we were neither aware of our ghost that lies dormant in a candle? Ieard included an interview with a postmortem selves nor able to recog­ These and other psychobiologists are Hare Krishna who declared that nise anyone else? Because mental convinced that all of what they study as TNASA had deliberately misled the world activity and memories are the source of 'mind' is explicable as attributes of the into thinking that the Moon was a life­ our sense of individuality, it is these material substance of the brain, there less wasteland. He knew this because that invite closer examination. Is there being no known brain activity that Krishnas had already travelled there, by a biological basis for a distinction requires the presence of a non­ mental projection, and discovered a between body and soul evident in the substantial flatmate. paradise with lakes of milk and moon activities of the mind? Is there some­ Given that memories are products of maidens. Scientologists, followers of thing inside us, be it soul, self, or the mind's activities, and presumably a Ron 'If-you-want-to-get-rich-invent-a­ consciousness, that cannot be prerequisite for self-aware 'souls', it is religion' Hubbard, are similarly con­ accounted for by the sum of the body's appropriate to consider how the brain vinced that, if they are sufficiently Earth stuff? develops and stores memories. Psy­ 'clear', they can visit Venus while their chologist Marvin Minsky concludes mindless bodies await their return. from his research that it stores infor­ Reality-bender Uri Geller lay down on a mation about an object in different areas couch before five witnesses; when he " of the brain, as nerve clusters, and got up he explained he had just been for most of us want links these clusters to each other by a a stroll on the beach at Rio de Janeiro-­ dynamic web of intercell connections­ and tipped sand out of his shoe to prove it. to believe that at least these bundles of interconnected nerve Most religions are committed to a cells being the tangible and whole stuff distinction between body and soul, the the thinking part of of memory. former being made of Earth matter, the us . . . will survive ..." The mental concept of 'apple', for latter some unexaminable, spiritual example, consists of a network of cellu­ ether. To approximately 75 per cent of lar connections each of which codes for all Australians committed to this shell­ one of the apple's attributes. For and-spook view of human life, death example, connections representing marks the final separation of body and The human brain is an organ consist­ taste are constructed in response to soul when the body once again returns ing of billions of neurons (nerve cells) nerve impulses received by the brain to mud and the soul drifts off to become with trillions of intercell junctions (syn­ from the sensory nerves of the tongue. a spirit, reincarnated lawn prickle or apses) where about 20 to 30 different These are linked to another cluster of whatever. chemicals relay or terminate electrical connections for smell formed in the Intuitively convinced of our schizo­ impulses between the ends of adjacent brain when stimulated by the olfactory phrenic nature, we ask questions like cells. In creatures with smaller brains, nerves that innervate the lining of the 'What would things have been like if I there are fewer cells and far fewer nose. And so on for other attributes had been born a lion or a duck?' or interconnections, but brains develop such as shape, colour and texture. Even 'Would life be more exciting if my mind basically the same way in all animals. the sound of the spoken word 'apple' is were in someone else's body?', as if our Embryology and the fossil record dem­ converted to connection clusters and inner 'self' has an inherent existence of onstrate how the nest of ensnared these cross-linked to other clusters its own, capable of shifting without neurons in our nut evolved: by S-bend (such as for the word 'red'), the sum of · change to another body. Surely this is folding and gradual enlargement of the these intercell connections being our because most of us want to believe that anterior end of the much smaller, tube­ concept of 'apple'. In turn, the various at least the thinking part of us, bundled like nerve cord of our ancestors. In the clusters used to store the mental con­ up with memories, will survive the evolutionary passage from fish to pri­ cept of 'apple' are cross-linked to others ravages of the 'worm', this guarantee mates, the brain became larger and such that, for example, clusters for the being the carrot priests jiggle over the more complex with particular regions word red and colour red, which form doorway to divinity. committed to coordina�ing particular part of the integral concept of 'apple', Self-awareness and memories are parts of the body. Yet even simple would also be bound into another web of clearly key components of the concept creatures such as flatworms learn to linkages collectively representing the of 'soul', for what, after all, would be run mazes, a task that requires mem­ shape of the letter 'S' on Superman's the point of reunions with defunct loved ories as well as instincts and goals that leotard.

806 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY shells for molluscs that haven't yet evolved. But when we sit in judgement of the 'creative' products of computers, we are not as easily impressed­ computer creations seem just a bit too (ff)� (6'.) perfect, perhaps because they never fail to follow their training. Human cre­ ativity often arises from failure to follow some previously accepted set of 'rules'. oBR' /?00(< ls there biological evidence for some­ ·� ""4,r-. thing inside us that is more than the _.,,. � ..- .:,: sum of the body's Earth stuff? The best answer at present seems to be 'no'-or at least none that any psychobiologist ,�-,- :p-----":,""'··: jt:-·.ttur:m:i'fXu;;o:::=;-,,.. o.·> �: has found essential to explain the com­ t{ey! Where arnI? ProfeS&Jr ·.··�.· plexities of mind. Of course, that is not to say that there isn't something else inside us, something unseen, unexam­ inable. But, if a non-material sentient 'ether' does dally within, as more of the biological basis for the magic of mind is understood, the possible relationship between this 'ether' and the material stuff that accounts for the flame of the brain becomes tenuous to the point of faith .•

Suggested Reading

Anon., 1984. The mystery of consciousness. Pp. 16-27 in Origins. Bhaktivedanta Book Trust: Los Angeles. Psychobiology suggests that our sense of 'self' Bergland, R., 1986. The fabric of the mind. Viking: arises soley from the physical stuff of the brain New York. Beyerstein, B.L., 1988. The brain and consciousness: implications for psi phenomena. The Skeptical It has been speculated that a person's tubular, most basic and last to be sac­ Enquirer12: 163-173. intelligence is at least in part a measure rificed part of the brain-the hollow Blackmore, S., 1988. Visions from the dying brain. of the number of such interconnections brain stem. Storage of concepts as dis­ New Sci. 5 May 1988: 43-46. the brain develops, which in turn sug­ membered, cross-filed and often rep­ Gordon, H., 1987. Out of body travel and other new gests that IQ ought to be enhanced etitious bits within a self-rearranging age wonders. The Skeptical Enquirer 11: 348-350. through the process of continued learn­ maze of billions of interconnected Hunt, M., 1982. The universe within: a new sdence ing with its increase in intercell link­ neurons might not seem like a system explores the human mind. The Harvester Press: ages. Conversely, Alzheimer's disease we would design if faced with the task Brighton. and other conditions that reduce brain of constructing an artificial intelligence. function may involve a loss of previously But, like other organs of the body, the Legg, C.R., 1989. Issues in psychobiology. Routledge: formed connections or at least a brain's functions have evolved over London. reduction in the efficiency of the inter­ time. What may now seem a jerry­ Uttal, W., 1978. The psychobiology of the mind. L. connection network. Ultimately, if rigged and frequently fallible electri­ Erlbaum: New Jersey. memory is the sum of these vital inter­ cian's nightmare arose from a simpler connections, death of the body upon and hence probably more efficient Professor Michael Archer lectures in biology which the brain depends must undo the ancestral condition. But once the much and geology at the University of New South sense of 'self' that emerged from the smaller, minimally sufficient mechanism Wales. Most of his non-teaching hours are network of nerves, just as decompo­ for brain function became established as devoted to the study of the fossil faunas of sition of the substance of a candle must part of the ancestral genome of animals, R iversleigh. snuff out its flame. like the inefficient structure of the ver­ ,------..J ? Could 'near-death' sensations provide tebrate eye with its built-in blind spot, evidence for a self-aware substance that basically we were stuck with it. PERSONALISED leaves the inanimate body after death? But so what if our heads are filled Perhaps; but there are also rational, with an untidy, tangled mess of fatty OUTBACK mechanistic explanations for these cells? Inefficient eyes see; jerry-rigged s ---A F ------A R s impressions, which can also be artifici­ blobs for brains create music as exquis­ ally triggered in healthy individuals by ite as Allegri's Miserere and-more Four-wheel drive small group safaris drugs. Psychobiologist Susan Black­ remarkably-recall from memory every into nature's own backyard. Camp oven more points out that one of the most note of such complex creations (a feat common features of near-death experi­ performed by the 14-year-old Mozart). cool-.,ng Sleep under the stars in our ences is memory of a tunnel with a light So it is not surprising that psychobi­ luxury swags. Australia all over! at the end. While some would like to ologists, intrigued by the possibility of think of this as the passage for the soul developing an artificial intelligence, TRANSCONTINENTAL towards a Heavenly light, Blackmore have tuned into computers. Already suggests these sensations may be the these synthetic minds make optimally ,. last glimmerings of the brain's neural efficient decisions, play brilliant chess, SAFARIS ENQUIRIES ANO BROCHURES CHRIS PAINE nets as they shut down around the sing songs and design perfectly shaped JAMES RO CLARE SA 5453 PH· 088 42 3469 VO LU M E 2 3 NU M BE R 1 0 S PR I NG 1991 807 species are a consequence of a Fertilis­ ation System. They are accidents of "Mating between species is like mating sex. Koala: Species are not accidents of sex. between individuals. If you can't stop They are the basic units of evolution. it, then there has to be a prophylactic." Species evolve because of natural selec­ tion acting on the isolating mechanisms. Baza: I can agree with you to a certain extent, only in that natural selection acts on Fertilisation Systems. If we assume Fertilisation Systems are INFERTILITY: roughly equivalent to Premating Isolat­ ing Mechanisms-which they aren't­ then our mechanism for speciation is A CONDOM FOR SPECIES? the same. For example, a small number of Southern Orange-eyed Treefrogs may become isolated in a new habitat. The new habitat is a new world of BY GLEN INGRAM & RALPH MOLNAR environmental parameters. In it there VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY, QUEENSLAND MUSEUM are new selection pressures that act to VERTEBRATE FOSSILS, QUEENSLAND MUSEUM select a different mating call. Voila, a new species. And, by the way, this also explains why organisms are restricted DRAMATIS PERSONAE vol. 23, no. 3, 1989-90). to specific habitats. The Fertilisation The Biological Species Concept Baza: Speaking of food-croak, croak, System works effectively in the habitat The opinion that species are groups of croak. in which the species evolved. individuals that breed among them­ Koala: I had all but proven to you the Koala: I accept what you say. Frankly, selves but are reproductively isolated correctness of the Biological Species you have just mouthed classical theory from other such groups. Concept when you flew down and ate induced from the Biological Species The Recognition the experiment out of spite. Now we Concept: founder populations and all Concept of Species have to do it all again. Although I don't that. As I've always said, you Recog­ The opinion that species are groups of know why I bother. You Recognition nition people have nothing different to individuals, both male and female, that Concept people are so wrong. say from us. Your argument has always share a common fertilisation system. Baza: Croak, croak. been about semantics. Reproductive (Premating or Koala: And, besides, that's not the call Baza: I beg to differ. While you may Postmating) Isolating Mechanisms of litoria chloris, the Southern Orange­ have thought of the idea of small, foun­ Characteristics of organisms that eyed Treefrog. Only the Common der populations, you couldn't come up ensure different species either do not Green Treefrog croaks. with an explanation for what actually mate or, if they do, the mating is unsuc­ Baza: Well, what is their mating call? happens during the process of specia­ cessful or, if it is successful, the We haven't got all night. tion. You never thought of the idea that hybrids are infertile. Koala: I'm not sure. I heard a tape Fertilisation Systems are adaptations to Fertilisation System recording once. It. .. the environment, that there is a close Characteristics of organisms that con­ Baza: Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit. connection between habitat and the Fer­ tribute to bring about fertilisation. Koala: That's an American frog. This is tilisation System. And you know why? not "Sesame Street". Because you were too hung up on iso­ THE FI AL ACT Baza: Pop, pop, pop ... lation. You can never have a Repro­ The rain/orest smelled of rotting things. Koala: Stop it! ductive Isolating Mechanism that is an The humidity was overbearing. A creek Baza: ... pop, pop, pop ... adaptation to environment. Your con­ limned in silver by the moon softly mur­ Koala: Arrgghh! cepts and words restricted you. mured as it ran through a rock pool. Koala: Semantics, semantics, seman­ Above, in the fork of a Black Bean, sat tics. a Koala. Every now and again he Just then, the bushes by the rock pools Baza: if Reproductive Isolating Mecha­ adjusted his position but his eyes never exploded in a series of screams. Arrgghh nisms were just about premating ones, left the bushes by the rock pool. He was Arrgghh Arrrggghh Arrrrgggghh. The maybe there'd be some truth to what not the only one who stared intently there. screaming intensified as more and more you say. But they also include postmat­ Incredibly, next to him sat a Baza. In the frogs joined in and soon the whole creek ing mechanisms. moonlight, the eyes of the bird-of-prey reverberated. Koala: So what? seemed to glow. Both animals were obvi­ Baza: According to you people, species ously waiting for something to happen. may be isolated from each other even if Koala: ow I remember. they do mate. Subsequently, either fer­ Baza: Croak. Baza: Impressive Fertilisation System! tilisation is not successful or the off­ Koala: Shush! Koala: Impressive Premating Isolating spring die during development or, if Baza: Croak, croak. Mechanism! they live, they are infertile, or they may Koala: What are you doing? You'll spoil Baza: Rubbish! The call is a signal by be inviable over several generations. In everything. which the female is attracted to the other words, the integrity of the Baza: I'm trying to get the frogs to call. male. It's just part of the Fertilisation species is maintained despite inter­ I'm tired of waiting. System in which they share. breeding. The mule and the hinny are Koala: We wouldn't have to be here if it Koala: While it may be part of a Ferti­ good examples of sterility of hybrids. weren't for you. It's all your fault. If you lisation System, the call functions to Koala: I couldn't have said it better hadn't eaten the rainbow skinks right in isolate the species from all other myself. the middle of our last experiment, we'd species. Baza: But it isn't true and I will prove it have been able to choose between the Baza: You seem to be saying that, to you. You have chosen the venue for Biological Species Concept and the Rec­ because there are species, there is a our last two experiments. Now it is my ognition Concept of Species (see ANH Fertilisation System. On the contrary, turn.

808 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Koala looked around. It was useless to is sterility selected for by natural selec­ stay on there. All the frogs had fled at the tion? sound of their arguing. So he reluctantly Koala: What do you mean? You're not agreed to leave. The location of their next very clear. experiment was a rain/orest hundreds of Baza: kilometres north. And, just like the last It's simple. Your Postmating Iso­ time, theysat in a tree and stared intently lating Mechanisms are about not having at the bushes l>y the creek. offspring; but how can you select for not having offspring? For change to come about through time, there must Koala: Croak, croak. be offspring. Dar win himself was aware Baza: Shush! That's not the mating call that Postmating Isolating Mechanisms of Litoria xanthomera, the Northern couldn't be selected for and thus had no Orange-eyed Treefrog! part in speciation, and thus were not Koala: What is it then? We 've been here characteristic of species. for hours. Koala: Be it not me to criticise the Baza: That's a surprise. Now be quiet! great man but it wouldn't be the first Koala: Pop, pop. Whaak, whaak. time he was wrong. I'll answer you Whaak. simply. Imagine a burrow of water rats Baza: Arrgghh! in which, by mutation, the parents have Ligon: a sterile hybrid between a male Lion and produced a litter where all the siblings female Tiger. Just then, the bushes l>y the rock pools are reproductively isolated (postmating) exploded in a series of screams. Arrgghh from all other individuals but not each occur, Postmating Isolating Mecha­ Arrgghh Arrrggghh Arrrrgggghh. The other. When they grow up they mate nisms maintain the integrity of species! Koala had a terrible fright. But almost with each other and produce more Baza: Condoms! immediately his fear turned to curiosity. reproductively isolated individuals. Koala: I beg your pardon! He sensed that Baza had set up some sort Voila, a new species is born. Baza: You're confused by condoms. of trick. Baza: Simple but stupid. If this litter That's your problem. did grow to adulthood, they'd have to Koala: I've never been so insulted! Koala: There are Southern Orange­ mate just with each other in a large Baza: Don't get your pouch in a twist. eyed Treefrogs here too? population. The probability of this is It's a metaphor. Your ideas of Postmat­ Baza: Nope! low. In fact, it has been shown experi­ ing Isolating Mechanisms are just like Koala: Sounds like them to me. What mentally that, even with large numbers condoms. You Biological Species people are they then? of organisms that have partial or full seem to think that mating between Baza: Northern Orange-eyed Tr ee­ reproductive isolation but share 'Pre­ species is like mating between individ­ frogs! And the mating call is exactly the mating Isolating Mechanisms', after uals. If you can't stop it, then there has same as the southern species! several generations only individuals of to be a prophylactic. But speciation is Koala: Then why is it called a different one population were left. Usually the not like... species? population that survived was larger Koala: Please! Baza: Because they have done genetic numerically in the beginning. It is Baza: And if I carry the analogy further, analyses and decided that the two forms simple mathematics: the more numer­ you can say I'm saying that it is best to were sufficiently genetically distinct ous kind has a bigger chance of mating say "No" in the first place; and species from each other such as to warrant with its own kind and thus having off­ do say "No". While you're saying they specific status. spring; the less numerous kind has a try to say "No" but ... Koala: I see. And because there is bigger chance of mating with the other Koala: Arrgghh! genetic difference, they have hypoth­ kind and not having offspring, which Baza: ... esised that the offspring will be inviable will lead to their elimination in the end. But Baza's words were drowned out l>y a if interbreeding does occur. And Koala: All right. Let's imagine the par­ renewed chorus of Northern Orange-eyed because the mating call is the same, ents are totally isolated from the parent Treefrogs--0r was it Southern? • there is no Premating Isolating Mech­ population and their offspring success­ anism and so interbreeding can occur. fully found a new population. Does it? Baza: So what? If the populations ever Suggested Reading Baza: The question can't be answered do come together again, one will be naturally. The two forms are separated bred out. Beardsell, G.R., 1989. Hybridization of Litoria ch/oris by a large gap in the rainforests. How­ Koala: Now don't be pedantic. and L. xanthomera (Anura: Hylidae). Trans. R. Soc. 5. Aust. ever, they have done in vitro fertilis­ Baza: To make it simpler for your 113: 221-224. ation and raised the young. These have -addled brain, imagine your Ingram, G.J., 1989. Bestiality and the recognition of shown deformities and are thus mutation was for polka dots. Soon there sexual mates. Aust. Nat. Hist. 23: 256--257. assumed to be inviable, or partially so. would be polka-dotted rats cruising the Lambert, D.M. & Paterson, H.E.H., 1984. On 'Bridg­ Koala: Then I agree with their decision. streams but no-one necessarily would ing the gap between race and species'. The isolation This is a classic case of a Postmating call them a new species. Like polka­ concept and an alternative. Proc. Linn. Soc. NSW Isolating Mechanism. dots, Postmating Isolating Mechanisms 107: 501-514. Baza: There you have it! We have now can be characters of species but not Paterson, H.E.H., 1988. On defining species in terms reached the central part of our dis­ necessary features. But there the of sterility: problems and alternatives. Pac. Sd. 42: agreement. And it is not a question of analogy ends because polka dots may 65--71. semantics! I disagree strongly with the be part of the Fertilisation System: they >- decision. According to the Recognition may be the signal by which mates rec­ � Concept, they are the same species: ognise each other. Postmating Isolating Dr Ralph Molnar is Curator of Palaeontology "' they share the same mating call and Mechanisms can never be part of the at the Queensland Museum. His research has :::; been directed towards filling the vast gap in "'u.J thus the same Fertilisation System. Fertilisation System. Thus they are ::, knowledge of Australian vertebrate history 1- u Koala: Rubbish! They are reproduc­ irrelevant to speciation and useless for between the Deoonian and Miocene. Dr Glen 1i: recognising species. z tively isolated from each other. Ingram is interested in eoolution and the phil­ < :::; Baza: Then you tell me what part is Koala: Listen vermin-eater, polka dots osophy of science. In 1987he received a special < played by Postmating Isolation Mecha­ are not characteristic of species: repro­ commendation from the BBC Wildlife Nature "' t;;::, nisms in speciation. For example, how ductive isolation is. And, if mating does Writing Awards. <

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R l O S P R I N G 1991 809 THE ENQUIRING MIND reflected rather than a blue one. In these circumstances a turquoise ocean will be vis­ i b I e, such as the one observed in the West Indies. QUESTIONS & Don't forget that the colour we see also depends on the distribution of light-sensitive ANSWERS cells in the retina of the eye COMPILED BY JENNIFER SAUNDERS and so, even if the ocean may look deep-blue to you, to EDITORIAL COORDINATOR another person it may appear grey-blue. -Anna Murray Ocean Hues Different colours are a greener ocean. In coastal Australian Museum The wonderful blue colour observed because different waters where there is a Q •. of the ocean on the cover wavelengths of light do not greater amount of phyto­ of ANH vol. 23, no. 3, 1989, penetrate equally. Infra-red plankton, runoff from the land together with a recent holiday to and ulatra-violet wave­ and suspended matter, the Snake Myths the West Indies (where the lengths, for example, are water colour varies within I've been living in the bush ocean looks more turquoise absorbed rapidly in the top short periods from extremes Q .• (Otway Ranges, Victoria) than blue), has led me to ask ten metres. In clear water, of red-brown to green or yel­ for five years now and, like all what it is that makes the sea a yellow-red wavelengths do low due to the differential ex-city people, I get to hear different colour in different not penetrate as deeply as absorption of the light by some very unusual tales about parts of the world. the blue-green wavelengths various substances. It is wildlife. One local belief is that -Carl Barwell of the spectrum, so it is the interesting to note that Eastern Tiger Snakes (Notechis Miranda, NSW blue-green wavetengths that sometimes the water's colour scutatus) become very aggress­ predominate in the light is due to the pigmentation of ive in February, supposedly their A• When light strikes the reflected from below the minute organisms. 'Red breeding season. I see dozens • ocean it can either pen­ water's surface. Therefore, tides', for example, are each summer, but none does etrate or be reflected from in the clear waters of winter caused by red-brown anything more than issue a pol­ the surface. Of the light that or nutrient-poor oceans, blue dinoflagellate algal blooms. ite warning when taken by sur­ penetrates, a varying per­ light is predominantly back­ The shade of colour can prise and then move away. (Of centage will be absorbed and scattered and so we see a also vary. If, for example, in course, these may be too small the remainder will be back­ blue ocean. In spring, sum­ clear water, the seabed is to breed, as none of them scattered towards the sur­ mer and more biologically shallower than 30 metres and reaches the four-metre average face. It is this backscattered productive turbid coastal of a high reflectance material length reported by other locals!) light that accounts for the waters, more green light is like light coloured sand, then Copperheads (Austrelaps colour of the sea's surface. backscattered and so we see a blue-green light will be superbus) are also common here, especially in my water­ plant nursery where they hunt for frogs. I findCopperheads are even better behaved than tigers, but several confused tales are attached to their behaviour in water. One school daims they can't or won't open their mouths while in water (which would make it rather difficult to catch frogs), while another school regards them as exceptionally dangerous when in water. As far as I can see, a person would be lucky to get near a swimming Copperhead to find out either way. What comments do you have on these apparent myths about snake aggression? -Nick Romanowski "Dragonfly Aquatics", Vic.

I agree that these stories •. are indee d myths­ snakesA are not usually aggressive and they are entirely capable of opening their mouths under water. Both of these myths are international and unfor­ tunately their obvious inac­ curacy doesn't seem to have decreased their popularity. -Rick Shine Sydney University

810 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Bird Adoption while you are away. And sec­ Recently we have been ond, hygiene is of the utmost Q • .lucky enough to have a importance. All feeding areas flock of Rainbow Lorikeets should be kept very clean in inhabiting our neighbourhood. I order to prevent the spread suspect this is because of all the of disease. flowering native plants that sur­ However, if you are willing round us, but they may also be to accept these responsibili­ encouraged by a neighbour who ties, then a good diet that is puts food out for them. I have easy to prepare should heard that the sugar/honey include a wide variety of bread mix that they are so fond fresh fruit such as apples, of can be harmful for them. pears, grapes and oranges; a Could you please tell me what seed mixture as is sold for sort of food is best to put out for Budgies; mixed greens and these birds? sprouted seed; Wombaroo -Julia Bierton lorikeets mix (made fresh Balmain, NSW daily and available at some pet shops or vet erinary sur­ • Many people like to geries) or nectar mix made A• encourage native birds up of three parts Heinz high such as Rainbow Lorikeets to protein baby cereal, one part their gardens . by feeding honey plus one teaspoon them an artificial diet. How­ Petvite vitamin supplement ever, this is often not a suit­ Rainbow Lorikeets bring more responsibilitythan most people realise. per cup of nectar mix. Add able diet and may cause enough water to make the problems such as nutritional Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta), advice.) mixture of porridge consist­ deficiencies and the spread of Broadleaf Paperbark (Mela­ If you do want to feed the ency. The nectare mix should disease. leuca quinquenervia), kanga­ lorikeets, there are a couple be used only at a rate of one The best way to attract roo apples (Solanurn spp.), of points you need to con­ teaspoon per bird while the lorikeets to your garden is by cestrums (Cestrum spp.) and sider. First, the birds will rest of the diet can be given growing lots of native plants flowering gum trees. A bird­ fast become dependent on freely. Additionally, it is a that can provide these birds bath in an open area of your the regular feedings to the good idea to place the food in with a natural source of food. garden can also be useful in point where it would be det­ a shaded area to prevent it Some planting suggestions attracting lorikeets. (There rimental to them should you spoiling. include Coastal Banksia are many books available on suddenly stop-even for -Liz Notley (Banksia integrifolia), Old this subject and often your annual holidays someone Taronga Zoo Man Banksia (B. serrata), local nursery can offer should continue the feeds

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V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 811 . ,·-.,.;R .. · L·, "F •. E . 'R :,.-,, E N C E . S �,...... -�.,; · • .,,... -1r:.-,;j!,� � and interesting to the general birdwatcher. The study upon which this book is based was initiated by the CSIRO Division of Wild­ life Research in 1969, but REVIEWS most of the work described was conducted between 1970 and 1977. Manmanning, a COMPILED BY JENNIFER SAUNDERS town in the south-west EDITORIAL COORDINATOR wheatbelt, was chosen by the author as the study site for l------1 examining the pest status of Each of the 326 taxa dealt ting one for the sake of a Galahs in grain-producing with (including 11 recently common name. The use of areas. However, the book described and 78 not yet Aboriginal names when used also presents some results properly named) has a clear by the original people, as has from Mileura Station (located botanical description. Each been done in some cases, is in semiarid mulga woodland) description includes features far more acceptable. and Coomallo Creek (in to aid in identification printed This book, which is 27 cen­ coastal heathland) for com­ in bold type; excellent photo­ timetres tall and weighs 1. 5 parison. graphs; a small distribution kilograms, is hardly a 'field' Chapter l introduces the map; almost always the habit, book, but it is a most useful Galah to the reader, detailing bark, buds and fruits; some­ addition to any botanist's nomenclature, plumage times the juvenile leaves and/ library and should prove most description and geographical or adult leaves showing oil valuable to people living distribution. The study areas glands; and occasionally the within the areas covered. (location, history of Euro­ flowers. This information - George Chippendale pean settlement, climate, forms the bulk of the book topography and vegetation) Field Guide to Eucalypts and, in conjunction with the and the methods used in the Volume 2 keys, should be helpful in study are described in Chap­ By M.I.H. Brooker and D.A. identification. ter 2. Subsequent chapters Kleinig. lnkata Press, SydneY, Forty-five of the taxa are deal with the Galah's feeding 1990, 428pp. $76.95. listed as 'ined.' (meaning they ecology, behavioural displays have not yet been properly (individual and social), social Ian Brooker and David published according to the organisation, patterns of Kleinig are well qualified to International Rules of Botan­ daily activity, the complete write on Eucalyptus, both ical Nomenclature); another breeding cycle (from the par­ having worked with this 26 are given alphabetical ents' selection of a nest hol­ genus while in the CSIRO names, for example 'Eucalyp­ low through to the post­ Division of Forest Research. tus sp. D', because they are fl edging phase), and David Kleinig also contrib­ being dealt with by other bot­ productivity and survival of utes hundreds of excellent anists; and seven are given populations. colour photographs that have informal names such as 'ses­ Overall presentation of the been beautifully reproduced sil fruit'. If the authors had book is very high in quality. to form one of the main fea­ been able to publish even The text is well spaced, there tures of this book. In this brief Latin diagnoses with are large and clear reproduc­ volume, the authors deal with the 'ined.' and other infor­ tions of line drawings and the eucalypts in the area of mally mentioned taxa, then Behavioural Ecology tables so that detailed exam­ Western Australia below this book would have been of Galahs ination can be made in 26° C, most of South Aus­ invaluable as the legitimate By Ian Rowley Surrey Beatty & comfort, and there are few tralia (except the south-east publication venue for the new Sons, SydneY, 1990, 188pp. typographical errors. which was in volume 1), and taxa. This problem shows the $39.60. This book, along with the area of New South Wales difficulty of trying to be com­ many other of Rowley's pub­ west of the Darling River. plete in the treatment of any Few results of long-term lications, demonstrates the The excellent introductory botanical group, and this is studies of Australian animal author's love of natural his­ chapters deal with the further borne out by the populations have ever been tory as well as his expertise characteristics of eucalypts Appendix, which lists 38 published. Therefore, it is as a professional biologist. via mini-glossaries, figures more taxa from Western Aus­ refreshing to come across a The magnitude of the study and photographs. These sec­ tralia alone that were dis­ book that summarises sev­ and the amount of data pre­ tions of the book are essen­ covered or described since eral years of study of one sented in the book are tial for efficient use of the the completion of the book. It species population-the impressive. However, I feel clearly printed and spaced makes me think that, when Galah in the wheatbelt region that a theoretical biologist botanical keys. There are five all these new taxa are for­ of south-western Western would be disappointed that keys for Western Australia, mally described, a few more Australia. This publication, Rowley seldom ventured into two for South Australia and eucalypt trees will need to be which is really a lengthy theoretical discussions of the one for New South Wales. cut down to provide paper! research paper, will be of data, nor was there much One minor drawback is the One last point the inven­ interest to the serious orni­ comparison with other use, in a few places, of juv­ tion of common names, as is thologist, population biol­ species, especially other enile leaves and seedlings as done in this book, is always a ogist, classical ethologist, cockatoos. How has the characters. Many people are vexed question. If the plant behavioural ecologist and, to Galah's reproductive strategy unfamiliar with these leaves has no commonly used name, a lesser extent, the conser­ ensured population growth and they are often not avail­ then perhaps it should be left vation biologist. It is also a and a massive expansion of able. like that, rather than inven- narrative that is informative the species range, and does

812 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY the same strategy work for coverage. At last, a book has Ne w Guinea (the New Of more general concern is other parrots? Does the been published with a Zealand species is A llo­ the absence of any infor­ population growth of the majority of the species (over mycterus pita/us; page 480). mation on the details of dis­ Galah conform with theoreti­ 1,100) well illustrated with The authors have a wealth of tribution within Australia or cal models of population good colour photos experience with coral reef the area covered for any of growth? Which theories of accompanied by concise fishes, and all have written a the species. Also. some foraging ecology are best descriptions. large number of fish books. fishermen may be concerned supported by the Galah data? The book begins with a evertheless, I cannot resist with the minimal coverage Perhaps Rowley made a con­ map of the area, eight pages some suggestions for given to such groups as the scious decision to steer away of outline drawings of 104 of improvements in future sardines, anchovies and mul­ from the more theoretical the 111 fish families covered editions or to mention some lets. Perhaps the addition of a aspects of the study. He has (essential for the novice iden­ aspects I found either irritat­ few more of Swainston's certainly presented the tifier, as no keys to families ing or frustrating. My first paintings would solve the detailed data in a concise or species are included), and three are technical and problem. A sentence in the fashion, which should allow 12 pages of text and general should not bother the typical family introductions stating many theoretical biologists to photos that include descrip­ user. The species newly the total number of species in draw their own conclusions tions of different reef areas recorded from Australia (ten the area would also give an about the Galah's life-history and a "How to use the book" noted in the first 100 pages) idea of the percentage strategies. section (scientific nomencla­ are, in general, not clearly covered. My final concern While acknowledging the ture, distribution and identi­ stated as such, and no involves the colour repro­ pest status of Galahs, Rowley fying characters such as fin specific localities are listed. duction. This is a minor indicates that the advent of ray counts and body This will therefore require quibble, as all of the figures modern agricultural machin­ measurements are discussed further research from future allow identification of the ery and improved grain here). A double-page spread compilers. The first use of species illustrated. However. storage facilities has reduced of fish photos with labelled new name combinations is the colour is not perfect and the need to introduce pest parts handsomely replaces also frustrating. While the Swainston's plates in particu­ control measures. In fact, in the diagrams found in most use of the most up-to-date lar suffer, with too much his concluding statements, fish identification books. The names is commendable, black when compared with Rowley is more concerned for main text is followed by a hopefully publication of the their better reproduction in the future of Galahs and four-page glossary of techni­ justifications will soon follow Allen's book on north­ other cockatoos, and cal terms and a 20-page in the scientific I iterature. western Australian fishes. stresses the importance of index. Surprisingly, there are The dropping of '-id' from the Comparison of the photos conserving mature trees that no references to previous spelling of some family here with those of the same provide nest hollows-a works or further reading. names, resulting in gram­ species in Steene's virtual message that should be The bulk of the book is matically incorrect forms, companion volume, the mag­ heeded, not just by farmers, made up of colour photos of seems arbitrary and subjec­ nificent Coral reefs, nature's but by us all. fishes together with brief tive. richest realm by the same - Stephen Ambrose species descriptions. The Australian Museum photos are supplemented by seven plates of Roger Swain­ FISHES OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF ston's colour paintings of AND CORAL SEA hard-to-photograph fishes. Each family introduction The Greatest Authority of its Kind includes information on the general biology and habits of Covering 111 families and 1111 species- more than 90 % of the species, while the brief the region's reef fishes- with 1243 magnificent full-colour species accounts are largely photographs,this is your indispensibleguide to identification. limited to a description of diagnostic features, maxi­ The Pictorial Guide to Families,outline drawings representing mum size and distribution. each of the families, narrows the search to save hours of With the exception of the random searching. Ecologists, biologists, fishermen, divers sharks, individual notes on and photographers - here is lhe reference book you need. species biology are not Hardcover, 528 pages, 289 x 214 mm. included. Each description is directly adjacent to the �------colour photo(s) of that I wish to order ..... copies of To: CRAWFORD IIOUSE PRESS Fishes of the Great Barrier species and these are large Fishes oftht Great Barrier Rtt/ PO Box 143 Reef and Coral Sea enough to be used for identi­ and Coral Sta at $59.95 plus $10 Bathurst NSW 2795 Australia By John E. Randall, Gerald R. fication purposes. Where postage and packaging colour patterns are different Allen and Roger C. Steene. Name ...... Crawford House Press, Bathurst, in males and females, or 1990. 507pp. $69.95. juveniles and adults, two or Address ...... even three photos are Australia is richly endowed included. with fishes (more than 3,600 Only a few errors were ...... Postcode ...... different species) and the found: the milkfish family Great Barrier Reef has more Chanidae is misspelt and its I enclose $ ...... or debit my credit card $ ...... species of fishes associated larva is not a leptocephalus, D Bankcard D Mastercard D Visa with it than any other area. but more similar to that of a Due to this abundant number sardine (page 48); a third Account Number I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I of species, identification has species of pineapple fish Signature ...... Expires__}__}_ always been a problem, and occurs in the south-eastern previous guides have not Pacific (page 59); and the Telephone Enquiries: (063)31 1253 Fax: (063)32 2654 attempted a comprehensive longspine burrfish occurs in ANH-SP91

VO LUM E 2 3 NU M BE R 1 0 S PR I NG 1991 813 publisher, shows the differ­ utionar.y stages, the changing ferent about this book is that is logically impossible to dis­ ence between good and climate and palaeogeography it can be browsed or read tinguish between abrupt and excellent; improvement is at the time when flowering with profitby the layman, the reasonably gradual extinc­ possible for the next edition. plants and mammals were student and even the palae­ tions. This implies that too The above criticisms are diversifying and modern­ ontologist who does not many arguments on dinosaur minor and should not deter style fauna and flora were specialise in dinosaurs. extinction rely on faith, not anyone from this volume. originating, and the interrela­ Dinosaurs is a basic intro­ facts (Geol. Soc. Arner. Spee. Fishes of the Great Barrier tionships between flora and duction to the subject. The Pap. 190: 291-296; 1982). Reef and Coral Sea rep­ fauna. That this book is content is divided between Complaints apart, and they resents a quantum leap for­ based entirely in the North­ general topics and infor­ are small enough, this little ward, giving everyone the ern Hemisphere is inevitable, mation on individual types of book may be recommended opportunity to identify the as so little is documented for dinosaurs. The topics to anyone wishing a general vast majority of species in the Southern Hemisphere. covered include how dino­ introduction to our current the area. I have used it a However, the overview and saurs are reconstructed, understanding of dinosaurs. number of times and have yet summary presented are most whether or not they are Many popular and children's t

814 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY For Specialist Natural History Books

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The Journey from Eden: The Peopling of our World $42.95 Mysteries of the Dreaming $13.95 Exploring Nature in Lakes, of these naked, pink and appear on pages printed on Rivers & Creeks $12.95 sausage-like rodents, which grey paper, are useful sum­ are unable to control their maries of mammalian diver­ Exploring Nature in Cities body temperature, surviving sity. & Towns $12.95 in deserts where tempera­ I can really only pick one tures of over 60° C have been major fault with this book, Exploring Nature in Forests, recorded, is remarkable and it is an editorial one. Woodlands & Heaths $12.95 enough but it is only the Remarkably, the book treats beginning. The 'queen' Naked only four of the five species Exploring Nature in the Deserts $12.95 Mole Rat seems to control of Hominidae; the world's The Cambridge Guide to the everyone's hormones. She is most abundant and ecologi­ Material World $39.95 the only breeding female in cal I y important mammal, the colony and when she is Homo sapiens, has been left pregnant all other mole rats out! Indeed the family is still Less 10% discount to ANH readers• (whether male or female) called Pongidae rather than resemble females externally. the now widely accepted (and Postage and Handling add $8.00 This mass sex change is correct) Hominidae. Surely achieved through phero­ another seven pages (the T(ITAL mones excreted in the space given to the Gorilla) queen's urine, contact with could have been profitably *Get a 10% discount for mentioning this ad when which can change external used to give a concise synop­ making any of these purchases in the Museum Shop or sexual characteristics and sis of the anatomy, ecology when sending in this coupon (or a copy). stop you from breeding-if and evolution of this most you're a Naked Mole Rat! interesting species. This is Please charge to: There must be about a really quite an inexcusable D Bankcard D Mastercard D Visa D American fa.rpress thousand figuresin this book, omission in what is otherwise Card Number all serving to illustrate some a fine book. Name interesting point that is Despite this dreadful error, expounded upon in the text. encourage anyone Address All are well laid out, visually interested in mammals to buy Postcode attractive and easy to under­ this fascinating and stand. The photographs are information-packed book. Signature Exp_ Date likewise numerous and of the Just don't forget that we highest quality. Many species belong to this amazing group Post to: The Australian Museum Shop, are illustrated that I have not of animals as well. Indeed, PO Box A285, Sydney South, NSW 2000. seen before, while others are humans seem somewhat less 6-8 College St, Sydney. seen in unusual and revealing remarkable when viewed in situations. The listing of gen­ the company of their lactating Phone (02) 339 8150 Fax(02) 3604350 era within subfamilies and brethren. Send a copy or a letter with these details if you do not -Tim Flannery families, and of species want to cut the magazine. within major groups that Australian Museum

V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 1 0 S P R I N G 1991 815 W O R D T H E L A S T northern Africa. the worsening of Hoods on the Indian subcontinent and the degradation of farmlands through­ "Why should we worry about the loss out the developed and less-developed of one more species when we have world. We also know that we have the survived the loss of so many others?" ability to push ecosystems past the point of recovery. Some species of whales ha\'e not been hunted for decades yet their numbers remain low. and the early inhabitants of Easter BIODIVERSITY: Island appear to have rendered it vir­ tuall\' uninhabitable for their descen­ dants. The list of ecological disasters WHY SHOULD WE goes on and on. and the costs of the loss of species are beginning to be felt throughout the world in terms of PRESERVE IT? reduced productivity of agricultural land. increased costs of foreign aid. and BY M. JULIAN CALEY human suffering. Remember. though. that so far we SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY ha\'e onlv considered the maintenance of enough species di\'crsity to ensure continued human survival at some mini­ ECENTLY. I WAS ASKED WHY WE SHOl'LL> pials. bats. rodents and a whole host of mal le\'el. If. however. we add on bother consen·ing species. par­ others. While these species had prc­ additional benefits that can be derived ticularly species that ha\'e only \·iously escaped the notice of taxono­ from maintaining a di\·crse biota. the recentlyR been discm-ered. The impli­ mists they are in no way insignificant or argument for preventing further losses cation of this question was that we were unimportant players in the habitats we of species becomes e\'en more compel- no worse off when we did not know of now know them to occupy. 1 ing. There are many well-known the existence of these species. so why :'--lo species. human or non-human. examples of benefits derived from bio­ worry about them now that we do? The exists in ecological isolation. Therefore. diversity that enhance the quality of answer to these questions is lo be found e\'en if we had complete knowledge of human existence over and above our in the inescapable fact that the sun·i\'al species di\'ersity. it would be a daunting basic needs. These benefits include of humans as a species is absolute!\· task to then attempt to understand all access lo wild genetic stocks of our dependent on the proper functioning cif the interactions between species. But domesticated plants and animals. new complex ecosystems. All of our food without this information we are unable species for domestication. medicallv and oxygen are products of other to predict the effects of the extinction of acti\'e compounds. and the a\'ailability species. and plants constantlv filter our one species on another. or the point at of species for the biological control of water supply. \Ve cannot sun:i\·e whole­ which ecological collapse would occur. pest species. to name but a few. I low­ sale ecological destruction. Yet. eco­ What we do know. howe\'er. is that the ever. it is difficult to appreciate the total logical destruction is what we face in benefits that could be derived because the l 99Us. Ne\'er in the historv of the we are unfamiliar with so many species. world have species been exter.minated because we continue to derive new al the rate we ha\'e managed in the last "We cannot benefits from familiar species, and 100 years. and this rate is accelerating. because we cannot anticipate future Still. whv should we \,·orn- about the afford the luxury needs. In this situation. maintaining loss of one· more species wh.en we have biodiversity can only provide more ben­ sur\'ived the loss of so ;nan\' others? of more efits than we can presently anticipate. And what of the costs of maintaining We directly depend on only a ·subset of extinctions" species for our minimum requirements. biodi\'ersit\'? Because continued human and therefore it may not be necessarv sur\'i\'al depends on it. it is hard to to Sa\'e them all. So which ones should imagine a cost so great that it could tip we save? loss of indi\·idual species from a biologi­ the balance in fa\'our of not maintaining If the goal is to ensure the survival of cal community can ha\'e profound biodiversit v. Nevertheless, the costs humanity. the requirement would be to effects on the community as a whole, arc certainly trivial compared to the sa\'e a subset of species that was suf­ affecting species that had interacted billions of dollars being spent on the ficient to keep the ecosystems that with the extinct species either directly search for extra-terrestrial life. an support us functioning. To determine or indirectlv. Also. because of the com­ orbiting telescope. and mapping the which subset is sufficient we would plexity of these interactions. it is poss­ human genome. Yet. billions are not need to know which species arc out ible to push a system past the point of being spent on maintaining biodivcrsitv. there and understand their ecological collapse before any danger signs can be The reason for this is that conscrvir�g roles. detected. Therefore. the decision to individual species is commonly per­ To date. approximately 1. 5 million preserve any one species. either locally ceived as a luxury we cannot afford. On biological species have been described. or across its entire range. is extremely the contrary. the costs of previous This is an impressive number. but the important and the cost of making the extinctions are telling us very clearly estimates of the total number of species wrong decision immense. that we cannot afford the luxury of more on Earth range from three to well over \,\'hile we do not understand the exact extinctions. whether or not the species ten million. So at best. we are familiar role of most species in biological com­ is familiar or one that was described with the existence of only half the pres­ munities, we do know for certain that only yesterday. • ently extant species: at worst. less than we have the ability lo cause mass ten per cent. New species in all taxo­ extinctions and ecological disruptions. Ju/um Caley 1s a Ph.U. sludml at 1hr U1111'l'r· nomic groups continue to be described. and that such interference by us carries silv of Swb1l'\i II 1s tlll'sis is on lht• wavs hiodi­ Even now these recently described a great cost. Reductions in local species l'('�s,�· IS /l/(/ll//a111ed Ill C0/1//llllllilirs of rnral­ species include primates, dogs. marsu- diversity ha\'e resulted in the famines in rrcl /ishrs 011 1hr Great Harner Herl

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