p lJp Front

ne misty morning, while camp cl near a . adu ational Park, I was lucky enoug bi11 ab on,,a in Kak . . h to . ellied Sea-Eagle catch mg its first meal of the witnes s a White-b . . . ama IJ1g Sight, as seem1 gly f m OU� day. Jt was an � � . rn of . swooped !own, th1 ust its nowhere a massive bird : talons 111�0 a large silver fish. In the the water and pulled out same fluid to a nearby perch and proceeded to 1110tion it then flew . tear its catch apart. After weeks of seemg t h ese b'1r d s perched sile ntly along the rivers of the far orthern Territory, it wa thrilling to finally see one hunting. Penny Olsen ha studied so A shower of airborne droplets trail a White-bellied Sea-Eagle as it these magnificent birds for over 15 year don't miss her struggles to gain height, a fish firmly grasped in both feet. article "Winged Pirates" as it provides a view into the world of tlie White-bellied Sea-Eagle-and includes her own fir t-hand full of vicious pointed teeth. Related to modern-day snakes, experience of the power of those massive talons. these reptiles propelled themselve through the water by From Sea-Eagles to sea monster , we go to Western powerful front and rear paddles, and used their teeth to crack Australia and join John Long as he describes the excitement open the hard-coiled shells of ammonites. John also describes of discovering Australia's largest and most complete keleton the other types of marine reptiles that dominated our seas at of a 1110 asaur-a ten-metre-long marine reptile with a head the time of the dinosaurs. Wade Sherbrooke's article on Thorny Devils and horned toads is a fascinating comparison between two of the world's weirdest-looking lizards. They share amazing similarities in appearance and behaviour, right down to their preferred food, yet one lives in Australia and the other thousands of miles away in America. So just why do these lizards look and act so alike? Other stories in this issue include bettongs that have bounced back, perfectly preserved three-dimensional fossil insects from Queensland, venomous bandy-bandies that only eat blind snakes, and a pictorial look at the seasonal changes in Australia's alpine region. One mosasaur attacks another. -Jennifer Saunders

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NATU RE AUSTR ALIA SPRING 1999 Articles ure A FIRST FOR NORFOLK Nat 26 NUMBER 6 When Captain Cooh visited SPRING 1999 VOLUME Museum Trust Norfolh Island in 1774, there Published by the Australian wasn't anyone there to greet 6 College Street. him. Yet discoveries have Sydney, NSW 2000. 9320 6000 confirmed a well-established Phone: (02) human population on the Fax: (02) 9320 6073 Web: http:/ /www.auslmus.gov.au island between 1200 and 1600. Trust President: Malcolm Long Who were these early settlers, Museum Director: Michael Archer and why did they disappear? MANAGI G EDITOR BY PETER WHITE & Jennifer Saunders, B.Sc. ATHOLL ANDERSON PREHISTORIC SEA email: [email protected] 26 MONSTERS OF THE WEST SCIE TIFIC EDITOR When dinosaurs roamed the Georgina Hickey, B.Sc. Earth, monsters swam in our email: [email protected] seas-giant reptiles over 15 PHOTO & EDITORIAL RESEARCHER metres in length with jaws full Kate Lowe of pointed teeth. join John long email: [email protected] in Western Australia as he DESIGN At\/D PRODUCTIO unearths a number of these Watch This! Design amazing marine reptiles. PRI TI 1G BYJOH LO G Excel Printing ADVERTISING 46 Robbie Muller Phone: (02) 9320 6119 email: [email protected] UBSCRIPTIO S Robbie Muller Phone: (02) 9320 6119 Toll-free (1800) 028 558 WINGED PIRATES Fax: (02) 9320 6073 White-bellied Sea-Eagles are email: [email protected] one of our largest and most Annual subscription (4 issues) powerful birds of prey, and Within Australia $A33 Other countries $A45 they are Australia's only Two-year subscription (8 issues) representative in a group that Within Australia $A63 Other countries $A83 includes America's Bald Eagle. Three-year subscription (12 issues) But unlihe many other large Within Australia $A89 Other countries $A116 predators they can still be found New subscriptionscan be made by credit card on the NATURE AUSTRALIAloll-free hotline (1800) 028 558 or use the form in hunting in areas close to this magazine.ff it has been removed, send cheque, money human habitation-including order or credit card authorisation to the address above, made Sydney Harbour. THORNY DEVILS payable to the 'Australian Museum' in Australian currency. BY PENNY OLSEN All maten'a/ appearing in 'ATURE AUSTRALIA is copyright. AND HORNY TOADS Reproduction in part or whole is not permitted without written 30 You'd thinli that a lizard as a11t/zorisatio11 from 1/ze Editor. NATURE AUSTRALIA welcomes bizarre as Australia's Thorny articles on the natural and cultural heritage of the Australian BANDED BURROWERS Devil would be a one-off, but Region. Opinions expressed by the authors are their own and do Bandy-bandies are beautifully thousands of kilometres away in not necessarily represent the policies or views of the Australian America there is a band of Museum. All articles in NATURE AUSTRALIA are peer-reviewed. striped, practise body-looping, NATUREAUSTRALIA is printed on archival quality paper refuse to eat anything but blind spiny look-alikes that appear to suitable for library collections. snalies and prefer to retire share many of the Devil's Published 1999 IS SN-1324-2598 under ground-definitely not peculiar behaviours. The your usual venomous snahe. question is, why? NATURE AUSTRALIA (as ANH) @) BY SARAH SMITH BY WADE C. SHERBROOKE is pr?ud ;,vinner, of the 1987, '88, '89, 90, 91, 92 & 93 Whitley Awards for 38 54 Best Periodical, and the 1988 & '90 Australian Heritage Awards.

Front Cover Some scattered brown feathers among the white identify this as a subadult White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster). The elongated feathers on its crown and nape are slightly raised in threat or curiosity. Photo by Nicholas Birks. 2 l NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 THE LAS T WORD Hornbills Feast and Fly; Auto­ ar Features Erotica; Light-fingered Sponges. Regul SCIENCE AND THE MEDIA Getting information out to the 6 public is a common goal for REVIEWS both science and the media. So Under Bungonia; The Flower why can't they be friends? Chain; Dawn Till Dusk; BY RICHARD FULLAGAR & Birdwatching in Australia and PAUL WILLIS New Zealand; Wild and Free; Wildflowers of the Snow 80 Country; Australian Kangaroos; Fraser Dingo; Columns Australia's Unique Wildlife; Wildflowers of Western Australia. LETTERS Do Lions Purr?; Long Live 72 Whale Strandings; Australian Elephants?; Cockroaches and SOCIETY PAGE Disease; Former Expats. Interested in nature but not p H O T O A R T sure what to do or where to go? 4 ature Australia's Society Page ST THE BACKYARD NATURALI ALPINE SEASONS is a great place to start. Enjoy the seasonal changes of NATURE STRIPS A Tale of Two Tigers; Termites HOT IN THE Australia's alpine region. 74 GREYS and Moth Balls; Riddle of LONG-JUMP STEAKS BY ROSS DUNSTAN We've hunted them for sport the Red Nectar; Seals 'See' and shot them as pests. But how 64 with Whiskers; Polar Gender THE GUIDE do you convince people that Nature Australia's market actually eating them may be place. to our part of the answer_ 75 habitat destruction problem and quest for ecologically sustainable meat production? BY STEVEVAN DYCK 20

RARE & ENDANGER ED NORTHERN BETTONG Life for one of Australia's rarest marsupials has taken a turn for the better,with the discovery of a new population 300 kilometres outside its known range. BY ALLE McILWEE 22

Benders; Scrofulous Mummies?; Birds' Navigational Nightmare; Sunfish Flaps and Female . Choice; Beetlemania; Basking ead-butts About It; Cases· No H Q&A Agai�st the Flowi Tadpole . Blue-tongue; Sponges; Overhill Black Schools· Why Spice?; The Eyes Have It; Split Iris; Killers Play or Und�rhill?; Kiwi Pie Tease1: Frisbee·, Quicli Quiz; Sex Shells; Wormholes in Deep r·ime.; ' 78 W I L D T H I N G S VIEWS FR OM THE FOURTHDIMENSION FIRE, SEEDS AND BUGS AND BONES IN PARROTS Bus ANCIENT STONES hfires and Australia are Perfectly preserved three­ syno nymous and many of dimensional insects that are Australia's Plants have evolved of years old. They w re a millions , � , close relationship with fire. the time, but the trick But there all what's this got to do with knowing how to !ooh for our was in Parrots? them. BYT!M LOW L ARCHER 24 BY MICHAE 70 NATUR E AUSTRALIASPRING 1999 the ecological processes at these sites for millennia. LETTERS Almost certainly the nutri­ for readers to ent inflows from decaying The forum and scavenged whale carcass­ air their views about their es play a role in shaping the concerns, past articles and natural ecology of the local area. The stench from the rot­ interesting personal events. ting carcasses may be obnox­ ious to humans but it is sure­ ly wrong to want to sanitise nature to fit a largely urbanised society's sensibili­ Do Lions Purr? tu res that deter1nine whether all but a couple of our endan­ I would like lo question the or not continuous purring is gered species programs. tie . assertion from the Autumn possible. These same anatomi­ Among the main whale It can be argued, as Geraci does, that providing assis­ 1999 Quick Quiz that Lions cal differences also help species involved in ew don't purr. Joy Adamson stat­ explain why large cats can Zealand strandings are the · tance to stranded whales rep­ ed several times that Elsa roar while smaller cats, in pilot whales, which are com­ resents a genuine humanitar­ purred. Anyway, can one ever similar circumstances, paratively common species. ian response by helping prove a negative claim? scream. Intervention is justified if it another species in distress. -Anne Drover -Linda Gibson assists species suffering from Yet human perceptions of ani­ Wollstonecraft, NS W Australian Museum the impact of humans or mal welfare provide a poor from the alien pests we have ethical basis for intervention Do Lions purr? It really Long Live Whale introduced. For critically in natural events. We do not comes down to our description Strandings threatened species, interven­ ask Tanzanian wildlife of the sounds animals make. In making the case for tion to rescue individual ani­ rangers to run animal ambu­ In my reply to a reader's ques­ intervention in whale strand­ mals from natural events, lances around the Serengeti tion on this topic (Q&A, ings, Joseph Geraci gives lit­ such as fire or flood, can also Plain, patching up or ending Autumn 1998), I acknow­ tle consideration to the case be soundly justified. But the the suffering of victims of ledged that Lions make a for non-intervention (Nature case of intervention to 'save' predation by Lions. We know sound that may well be Aust. Summer 1998-99). That reasonably common species such maimed victims help described as a pun� but they do case needs to be put, if for no from natural events runs support a second tier of not produce the continuous other reason than scarce con­ counter to ecologically based predators and scavengers, involuntary purring that we servation dollars are spent on conservation management. adding to the richness of associate with the smaller cats. whale rescues. In New Wl1ale strandings repeatedly African biodiversity. Equally, Anatomical differences in the Zealand, sizeable sums are occur in some areas and, whale strandings are an throat area of these two groups spent on whale rescues every from what is known, these inherent feature of coastal of animals are among the fea- year-more than is spent on strandings have been part of ecology in a number of areas.

4 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 -

A Little Raven ( Corvus mellort) carcass. feeds on a Rabbit

Long may they continue to g occur. I -Kevin Smith Wellington, NZ

Australian Elephants? After reading the bloaters- and-floaters article by Michael Archer (Nature Aust. Summer 1998-99) I came across the information that Strzelecki the explorer had discovered an elephant's tusk in a cave "beyond the Wellino-ton Valley". In 1971, while �orking a a guide at Jenolan Caves, I became French microbiologists ques­ (Ann. Inst. Pasteur split within the Corvidae r or­ 79: led crreat f iends with John tioned the ability of the Ger­ 654-660; 1950). to the formation of a new �is, the discoverer of 'Deep man Cockroach to carry Medical doctors often seem group, the crows and ravens Pass' on the Newnes Plateau, pathogens. Is the matter set­ lieen to show that cockroaches (genus Corvus), which are who at that time was the tled yet? cannot spread disease and I mostly quite large and dress Reserve Over eer at J enolan. -Harvey Marrable wonder if this is because of the almost entirely in black 0ike John had been doing a lot of Wamberal, NSW frequent appearance of cock­ Phillip Adams). There are 20- work in McEwan's Valley at roaches in hospitals. something species of Corvus the cave where he was The studies quoted in the Cockroaches are not vectors worldwide, five of them in establishing a breeding British Medical Journal are of disease in the same way as Australia, where they are our colony of Brush-tailed Rock­ interesting but selective. mosquitoes (no human only resident corvids. wallabies and, during the The habits of cockroaches pathogen is particularly asso­ What all this means is that course of his work, had mean they have the potential ciated with cockroaches). our crows and ravens repre­ . picked up a small elephant's to be vectors of disease. A num­ However, I feel that, because of sent that rarest class of birds, tusk in the dry bed of Harry's ber of species live in sewers the areas they inhabit and most worthy of our admira­ River. He showed me the tusk from which they can escape their ability to pick up patho­ tion: Au tralian expatriates and it was about 20 to 25 cen­ (cockroaches are even able to genic organisms on their body that made it big overseas, timetres long and, as far as I pass through the water in the or in their food, we should then came back to live here can remember, not very dis­ S-bends of plumbing fixtures) regard them as potential dis­ while still remaining active coloured. 1either of us and they may feed on bacteria­ ease vectors. Certainly in some and successful on the world thought much about it, as at laden garbage, and then trans­ instances there is evidence that circuit. And all that without one time there had been a fer these to human food. they can spread disease. picking up a b·ace of a foreign small house and a vegetable Cockroaches certainly har­ -Peter Miller accent. garden higher up the valley. bour pathogenic ( disease-car­ University of Technology Sydney -John D. Scanlon We just assumed that the tusk rying) organisms, which have University of Queensland had been lost from the house been isolated from their legs, Former Expats when it was eventually gut and droppings, but Observing a group of Possums in the deserted. whether they act as vectors of ravens on the University of Spotlight John ha been dead now for these organisms remains con­ Queensland campus while The possum names in two so me years so I don't know tentious. Studies have shown eating my lunch, I reflected of the captions in "Possums what happened to the tusk. It that Salmonella enteritidis that the e birds, more than in the Spotlight" (Nature may have dated back to the rarely multiplies in the gut of any human institution or Aust. Autumn 1999) were bush-ranging days when poor German Cockroaches, but achievement I can think of, inadvertently transposed. The old McEwan lived there. cockroach faeces may contain are a legitimate source of possum at the bottom of page 37 i a Lemuroid Ringtail, -Keith Watson the organism for 3-20 days national pride. Bowenfels, NSW and so are certainly capable of The superfamily Corvoidea while the one on page 38 is a giving an inoculative dose to originated in Ausb-alia, where Herbert River Ringtail. We Cockroaches food (]. Med. Entomol. it includ s such prominent apologise for any confusion. and Disease 17: as the Aus­ -G.H. 417-423; 1980). In an earlier local identities The piece by Steve Van study the incidence of infec­ tralian Magpie, butcherbirds Dyck on cockroaches tious hepatitis in Californian and bowerbirds. Then some (Nature Aust. Summer tens of millions of years ago a NATURE AUSTRALIA welcomes apartment bloc/is dropped letters for publication and �998-99) was very interest­ when cocliroaches were con­ branch of the family emigrat­ ing, requests that they be limited to . particularly in view of trolled but remained high in ed, giving rise lo the fa�1ily 250 words and typed if possible. stu�ies quoted in a 1993 arti­ blocks not receiving treatment Corvidae, a group of birds Please supply a daytime tele­ cle 111 British Medical (Am. 11: currently more successful on phone number and type or print Journal J. Trop. M. and address clearly on (vol. 306, p.591). Marc Klow­ epi­ the world stage than the your name den 705-711; 1962). And an the letter. The best letter in this and ?em hard Greenbe Spice Girls, and certainly issue will receive a copy of Aus­ (U _ rg demic of food fJoisoning in a niversity o( Illinois) appar­ hospital in Brussels only sub­ with brighter prospects (and tralia's world heritage from the ently reported better singing voic­ Museum Shop. The winner this that cock­ sided after the severe infesta­ possibly D. Scanlon. roaches rapidly detoxified e , although this is clearly not issue is John mo sal­ tion of German Cockroaches nella, and a group of was controlled using DDT the forte of ilher group). A

NATUR E AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 5 mainland populations also acids a great_ deal of urgency to con ervat1on programs for the few individuals that sur­ ature vive in the fore ts of Sumatra. Maintenance of viable popu­ lations in the wild will require increased political support for the protection of this Strips species and its remaining habitat. By increasing public COMPILED BY awareness about this discov­ GEORGINA HICKEY ery, the Sumatran Tiger will hopefully become a flag hip for increased conservation efforts in Indonesia. tory and colleagues have The results of this study -5.R. A Tale of Two shown that the Sumatran have erious implication for Tigers Tiger (P t. sumatrae) is captive-breeding programs, r Termites and nce widespread on genetically distinct f om _the which until now have focu eel Moth Balls Omainland Asia and the four mainland subspecies, largely on Bengal and Siber­ Indonesian islands, the and probably warrants recog­ ian Tigers. Captive-breeding e use moth balls Tiaer"' (Panthera tigris) is fac- nition as a distinct specie . stocks of Sumatran Tigers (made from naphtha­ The researchers argue that need to be increased to W ing extinction through out _1ts . lene) to keep clothes moths range as a result of extensive the Sumatran Tiger diverged ensure that this genetically and carpet beetles at bay. Sci­ habitat loss and hunting. from mainland populations distinct species is adequately entists have now identified an Now a molecular study has after rising sea levels isolated represented in breeding pro­ insect, the Formosan Subter­ challenged the traditional the island of Sumatra about grams. At the same time ranean Termite (Coptotermes view that Tigers are a single 6,000-12,000 years ago. In interbreeding of captive formosanus), that uses naph­ species with five subspecies, contrast mainland subspecies Sumatran Tigers with ani­ thalene in a similar way. and raised questions about continued to interbreed until mals from mainland popula­ Jian Chen from Loui iana current Tiger conservation recent times, when popula­ tions must be avoided to State University and col­ problems. tions became isolated as a maintain their genetic integrity. leagues discovered that the Joel Cracraft of the Ameri­ result of widespread habitat Recognition that the Suma­ termites incorporate naph­ can Museum of atural His- destruction. tran Tiger is distinct from thalene in their underground

The Sumatran Tiger is genetically distinct from the other Tiger subspecies.

6 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 II

whiskers aren't bour Seal's A Har help the seal ratio n· they ·ust deco its food. J� f'nd ich they butld by nests, wh 11ting together soil and ce111;; d with their suC ated woo rna. exc1. ement . I 11 sal iva and . log-ram of nest ma te1 . - eve1 )'l

Female Polar Bears with male-like genitalia indicate that all may not be well in the Arctic.

to extremely weak water young female Polar Bears food chain. Certain organo­ Thebes-West, Upper Egypt. movements (similar to those (Ursus maritimus) sporting chlorines, such as PCBs Their D A analy is, coupled generated by fish), but never small (two-centimetre-long) (polychlorinated biphenyls) with X-ray and other findings, responded when wearing a penises, in addition to normal can have a gender-bending showed that ancient Egyp­ muzzle of wire mesh that hin­ vaginas. The team also previ­ effect on mammal foetuses. tians suffered from tuberculo­ dered whisker movement. ously recorded two 15-year­ PCBs are remarkably similar sis (TB)-the oldest reported Remarkably, this is the first old breeding female Polar to some of the body's natural case of infection by TB time that this type of sensory Bears with unusually large, hormones, and can bind to (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). system has been confirmed penis-like clitorises, and receptor sites in developing Earlier D A analysis of a in a marine mammal. another four cases have since organs in place of them. 1,000-year-old female mummy -P.R. been found. The effects of environmen­ from Peru, South America, What could be causing the tal pollutants on Polar Bears also indicated infection by Polar Gender abnormal development of are not well understood and TB-a remarkable finding as Benders male characters in these research is currently under­ it seemed to demonstrate that genetically female Polar way to assess the impacts on TB was not inb-oduced to the ermaphrodites are Bears? 0ystein Wiig (Univer­ their immune function and Americas by Christopher H organisms that display sity of Oslo, Norway) and col­ hormone regulation. Howev­ Columbus in 1492, as previ­ both male and female repro­ leagues admit there may be a er, if pollution is the cause of ously thought. This does not ductive organs. The word perfectly natural explanation, the genital abnormalities, deny the ruthless impact of derives from a character in such as an ovarian tumour in they indicate that all is not introduced disease strains Greek mythology, whose lady the deformed bears' mothers. well in the world of the Polar (notably smallpox, measles, love prayed to be united with This can lead to an oversecre­ Bear. influenza and typhus), which him forever. The gods acqui­ tion of androgens by the -A.T. have decimated native Ameri­ esced, and the two became mother, which in turn may can populations in the past. one. cause unusual sexual devel­ Scrofulous But could the TB bacterium While the appearance of opment in foetuses. However, Mummies? really have evolved indepen­ hermaphroditism in nature is the researchers point out dently in two places? Some quite common, especially there may be a more sinister -rhe ancient Egyptians have argued that the DNA among plants and inverte­ origin. I may have portrayed tests used to identify brates, it is rare among mam­ Polar Bears from this area themselves as beautiful on Mycobacterium in the Peru­ mals-particularly wild, natu­ have an unusually high accu­ the outside, but the in ide vian mummy have not distin­ rally reproducing popula­ mulation of organochlorine story was not so pretty. guished human TB from tions. It was therefore with pesticides in their fatty tis­ Andrea erlich (University another species (M. bovis) surprise that a group of sues. The pesticides are of Munich, Germany) and common in wild animals. researchers working on Sval­ blown to the polar region, colleagues examined bone Jared Diamond (University of bard Island in the Arctic condense down in the cold and lung tissues from a 3,000- California at Los Angeles) Ocean came across two air, and accumulate in the year-old male mummy f rom argues that TB is a 'crowd

8 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 pa

erived ease', probably _d dis the Why don't Pectoral Sandpipers Cattle .and, . hke " from . ' t10 1s d1 - (Calidris melanotus), in their her maJor 111fec : 0 t Wo1 lei, has annual migrations, take a short ases of the Old.. cut directly e g1vmg compan- over the North Pole? been an unfor humans_first start cl ion since edge. icaling a�1111als a?out domesl Why do years ago 111 Eurasia. If birds avoid the 10 000 shorter transpolar Peruvian mu_mmy was route? th� Birds may pre.fer to skirt the . deed infected with huma!1 . d",�a tes an_ e,a 1·11 A.relic Ocean because the TB,,n then it 111 � feeding grounds mbian) penod of at the edges er (pre-Colu are contact between richer. However, a some human birds are known west Asia and the ew to make non­ south- stop journeys of up to 5 000 World. kilometres, lack of resou�ces vVhatever the answe,_-s, certam­ may not be the primary rea­ study of pa t diseases son. understand­ ly holds a key for The and futu_re researchers suggest i3 ing the present that birds bacteria, may be giving the � impacts of ancient pole a and other wide berth because it 6 emerging viruses is a navigational nightmare. � microbes. Birds navigate with the help "' -Richard Fullagar from Siberia to North Ameri­ months of July and Septem­ of an internal magnetic Australian Museum com­ ca will make a 3,000-kilomet­ ber, they used radars mount­ pass, and by using the Sun re intercontinental journey ed to the ship to detect any and stars as directional cues. Birds� across the pack-ice to Alaska. birds flying high above the The polar region is unusual in Navigational But do any birds take a short cloud and fog. To their sur­ having an extremely weak cut, by flying directly over the prise, Nightmare they found no trace of horizontal geomagnetic field North Pole? birds migrating aero s the intensity. It may be that this, arsh conditions and spo­ To find out, Gudmundur central Arctic Ocean, which is combined with the absence of radic resources in the Gudmundsson and Thomas in stark contra t to the many stars all summer, throws the ArcticH force many animals to Alerstam from Lund Universi­ skuas, shorebirds, terns and birds' compass out, forcing migrate huge distances. ty in Sweden crossed the Arc­ waterfowl that have been them to choose more easily Every year a multitude of tic Ocean in the icebreaker recorded migrating at the navigable areas. Arctic birds on their way Oden. Between the summer same time of year along its -A.T.

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Sunfish Flaps of the flap wer variable species? It i likely that these gist Brian Farrell (Harvard and Female among individual , male ornament are energetically University) believes that the gen rally had longer flap expensive lo produce, and beetles' diversity is a result of Choice than femal . Th y wondered po ibly make the male more their inordinate fondness for exual ornaments are whether th flap may be a vulnerable to predation. a leafy diet. widely used by males lo sexual ornament used to Large flaps maytherefore be Although the idea of coevo­ attractS mates, and females attract females, and tested an accurate reflection of male lulion of plants and insects is often choose sexual partners this theory by observing the condition, developed only not new, it recently took a hit with the most extravagant responses of female sunfi h by the fittest individual . when it was shown that the ornamental structures. How­ exposed to males with oper­ Whether females that choose appearance rate of insect fam­ ever structures lhal acl as cular flaps of different sizes. these males derive a direct ilies did not increase with the sexual ornamentation are Offered a choice of male benefit in terms of their own flowering plant (angiosperm) extremely uncommon in fish, with normal or shortened reproductive success remains radiation during the Creta­ probably because they hin­ (clipped) flap in a laboratory to be determined. ceous, some 100 million der efficient movement experiment, females spent -S.R. years ago. But Farrell through water. Kaye God­ more time near, and dis­ believes beetles were a differ­ dard and Alicia Malhi from played more often to, males Beetlemania ent story. Southwest Missouri State with normal flaps. And in Analysing D A sequences University recently discov­ another experiment, females ,-J1e world is crawling with from 115 species of herbivo­ ered that the Longear Sun­ showed a stronger prefer­ I beetles (order Coleop­ rous beetle subfamilies, he fish (Lepomis megalotis) is a ence for males with artificial­ tera)-330,000 species of created a phylogenetic tree rare exception to this rule. ly extended flaps over those them in fact.Indeed when the showing the evolutionary Longear Sunfish are unusu­ with normal flaps. renowned biologist J.B.S. relationships of today's bee­ al among fi h in having soft, Exaggerated opercular Haldane was asked his con­ tles and when they diverged scaleless extensions of the flaps are clearly sexually du ions about Creation, he from common ancestors. To protective flap covering their attractive to female Longear reportedly quipped that the this he added details about gills (the opercula). Goddard Sunfish, so why i there o Creator had an "inordinate species' dietary habits, infor­ and Mathis noticed that, much natural variation in the fondness for beetles". Like­ mation from fossils and bio­ although the size and shape size and shape of flaps in this wi e, evolutionary entomolo- geography of extant species,

A longicorn beetle (Batocera sp. ) . w hy are there so many different kinds of beetle? 10 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 to identify which ance tor ate what plants on which con- tinent and when. . His work showed a tight relationship b_etwe�n pl�nt 1 and beetle d1ver_s1ty, �1th cycad- and. cornfer-eatmg species �onmng the trunk _of the family tree and angio­ sperm-eaters the top branch­ e . Two supedamilie� in particular, Chrysomelo1dea (including potato beetles) and Curculionoidea (includ­ ing weevils) flouris�ed !n response to the nse 111 angiosperms. Their known 135,000 species comprise about 80 per cent of all her­ bivorou beetles and almost half of all herbivorous insects. It just goes to show what can happen if you eat your green . -R.S. Basking Cases ith its massive mouth Wagape, gills flared and 11-metre-long body barely creating a ripple as it cruises just below the ocean's sur­ face, an adultBasking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus) can be a formidable sight. o need, however, to flee this leviathan. The world's second largest fish species it might be. But it's a gentle giant that eats only plankton. In an hour, it can cover about four kilometres of ocean and filter 2,000 tonnes of water across its gills. Basking Sharks were once thought to feed indiscrimi­ �ately by simply swimming, 111 the world's temperate coastal waters, with their huge mouths open. But a new study by David Sims and Vic­ toria Quayle (now at the Uni­ versities of Aberdeen and A formidable sight, but Basking Sharks are gentle giants and only eat plankton. Southampton, respectively) has found they are actually And they followed plankton its distribution is a useful ve ry No Head-butts selective foragers. patches as they moved on measure of ocean productivi­ About It For two years, the tidal currents. ty: where there's a lot of researchers tracked the Sims and Quayle speculate plankton there are also lot of ome-headed dinosaurs movements of Basking the huge fish may have elec­ fish. Presently, sophisticat cl (or pachycephalosaur ) Sharks off the south-west troreceptors that sense mus­ satellite imagery can give us hadD massive bulbou crani­ �oast of England, measuring cle activity in some of the tiny detailed information on phy­ ums. Just what they did with ater temperature and zoo­ animals that comprise zoo­ toplankton abundance, but them ha been a matter of plankton densities wherever intrigue for decades. the plankton. Like some sea­ not zooplankton abundance. sharks fed. The sharks birds, they may also detect Because Basking Sharks for­ According to one popular �pe�t the longest time forag­ dimethyl sulphide, which is age selectively on zooplank­ theory, first published in the �ng 1� _areas with the highest released by phytoplankton ton, they could be used as 1950s, dome-headed dino­ ensit1e of large zooplank­ when grazed by zooplankton biological plankton record­ saurs used their thickened to n. They fed only along ther­ (see Nature Aust. Winter ers, providing us with infor­ Ind! in head-butting con­ mal fronts-areas of high­ 1997). mation not available from tests with rival males, much Plankton productivity like male Bighorn Sheep col where Because all marine food satellites. d and warm waters meet. chains are based on plankton, -K.McG. ( Ovis ea nadensis) do today.

NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 11 Did dome-headed dinosaurs, like these horned Stygimoloch individuals, butt the heads of their rivals, or their flanks (as shown here)?

The heads of sparring rams used their heads like avoid trout downstream. How failed to elicit an avoidance meet with great speed and modern-day African antelo­ do they do this? It appears response. force, but their brains are pes, to butt the flanks (not they can whip up a backcur­ Video recordings suggest protected because the stress heads) of competitors. rent that alerts them in the amphipods leave little of impact is dissipated across According to Carpenter, advance of their downstream room for error, retreating just the heavy horns and fore­ the thickening of the predators. one centimetre from a preda­ head and down through the dinosaurs' skulls served to Drifting with the current tor. A trout's hunting neck and back. Similarly, sup­ increase the mass behind provides a means of foraging prowess, however, is dimin­ porters of the dinosaur head­ blows to the flank and not, as and finding mates, and ished in poor light, and the butting theory believe the the previous theory advocat­ amphipods do this irrespec­ amphipods drift mainly at thickened front and sides of ed, to help absorb the force of tive of predatory risks. Their night. Even one centimetre, it pachycephalosaur skulls collisions between heads. In crescent-shaped body and seems, is sufficient to detect would have received the full some pachycephalosaurs, movement of their numerous and manoeuvre around a force of collisions, while small horns had even devel­ legs create the backcurrents predator. residual stress was passed oped in the skin along the that bring to them, against -J.M. down through the neck to the back of the dome, which Car­ the stream's flow, the chemi­ rest of the body. penter believes would have cal cues or smell of any trout Tadpole After a re-examination of helped to inflict more pain lying in wait. Once detected the fossils, however, Kenneth (but not serious injury) with the amphipods can actively Schools Carpenter, from the Denver each blow. avoid becoming hors d'oeuvres. ocial behaviour is Museum of Natural History, -K.McG. To discover this Jonas Dahl Suncommon among tad­ has reached a different con­ and colleagues from Lund poles, largely because this clusion. He points out that Against the University in Sweden et up stage of the frog's life cycle is pachycephalosaurs didn't mesh enclosures in a stream. devoted exclusively to feed­ have the horizontally straight Flow Half the enclosures contained ing and growth. So why do neck configuration required ost carnivorous fresh­ Brown Trout (Salmo trutta), tadpoles ometimes form for transferring stress during M water trout hunt from the other half contained large schools? head-to-head collisions. Fur­ downstream. In thi way their none. When they released Schools may form simply thermore, head-butting would chemical odours don't give amphipods upstream, they because tadpoles aggregate have been difficult because of them away to their upstream found they steered clear of in patche of water that are the small surface areas avail­ prey. But shrimp-like amphi­ the enclosure with trout. In warm or have high concen­ able for contact on the oppos­ pods (Cammarus pulex), which the laboratory they found the trations of food, but it is ing domes. Instead he are only 10-16 millimetres amphipods only responded to increasingly clear that they believes pachycephalosaurs long, have been found lo a trout's scent. Visual cues may also serve a number of

NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 12 Tadpoles trom an undescribed o a new lrian Jayan tree fr, g: to school? reason for going social functions. For example some tadpoles actively form schools to avoid predators. In these schools there is a con­ stant movement of tadpoles from the edges to the centre of the school, where the risk from predators is lowest. Recently, while surveying in the remote mountains of Jrian Jaya, I came across an unusual schooling behaviour by tadpoles of a small, unde­ scribed tree frog in the genus Litoria. The tadpoles were in a large, shallow rainforest pool where they formed a compact school of several thousand individuals. The surface of the water looked like it was boiling, as a central plume of tadpoles rose from the school to gulp air before returning to the safety of the throng. As the school moved slowly around the pool, large amounts of deb·itus and algae were brought up from the bottom and the tadpoles

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NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 13 • Spices, such as garlic, do more for food than enhance its flavour.

highest antibacterial potency. If we came to use spices for their antibacterial properties how did we learn which one� to use? Billing and Sherman propose that those who added spice to their food, especially in hot climates, may have been able to store food for longer before spoilage, enabling them to better survive times of scarci­ ty. They would also be less likely to suffer food poison­ ing. Such evolutionary bene­ ficial habits then get passed on to succeeding genera­ tions. So remember, if you are planning overseas travel to one of the hotter climes and are wary of the 'Delhi Belly', go the vindaloo-extra spicy. -J.M. Overkill or Underkill? o-one knows for sure N why the Australian mar­ supial megafauna died out towards the end of the Pleis­ tocene (sometime between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago). They may have suc­ cumbed to a drying out of the climate, vegetation change, overhunting, or a combina­ tion of these factors. The overhunting or 'human blitzkrieg' theory has received revived interest of late with the publication of Tim Flannery's Future eaters (1994). However, without knowing exactly when the megafauna became extinct or even when humans first reached Australia, archaeo­ logical and fossil evidence may never fully resolve the issue. Taking a different rapidly consumed this. So it tastes? Is it because spices ered suggests there is more approach, David Choquenot appears that schooling behav­ disguise the taste of spoiled to a good curry than the (now with Manaaki Whenua iour in this species provides food, increase perspiration flavour and fire. All the spices Landcare Research, New nutrition for the individual and thus help cooling, pro­ studied exhibited some Zealand) and David Bowman tadpoles. As far as I am vide nutrients, or do they degree of antibacterial func­ (now at Northern Territory aware, this type of group for­ have antimicrobial proper­ tion. Over half the spices University) have created a aging by tadpoles has never ties? inhibited or killed more than mathematical model to deter­ been reported. All except the latter can be 75 per cent of bacteria in the mine just how efficient Pleis­ -S.R. discarded, according to Jen­ dishes. And four spices-gar­ tocene hunters would have nifer Billing and her col­ lic, onion, allspice and needed to be to cause such Why Spice? league Paul Sherman from oregano-inhibited every large-scale desb·uction . Cornell University, New bacterium te ted. Basing their model on co�­ hy do people use York. In addition, the researchers temporary population densi­ Wspices? The obvious Billing and Sherman found the bolter the coun­ ties and hunting efficiencies answer is that it enhances the assessed 43 spices used in b·y's climate, the more spice of Aboriginal populations in flavour of foods. But why did meat-based cuisines of 36 appeared in the cooking, Arnhem Land, the simple people evolve to savour lhese countries. What they discov- especially tho e with the predator-prey model was run

14 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 response of plot. e the to ex ey species (with eren P · diff 6 a\d 1 000-kilogram 250-, SO · �es) 'to different odY mas b rates. huntJ· n? they found tei esti ngly Jn ·es most vulnera- t tl e spect tha 1 g were the l . overhuntin b e to odel also le t Their m smal · at population o"'.� d that, sh less than 0.1 per­ ens1tles l d square ki ome_tre sons er f.e-European populabon (tli� P Arnhem land), estJmate for hunter wou Id h ave each 00 d ed to search 1 nee y compa1. - hectares per day. (B . n,· an experienced Buffalo iso . .. hel·1 - s100t el. worlang u·om a 600 I cove1. copter can only hectares per day.) Choquenot and Bowman hunt­ suagest t],at such high efficiencie� would . be ing New Zealand Killer Whales ble, given the _h_m­ hunt for stingrays on the sea floor and have adopted extraordinary ways of unreasona dealing with their tricky food. its of normal human ability, and the unlikelihood that every member of the popula­ Kiwi Killers eating them. Killer Whales feeding by Killer Whales, tion, irrespective of age and Play Frisbee have also been known to toy Ingrid Visser from the Uni­ gender, would hunt. with penguins and dolphins, versity of Auckland found The researchers therefore n David Attenborough's and even a Beluga Whale. that whales living between conclude that overkill alone I documentary "Wolves of But in New Zealand, Killer Auckland and the Bay of cannot be held responsible the Sea", we watched in Whales have a new food to Islands forage for stingrays, for the demise of the amazement(Orcinus area)as Killer Whales play with-stingrays. often up to two metres megafauna. carelessly In the first recorded across, by standing on their -R.S. tossed seals around before instance of benthic (bottom) heads in shallow water and

Excel Printing Franc• E•cel Printing U.S.A. Printing U.K. 149, Avenue Victor Hugo 75116 Pan Yu Excel Printing United Co. Ltd. Excel 4664 Stonecrast Lane, Street, Tring, Parls, France. 3 Henry Buckingham, PA 18912, U.S.A. 8801 Shan Road, Shi Ji, Pan Yu, , HP23 68H, U.K. Tel • 13311479 63091 fJi Hertfordshire Tel: 1215179 48603 Guang Do ng. P.R.C. : 14411442 691 46° Fax · 13311479 53093 Tel Fax: 12151794 6655 1442 891 461 E-mall: seagraphlc@europostorg Tel: 1862018485 3923 Fax: 144) e-mail: [email protected] il rnbrarnrne nlld 0 k � �E-�rna�:���::::r@��'.:"111 ------��!!���= Fa:x�16�62�01�64�65�10�36: � :'.·'::'.;·"�---=====:.:....;__�-- ---� ------NATUR 15 E AUS TRALIA SPRING 1999 - digging into the substrate. the previou 40 years! This Snails, as a group, display On several occasions, she may have important implica­ two copu_latory positions. r tions for fisheries manage­ Partne1 s e1th r mate face-to­ QUICK QUIZ saw whales emerge f om the : � bottom with mud covering ment of rays and their habitat face, with their shells behind 1. Name the comet their noses right up to the in this area of New Zealand. them. Or one snail can mount responsible for the blowhole. Once a ray was -A.T. the shell of the other so that Leonid meteor shower located, whales would often sp�rm trans[er takes place last November (1998). work cooperatively. In one Sex Shells while the snails are in parallel 2. Who was named Young instance, for example, a alignment. Asami and his Australian of the Year whale pinned a ray to the bot­ ost land sn_ails, like team of researchers found (1999)? tom with its nose, while M people, are nght-hancl­ that the overwhelming major­ 3. What do most frogs have another whale grabbed it by ecl. But rather than describ­ ity of species with low shells that toads do not? its tail. ing hand preference, which is opt for face-to-face copula­ meaningless in limbless ani­ tion, while species with tall 4. In the field of organ Visser describes how Killer mals, handedness or 'chirali­ shells transplants, what is W11ales would often throw a slender favour the ty' in snails refers to the mounting approach. xeno-transplantation? ray out of the water before tossing it around, frisbee­ direction in which the shell Right-handed snails have 5. Do Lumpsuckers have style, with other whales. But coils. Interestingly, the inter­ their genital apparatus open­ fur, fins or feathers? this 'game' may be more of a nal arrangement of organs in ing on the right side of their 6. What does ENSO stand life-saving device, enabling left- and right-handed snails bodies; and vice versa for left­ for? the whale to reposition the is also reversed. handers. Thus, mating 7. How many arms and ray in its mouth without About a decade ago, it was between individuals with tentacles do giant squids being stung by the venomous noted that more left-handed reversed handedness is phys­ have? tail spine. species evolved in groups of ically difficult, resulting in a 8. Do echidnas have a There have been very few snails with tall slender shells, mating disadvantage for pouch? accounts of Killer Wl1ales eat­ compared to those with low whichever handedness is 9. In which country do ing elasmobranchs (rays and globular shells. Biologist least represented in the popu­ Lesser Short-tailed Bats sharks), but for this New Takahiro Asami, from the lation. The researchers pre­ live? Zealand population, rays Tokyo Metropolitan College, dicted that mating between 10. What type of organisms appear to be an important and colleagues now offer a left- and right-handers would produce stromatolites? part of their diet. To put it in reason why. Their research be easier in the mounting perspective, Visser saw Killer indicates that it's all to do position than face-to-face and, (Answers in Q&A) Wl1ales eat more rays on one with the way snails get if so, selection against the coil clay in New Zealand than has around the cumbersome of minority would be more been reported worldwide for problem of sex in a shell. relaxed in tall slender

Wh do shells coil in both � directions for tall-spired snail . . choice of mating sp ecies ' but usually only in one direction position. for low-spired species? It's all to do with their

16 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 -

Could tunnels found in billion-year-old rocks have been made by complex animals such as this polychaete worm (Eonice aphroditois)?

(mounting) species. This appear to have been pro­ way Morris and colleagues who studied the Black­ means that genes for duced by large, complex ani­ from Cambridge University casquecl, White-thighed and reversed handedness would mals, pose a huge dilemma, re-examined Azmi's "small Piping Hornbills (Ceratogym­ persist longer in populations implying that such animals shelly fossils" and concluded na atrata, C. cylindricus and of tall species, providing flourished for over 500 mil­ that they weren't fossil organ­ C. fistulata) in the rainforest more opportunity for left­ lion years before leaving their isms at all, but mineral canopy of the Dja Reserve, handed species to evolve. first body fossils (or, for that deposits. But they also chal­ Cameroon, the birds have -K.McG. matter, any other convincing lenged the idea that the been found to act as seed dis­ trace fossils). branching tunnels were made persers for a significant pro­ Wormholes in Obviously, such an extraor­ by worms, suspecting they portion of the forest flora. Deep Time? dinary claim was bound to too may have an inorganic The birds' dietary habits provoke scepticism. Almost origin. were determined through Apie�e of sandstone from immediately, it was chal­ With the evidence so direct ob ervation and by col­ India has recently excit­ lenged by R.J. Azmi (Wadia ambiguous and the claims so lecting the seed that accumu­ ed and divided biologists. Institute of Himalayan Geolo­ startling, arguments on both lates beneath the nest cavi­ Why?_ Because it apparently gy, India) who claimed to sides are likely to get as tor­ ties when the male delivers �?ntams worm burrows, yet food to the female and chicks, it have found "small shelly fos­ tuous as the putative burrows s been radiometrically sils" adjacent to the rocks themselves. which are sealed within the dated at over a billion years -Michael Lee cavity for the duration of the old- bearing the worm burrows. nearly twice as old as These tiny, highly distinctive University of Queensland nesting period (four to six the oldest known fossil ani­ months). They found that col­ mals. fossils are common world­ A team of scientists led wide in rocks that are only Hornbills Feast lectively the hornbills con­ by Adolf Seilacher (Universi­ sumed fruits from at least 50 ty about 540 million years old. and Fly of Tubingen, Germany) Thus Azmi's fossils implied species of trees, and dis­ announced the for about 22 6 unexpected that the Seilacher team's ornbills, instantly recog­ persed the seeds md late last year. nised by their large per cent of the b·ees in the . radiometric (and biostrati­ H Fossil evidence indicates graphic) elating was wrong, horny beaks, have recently study area. They also found that complex animal for a that their relatively slow aros life and that their rock was only gained recognition e less than 600 million much more significant eco­ digestion is gentle on the ear half as old as they claimed. In i s ago, shoi:tly before the which case the presence of logical feature-their impor­ inge ted seeds. Out of 24 b·ee amous Cambnan explosio regen­ species tested, 23 germinated B efo n. worm burrows would be tant role in rainforest re then, only tiny single­ nothing special. The claim for eration. after b ing eaten. elle_d organisms study, Whit­ f and relative­ unknown worm-like animals Thanks lo the work of Ken­ In a separate r Y s imple multicellular both the ney and Thomas mith (f om w�e sea­ existing in 'deep time' neth Whitn y (from ds were thought to have appeared to be refuted. San Francisco State Universi­ the same two universities) ?1sted. Thus, the l,l00-mil- of Califor­ showed that the Black­ 10n-y However, a new twist ty and University ear-olcl burrows, which occurred when Simon Con- nia al Davi ) and colleagues, casquecl and White-thighecl

NATUR E AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 17 ·------�

Mayflies mistake asphalt roads for water, with disastrous consequences.

Hornbills, previously thought the asphalt surface where stream ecosystems, as grow. to be sedentary, actually track they are doomed to desicca­ mayflies are an important Riccardo Cattaneo-Vietti, seasonally variable fruit tion. food source for fish. The from the University of Geno­ resources. Exactly how far Gyorgy Kriska (Eotvos Uni­ researchers are currently va, and colleagues extracted the birds travel is at present versity, Hungary) and col­ testing lighter-coloured long spicules from the demo­ unknown, but preliminary leagues have been studying asphalt with a rougher sur­ sponge Rosella racovitzae and radio-tracking studies by these entomological road face, to see if they can curb shone beams of laser light Kimberly Holbrook (San fatalities. By offering mayflies the mayflies' fatal fetish for through them. They found Francisco State University) various surfaces on which to hot tar and gravel. that the spicules were excel­ indicates they may travel as lay their eggs, the research­ -K.H. lent conductors of light, even much as 290 kilometres. ers have established that when bent at various angles. The researchers say these mayfly navigation is guided In one experiment, the results show that Ceratogym­ by horizontally polarised amount of light carried a cen­ Light-fingered ° na hornbills rank among the light. They discovered that Sponges timeb·e beyond a 90 -bend in most important seed dis­ polarised light bounces off the spicule was still 65 per persers in Afrotropicalforests asphalt in the same manner lants need light to pro­ cent of the original beam and will become increasingly that light reflects off water. Pduce food, and in the intensity. Each spicule looks a important in forest regenera­ The darker and smoother the murky depths beneath the little like a palm tree, with a tion as populations of larger asphalt, the higher the Antarctic seas, a sponge and cross-shaped structure at the mammalian seed dispersers, degree of polarisation and the an alga have come to an inge­ top. The researchers showed such as elephants and pri­ more enticing the road is to nious arrangement that that this serves to increase mates, are diminished mayflies. The detour of the enables the plant to photosyn­ the spicule's light-collecting through hunting. open road is irresistible to thesise in almost complete capacity. In fact, spicules -R.S. mayflies as they prefer habi­ darkness. deprived of their apex con- tat free of dense vegetation In the chilly depths of the Auto-Erotica for their sex swarms, and the Ross Sea, tiny unicellular warmer temperatures of the algae (diatoms) flourish deep Karina Holden, Jason Major, sphalt roads are proving tarmac prolong copulatory inside living sea sponges. Ato be a fatal attraction for activity. The e sponges are supported Karen McGhee, Stephen mayflies in the throes of pas­ Mayfly species have under­ by a network of ilica spines, Richards, Philippa sion. As thick clouds of these gone severe declines in called spicules, around the water-seeking insects gather recent year due to habitat ba e of which the algae grow. Rowlands, Rachel Sullivan for their mating dance, they destruction and pollution, Now Italian researchers have and Abbie Thomas are are being lured towards the and asphalt road traps near discovered these picules reflected light of roadways, riparian (water) habitats may may be acting as optical regular contributors to and females, instead of laying further threaten the survival fibres to mop up what little Nature Strips. their eggs in water, are of many future generations. light penetrates to 120 tricked into laying them on The road toll may also af fect metres, where the sponges

18 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 light. 397-398. d 70 per cent less ness" explained: why are there so many billion years ago: trace fossil evidence ducte spicules beetles? Science 281: 555-559. ms that the Chen, J., Henderson, G., Grimm, C.C., from India. Science 282: 80-83. t s oncentrate light I c tand c Lloyd, S.W. & Laine, R.A., 1998. Ter­ Goddard, K. & Mathis, A., 1997. Do co!le the garden of mites fumigate their nests with naphtha­ Sims, D.W. & Quayle, V.A., 1998. Selec­ d wn to opercula_r flaps of male longear sunfish tive foraging behaviour of basking 1 their b_ase. In lene. Nature 392: 558-559. ? on s at (Lepom,s megalotis) serve as sexual l d1at service, the sharks on zoop ankton in a small-scale n for this ornaments during female mate choice? Nature retur because Choquenot, D. & Bowman, D.M.J.5., front. 393: 460-464. ealso benefits, Ethol. Ecol. £vol. 9: 223-231. spong _ ' and photosyn- 1998. Marsupial megafauna, Aborigines flounsh 111g Visser, I., 1999. Benthic foraging on tion of algae and the overkill hypothesis: application Gudmundsson, G.A. & Alerstam T .. popula l (Orcinus orca) atl 1es1_s1 ng and of predator-prey models to the question l�98 . Why is there no transpolar' bird stingrays by Kil er Whales l it with nutrients . in New Zealand waters. Mar. Mamm. provic es of Pleistocene extinction in Australia. m1grat1on? 1. Avian Biol. 29: 93-96. Global Eco/. Biogeog. Letters 7: Sci. 15(1): 220-227. oxYgen. -A.T. 167-180. Kriska, G., Horvath, G. & Andrikovics Whitney, K.D., Fogiel, M.K., Lamperti, S., 1998. Why do mayflies lay their egg� A.M., Holbrook, K.M., Stauffer, D.J., g Conway Morris, S., Jensen, 5. & Butter­ en masse on dry asphalt roads? Water­ her Readin Hardesty, B.D., Parker, V.T. & Smith, furt field, N.J., 1998. Fossil discoveries in imitating polarized light reflected from T.B., 1998. Seed dispersal by Cerato­ . R.H. & Ohbayashi, K., India: continued. Science 282: 1265 . asphalt attracts Ephemeroptera. 1. Exp. A5am1, 1., Cowie ' . . gymna hornbills in the Dja Reserve, of mirror imag�s by Biol. 201: 2273-2286. !998 Evolution . Cameroon. 1. Trop. £col. 14: 351-371. c ating behav1or m Cracraft, J., Feinstein, J., Vaughn, J. & xuaily asymmetri � se Amer. Natur. Helm-Bychowski, K., 1998. Sorting out Nerlich, A.G., Haas, C.J., Zink A. hermaphroditic snails. Whitney, K.D. & Smith, T.B., 1998. 236. tigers (Panthera tigris): mitochondrial Szeimies, U. & Hagedorn, H.G., i997'. 152(2): 225- Habitat use and resource tracking by sequences, nuclear inserts, systematics, Molecular evidence for tuberculosis in an African Ceratogymna hornbills: implica­ . l discoveries in and conservation genetics. Anim. Con­ ancient Egyptian mummy. The Lancet ,, R ..J , 1998. Fossi tions for seed dispersal and forest con­ l"\Lm1, 627. serv. 1: 139-150. 350: 1404. India. Science 282: servation. Anim. Conserv. 1: 107-117. man, P.�., 998. Dahl, J., Nilsson, A.P. & Pettersson, L.B., Olesen, J.M., R0nsted, N., Tolderlund, ling, J. & She� � Wiig, 0., Derocher, A.E., Cronin, M.M. & Bil why 1998. Against the flow: chemical detec­ U., Cornett, C., M0/gaard, Madsen, J., functions of sp�ces. Skaare, J.U., 1998. Female pseudoher­ Antimicrobial tion of downstream predators in running Jones, C.G. & Olsen, C.E., 1998. Maurit­ like it hot. Quart. Rev. 810/. 73(1): maphrodite polar bears at Svalbard. 1. some waters. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 8 265: ian red nectar remains a mystery.Nature 3-30. Wild/. Diseases 34(4): 792-796. 1339-1344. 393: 529. Carpenter, K., 1997. Agonistic _ b�hav!or Dehnhardt, G., Mauck, B. & Bleckmann, Salo, W.L., Aufderheide, A.C., Buikstra, Zink, A., Haas, C.J., Hagedorn, H.G., in pachycephalosaurs (Orn1th1sch_1a: 1998. Seal whiskers detect water J. & Holcomb, T.A., 1994. Identification Szeimies, U. & Nerlich, A.G., 1999. Mor­ Dinosauria): a new look at head-butting H., movements. Nature 394: 235-236. of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in a phol ogical and molecular evidence for behavior. Contrib. Geol. 32(1): 19-25. pre-Columbian Peruvian mummy. Proc. pulmonary and osseous tuberculosis in a Cattaneo-Vietti, R., Bavestrello, G., Cer­ Diamond, J., 1998. Guns, germs and Natl Acad. Sci. USA 91: 2091-2094. male Egyptian mummy. In Tuberculosis: rano,C., Sara, Benatti, U., Giovine, M. & steel. Vintage: London. past and present, ed. by G. Palfi, 0. Gaino, E., 1996. Optical fibres in an Seilacher, A., Bose, P.K. & Pf/Oger, F., Dutour, J. Deak and I. Hulas. Golden Antarctic sponge. Nature 383: Farrell, B.D., 1998. "Inordinate fond- 1998. Triploblastic animals more than 1 Book-TB Foundation: Budapest: Szeged.

19 NATURE AUS TRALIA SPRING 1999 eyes, no ears, and mere buds for hind legs, yet it had ironman arms and pig. BACKYARD NATURALIST THE . like nostrils ... a shapeless mite more maggot than macro pod, mo re miscarried than delivered. Getting Australians to raise their glass to �uch an Mine wasn't the first head to be environmentally friendly, lowfat godsen� involves a scratched over a kangaroo neonate. For quantum leap of Looking Glass proportions. centuries intellectual battles raged over whether birth took place inside the pouch, whether the joey just budded out from the end of the teat, or whether the female manipulated it into the GREYS HOT IN pouch or licked a path for it to follow. Today we know at least that the newborn beats its own track from the THE LONG-JUMP birth canal up to the pouch, totally unas isted by its mother and totally STEAKS dependent on its Herculean forearms to There, around noon, the unnerving effect the passage. But we also know vapour of neat spirit would announce that it is guided to the nipple in the BY SfEVE VAN DYCK that she, not alcoholic but diabetic, was pouch by complex and highly preparing to shoot up, a spectacle to developed sensory responses involving surpass all the morning's pumpkins and scent and touch. pastry. With nonchalance belied by her poor bruised thighs she would swab her leg EASTERN GREV with alcohol, then inject herself with a KANGAROO HE FIRST NEXT-DOOR NEIGHBOUR needle better suited to pumping yabbies Macropus giganteus I can remember with genuine affection than insulin.And to help me recover my was an old lady whose hair was as silver five-years worth of wits, she would Classification as her thumb was green as her thighs produce a small jar whose contents Family Macropodidae (wallabies, were purple.To be minded by her for a would absorb my attention until it was kangaroos and tree-kangaroos). morning was not so much a squeeze time to go home. through the paling fence as a step Bobbing around in metho was a Identification through the Looking Glass. Her newly born Eastern Grey Kangaroo Silver-grey above, lighter on belly, vegetable garden hummed with harvest­ (Macropus giganteus), no bigger than a woolly fur, hairs between the top lip festival anticipation, her kitchen with jellybean, with a little bit of cut-off and the nostrils. Sexes similarly the promise of hot shortbread. nipple hanging from its mouth. The coloured, but males (head-body 150 Although between the stove and the injection was one thing, but a kangaroo cm, tail 95 cm, weight 50 kg) almost compost heap there were always good in a Vegemite jar made my head spin twice as big and heavy as females. things to eat and do, these delights more and called for a lot of hard Probably just smaller than Red would be later eclipsed in her more questions that my neighbour was never Kangaroo. Speed recorded at 64 sombre lounge room. really able to answer. km/h, long-jump reported at 13.5 m, It was perfectly normal as far as can high-jump to around 3 m. A joey still in its mother's pouch. newborn kangaroos went; it had no Distribution and Habitat Eastern half of Qld, most of NSW and Vic., south-eastern tip of SA, and north-eastern Tas. Found where annual rainfall exceeds 250 mm, in open forests and scrubs, woodlands, freshwater swamps and mangrove edges, heaths, shrublands, tussock grasslands and pastures. Behaviour Mostly nocturnal, but active from late afternoon through to early morning. Lives in groups of up to a dozen, but may aggregate in much larger numbers at favoured feeding grounds. Vocal communication by coughs, grunts and duckings. Mating usually occurs in early summer, gestation 33 days, usually one young produced but twins have been recorded. Pouch with four teats. Status Abundant on the mainland, but vulnerable in Tasmania.

20 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 onto a teat that swells ce fa stened on ,outh and firmly anchors the ide_ t he ins i �ws in the p�u�h for �bout eY, t g r i jo 1 ths gets its ev1cllon not ce al nine 111� � rights 1 nd loses all to the 11 111011 �- bag-�t 18 month . . nose- able 111 this proce s 1s M0st remark ipping that can occur when e d_ ble-d tJ1 �� are right. An� lime after the cond� ns i ui· 1 10nths old ts mother may ·J Oe y 1s 1-o 1 a d become pregnant agam. mate � straining the hip weve1, to avoid . . · J-1o 1 1oppe1 111 th � c_{1 et the developmg po on the backburner until utei s 'is put u ei. O ne g·ets its marching order . 1 um b · A soon a Joey O ne 1s· ev1c le d , tl 1e i foetus resumes growth to be d0 r� ant 111. orn a month later. Il develops the b .i 1 ong teat t hat .J oey eh alongsr de the · b�� feeds f ?m when it pokes i�sh_ead · for a dnnk. Both have d1ffe1 ent :�itritional needs, and each i supplie_d a When weaned, a irly different brew. fa specific range of gra se and for�s (pasture plants other than grasses) will all the Eas_tern �rey be ju st about . Kangaroo feed� on �or 1t SIX �o eight years. Unlike 1t� chief �ompeb�or the Sheep, however, 1t doesn t gnnd its food so fine as todesb·oy most of the seeds that would pass out in its dung. Protected inside the dung ball, such seeds can lie in wait until germination can takeplace. The upkeep of feeding machinery in this kangaroo (and all its congeners for that matter) i also quite astonishing. Grass is a notoriously abrasive substance to process ...mower blades don't wear down to bootstraps just because we keep hitting the footpath.A !on� way _behind a kangaroo's snipping mc1sors, 111 both the upper and lower jaws, is a set of grinding molars that look like end-to-end dice with the middles gouged out. A kangaroo gets fiveof these to an innings. One is milk tooth a that gets pushed out relatively This joey still relies on its mother for a feed early, and will suckle from the long teat that can be seen but the other four erupt her pouch. from slowly in th� back of the jaw and move like Processionary Caterpillars toward the down." kangaroo steak with a tumbler full front. One by one, worn of useles down and Fortunately we no longer dignify such red. The ingredients are essentially the s, they suicide off the Gap front 0f at the behaviour as 'sport', yet we still same, the only difference is that, in the th e molar row. A very old k garoo mi�ht procrastinate, shuffling the Eastern meal, at least some of the hard 1 � have only one molar Grey between the status of a pest, a kangaroo questions are being each side of its jaws, so �i h� c its death harvestable resource, and a species to addressed.• - h!11e from starvation while sta�. dmg 1P-dee be conserved. Unlike many small S p in lucern· wallabies and kangaroo-like marsupials, Further Reading mce the ti e O f E"uropean in Austra ; settlement this species has benefited profoundly Poole, W., 1995. Eastern Grey Kangaroo.Pp. 335-338 ria, t e Eastern Grey The mammals of Australia, has b rne Kangaroo from agricultural practice. And despite in ed. by R.Strahan. Reed m � the brunt of the sportin Books: Chatswood. an' s cy g unique and novel arguments to the War �� In 1907, naturalist Thomas d P v ci_e d the contrary, with something like one-and-a­ on the � following comments half million harvested annually Caughley, G., Shepherd, N. & Short, N. (eds), 1987. t Ject. 'Th� requirements Kangaroos, their ecology and management in the sheep he spo;� of (nationally), prospects for the species' rangelands of Australia. Pow .are a swift-running Cambridge University Press: . erful Jaw dog of survival are still good. Sydney. npped · · · dogs are frequently Getting Australians to raise thei�- glass t op e , or cut he first h nearly in two; and to such an environmentally fnendly, Grigg, G., Jarman, P. & Hume, I., 1989. Kangaroos, kan r �nters to wallabies and rat-kangaroos. Vols 1 2. ga oo a come_ up to a low-fat godsend however, involves a & Surrey Beat­ hors �ay spnng from Norton. es and s their quantum leap of Looking Glas ty & Sons Pty Ltd: Chipping This P; t fhzmg its tail, hold it have to be gen�ly l even s e i. up. proportions. Altitudes _ Dr Steve Van Dyck is a Senior Curator of �gs to st · an mal from lifting its example. If a joey 111 a Jar . nk e i. massaged by Vertebrates at the Queensland Museum P1 n 1t b · thus ass sted, the and a y the th ro dogs of metho can produce a headspin where he has worlud since 1975. at, and soon have it ng impression, so too can a NAT long-lasti URE AU STR ALIA SPRING 1999 -21 -- � -- RARE & ENDANGERE;D

The discovery caused quite a stir as Northern Bettongs are one of the country's rarest marsupials. NORTHERN BETTONG BY ALLEN McILWEE

are small 1.2-kilogram marsupials in the family Potoroidae. This group includes the shy and elusive bettongs, potoroos and the rainforest-dwelling Musky Rat­ kangaroo (Hypsiprymnodon moschatus). Although Northern Bettongs can some­ times be heard rummaging about on the forest floor, they are seldom seen, but when they are, they are easily recog­ OVEMBER 1997, WHfi.E DRIVI G nised by their soft grey coat and the through the Coane Range, not far from dark crest of fur at the end of their tail. theI rainforest , township of Paluma They are similar in appearance and (northern Queensland), I spotted what genetics to Brush-tailed Bettongs (Bet­ appeared to be a Northern Bettong tongia penicillata) from Western Aus­ bounding across the road. If the animal tralia. However, the two species are sep­ was indeed a orthern Bettong, it sure arated by such a large distance that had quite a distance to cover. The near­ their status is regarded separately. est recorded 'home' for this species was Like their potoroid relatives, North­ more than 300 kilometres away to the ern Bettongs have undergone a dramat­ north. ic range contraction over the past two Uncertain of what tricks the animal centuries. They have vanished fromtwo may have played on my eyes, Alastair known locations-the Dawson Valley Freeman of the Queensland Depart­ near Rockhampton and the greater ment of Environment and I organised an Ravenshoe area south of the Atherton

Although Northern Bettongs can sometimes be heard rummaging about on the forest floor, they are seldom seen, but when they are, they are easily recognised by their soft grey coat and the dark crest of fur at the end of their tail. these animals extremely vulnerable to stochastic events, such as disease and predation from Foxes and feral Cats. In expedition to uncover the identity of this Tableland. Currently only three popula­ addition, sclerophyll forests at the wet­ mysterious animal. To our delight, it tions are known to exist-one on the Mt ter end of their range are currently turned out to be no lonesome stranger Carbine Tableland (north of Cairns), undergoing dramatic changes caused that had strayed from foreign lands, but where only three animals have been by a lack of fire and the sub equent inva­ rather a member of a new Northern Bet­ caught since the early '90s; the recently sion of rainforest. Scientists at CSIRO in tong population that had somehow man­ discovered Coane Range population, Atherton have shown that around 30 per aged to evade the probing eyes of from which we trapped eight individu­ cent of potential orthern Bettong habi­ researchers. The discovery caused als; and another on the Lamb Range tat on the Lamb Range has been lost due quite a stir as Northern Bettongs are (west of Cairns). In contrast to other to invasion of rainforest species. one of the country's rarest marsupials. populations, Nor them Bettongs on Northern Bettong , like their south­ Northern Bettongs (Bettongia tropica) Lamb Range occur at relatively high ern relatives, are highly reliant on truf­ are found only in upland areas of north­ densities, however they are restricted to fles as their main ource of food. The � eastern Queensland, and live within nar­ a strip of just 25 x 5 kilomeb·e . availability of truffle , which are the � row strips of wet eucalypt forest that hug The modest size and isolated nature fruiting bodies of underground fungi, gj the western edge of rainforests. They of Northern Beltong populations make are believed to be the 1110 t important

22 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 facto. r rimitmg .. the sp e O extension of the working towards identifyingkey areas of more resourceful and resilient than we eci s int dry wo types of forests and potential habitat. These locations could currently suspect. • od! and s. Truffles round . are eaten yea1· provide suitable reintroduction sites for and compnse between Per ce . 30 and 70 the species. A study using mitochondrial Further Reading nt of th e d'iet. some truffl s are 40 species of DNA and other genetic markers is also Johnson, C.N. & Mel/wee, A.P., 1997. Ecology of the a th � _ � nown to l o h be consumed, in progress by Lisa Pope at the Universi­ Northern Bettong, Bettongia tropica, a tropical m \ ih1s is probably an underesti­ mycophagist. Wild/. Res. 24(5): 549-559. ate o ts, ty of Queensland. Lisa hopes to reveal un · tubers and the succulent the ct ou d ste age of populations. Thi will show lilie:��� t . m bases of grasses and whether Northern Bettongs have suf­ Laurance, W.F., 1997. A distributional survey and habi­ a so important tat model for the endangered Northern Bettong, Bet­ In 1 food items. fered a long history of i olation, or 990 a �ecovery T tongia tropica in tropical Queensland. Biol. Conserv. lis hed t0 eam was estab­ whether a decline in their status has e . monitor and direct 82: 47-60. th speci . research on occurred during recent times. a es Th. e. t din tin earn 1s currently coor- While Northern Bettong populations Allen Mc/twee has completed an honours P p IT f:orts �o search o ula o�; for additional will continue to face a variety of potential degree on the feeding ecology of Northern a T�i o gh sc le dis · u the �se of fine­ threats, discovery of the Coan� Range Bettongs. He is currently a PhD student a_t s e tr· ution and James Cook University, loo/ling at the nutn­ ci ntists f:-� habitat models, population gives hope that, amidst the I me 1:11 the Queensland De tional ecology of leafeating possums and nt of Env 1ronm part- constant battle to save our endangered ent and CSIRO are animals, some species may be a litlle gliders in eucalypt forests. N ATURE A USTRALIA SPR I ING 1999 23 1/ L. years. In banksias, the fire melt WILD THINGS s th e resin that holds the follicles closed while the dried flower heads act as con'. Many of the shrubs store their seeds in woody, fireproof venient torches. fruits that only open aftera fire has been through. Many of Australia's . best-known shrubs and trees are serotmous, includ­ ing vast numbers of eucalypts (Eucalyp. tus species), banksias, sheoaks (Alloca­ suarina species), hakeas (Hakea FIRE, SEEDS species) and bottlebrushes (Callistemon and Beaufortia species). The eucalypt and banksia families (Myrtaceae and & PARROTS Proteaceae) are especially rich in seroti­ nous plants, and this habit has undoubt­ edly contributed to their success in a BYTIM LOW fire-prone land. Within many genera there are strongly serotinous species non-serotinous species and others that store some seed and shed the rest sea­ Seedlings sprout prolifically after fire sonally. in heathland because many of the Serotiny is best developed in dry shrubs store their seeds in woody, fire­ heathlands with a Mediterranean cli­ proof fruits that only open after a fire mate, where the dry summers ensure has been through. Storage of seed in the regular :fires, and the vegetation is so canopy is called 'serotiny'. Serotinous low it cannot escape the flames. Around plants do not shed seed each year, but Perth, the degree of serotiny increases build up an accumulating store, awaiting the farther north you go, even among the inevitable inferno. The wet season the same banksia species, as the climate FIRE JS THE GREAT LEVELLER. after a fire is the best time to germinate becomes drier and the banksias more Every few years it rages through Aus­ because competing plants have been stunted. Some serotinous species tralia's heathlands, wasting leaf and singed away, the ash is nutrient-rich, (shrubs without an underground limb, laying bare the land. Yet despite and the opportunity before the next fire reserve system of dormant buds) are the death and destruction, no lasting will never be greater. Some species of readily killed by :fire, and the seeds harm is done. Rains fall and flushes of Banlzsia can store their seed for 17 falling from their dying limbs afford seedlings rise from the ash to refurbish years, the Broad-leaved Paperbark their only hope of reproduction. Others the land. (Melaleuca quinquenervia) for ten resprout from underground lignotu-

The characteristic appearance of bottlebrushes such as the Lesser Bottlebrush (Callistemon phoeniceus) owes partly to their habit of retaining their seeds in intact capsules along the upper stems.

24 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING l 999 JI -

The serotinous seeds of Baxter's Banksia (Banksia baxteri) are protected from fire and birds by thick woody follicles which are bright red in colour. Few seeds are produced but these are well guarded.

bers, while others, including many euca­ with their massive beaks. In south-west­ weeds overseas. Hakeas in South Africa, lypt , easily survive fires but take advan­ ern Australia, where serotiny reaches its and the Broad-leaved Paperbark in Flori­ tage of the flames to casttheir seeds into highest development, Short-billed da, when poisoned, uprooted, ring­ the mineral-rich ash bed. Seeds of most Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lat­ barked or bulldozed, shed huge loads of eucalypts are so tiny that, without a fire irostris) are a feature of the heathlands, seed, irrespective of the season in which to cl�ar away grass and litter, their where they crack apart the woody fruits they are killed. Release of seed is trig­ eedlm?s h�ve little hope of surviving. of hakeas and dryandras (Dryandra gered by death of the branch, even if no Serotmy 1s rare in most parts of the species) with plier-like beaks. In nearby fire has passed through. A single paper­ wo�ld, although common in the South woodlands, Long-billed Black-Cockatoos bark in Florida can shed 20 million Afncan fynbos heathlands and among (C. baudiniz) and Red-capped Parrots seeds, accumulated over a decade, a sta­ fire-tolerant (Pinus spurius) pines species) in (Purpureicephalus use their tistic that makes Americanr land man­ ort� Amenca. Australia from the agers queasy. In South Afica, biologists eroti has more slender bills to extract seeds � �ous plants than any other land, huge gumnuts of Marri (Corymbia calo­ have introduced Au t:ralian moths and fle _tmg the pivotal phylla), attack the serotinous seeds of 0� � role played by fire their staple food. Seed capsules weevils to t .1s f!1°st ancient continent. remark­ hakeas. Maybe they should introduce er tiny Indeed, in the south-west are sometimes � m Australia probably dates back ably woody, not because fires there are cockatoos as well! • at ast 50 million Banksia ar/zaeocar a, years to exceptionally hot, but because spe­ ern � a fossil species seed-eating insects aha from West- cialised parrots and Further Reading Au ��!� wi�h thick ""'.oodyfollicles. are a major force. Cowling, R.M. & Lamont, B.B., 1985. Vari�tion in s serotm latha­ a cl1mat1C gradi­ tinctiv ous fruits are so dis­ The Glossy Black-Cockatoo (C. serotiny of three Banksiaspecies along _ _ e th ha Aust. £col. 10: 345-350. and fo �e won a place in craft mz) in eastern Australia is another by­ ent. J. of Sn lklo;;r In The complete adventures et made up ugg/epO t product of serotiny, with a di R.M. & and Cuddlepie, ­ Lamont, B.B., Le Maitre, D.C., Cowling,_ cheru May Gibbs' almost entirely of sheoak seeds. Seroti seed storage in woody (Cor bs uggle food, Enright, N.J., 1991. Canopy bi t insid_e bloodwood nous seeds are obviously a reliable The Bot. Rev. 57(4): 277-317. ym a g mnuts, n�r­ plants. men spe � while the banksia these parrots having some of the ak evil throu Australia. of the whit ­ Serotiny gh serotinous lips. rowest diets of any birds in Saunders, D.A., 1974. The occurrence _ � ex goes a long way all over th� black cockatoo, Calyptorhynchus bau�mu,_ in plainin towards Remarkably, black-cockatoos 1- tailed e g hy ero_t in Western Australia. Aust. Wt/di. Res. ndowed . � Australia is so well country have learnt to harv�st Pinus plantations ar wit parrots (Pznus rqdza­ 45-54. e Perm an . Serotinous seeds nous eecls of exotic pines 1(1): ab l e ently avai- 1 ab le to any ta pinaster). The Sh_ort-btll�d to br e animal and p 111 and i�riter who_ lives are ach th_e woody even a nU1sance Tim low is a biologist rnasters wall. Parrots Black-Cockatoo is serotinous trees m Bnsbane. !-f1s lat­ ! I seed at th1s task, among by s appe and serotinous some pine plantations. est book is future (1999), published specie the menus of many also helps explam why Aus- Feral s, es:ci�� Serotiny as Penguin. Y the black-cockatoos tralian shrubs and trees do so well N ATU RE AUS 25 TRA LIA SP I RING 1999 Why the early Norfolk Islanders disappeared remains a puzzle.

HE CAPTAI COOi< LANDED briefly on the north coast of Norfolk Island in 1774, there was no-one there to greetW him. . Captain Philip qidley King couldn't find anyone there either when, 14 years later with a band of soldiers and convicts he established the first Euro­ pean settlement on the Pacific island! at Kingston on the south coast. But King did find bananas (he called them "plan­ tains") and noted a "diminutive" rat (probably the Pacific Rat, Rattus exu­ lans). Both of these could only have reached this very isolated island with human help. But which humans? When? And where was the firm evidence? Over the next 200 years, at least 30 Polynesian-style adzes (axe-like tools) were collected. Made from Norfolk Island basalt, the tools were found from all parts of the island, but mostly from the Kingston area. These finds led Aus­ tralian Museum curators Fred McCarthy and Jim Specht to suggest that Cemetery, Emily and Slaughter Bays were the most likely locations for early human settlement. These bays, which are all in the Kingston area, front the island's only large area of flat land near the sea. Emily and Slaughter Bays are also protect­ A FIRST ed by the only coral reef on Norfolk Island, providing a FOR good harbour for small boats. This is why King estab­ NORFOLK lished his settle­ ment there, and winds. The reward came at the western BY PETER WHITE & ATHOLL ANDERSON the same rea­ end of the bay, in a patch of Norfolk soning is likely Island Pines (Araucaria heterophylla) to have been planted in the 1920s. Here was a horizon applied by pre­ of grey sand with a patch of burnt basalt historic settlers. cobbles, charcoal and fish spines-evi­ With funding from the Australian dence of an oceanic type of cooking area. Heritage Commission, the Norfolk This discovery prompted local resident Island Prehistory Project was set up in Bevan icolai to show us bones, includ­ 1995 to search for the elusive early-set­ ing the jaw of a Dog, that were collected tlement sites. The first eason's work some years earlier from holes dug about began in Cemetery Bay where previous 100 metres away for pit toilets. Lar�e­ researchers and local enthusiasts had scale excavations in 1996 and 1997, with noted a brown layer in the quarried sand additional funding by tl1e Austral)an dunes and where Pacific Rat bones had Research Council, Australia and Pacific been dated to about AD 1100. However Science Foundation and the orfolk no definitive cultural material wa found. Island Government, have now given us a Attention then switched to adjacent much fuller picture of the nature, con­ Emily Bay. A series of augur holes and tents and date of thi settlement. sma_ll pits was dug along the dunes So far we have excavated about 80 behmd the beach with the idea that square metre of the site, working while the beach 1�ay have been impor� between the pine trees. Lying about 50 tant f�r cano�s, people would probably metre back from Emily Bay, the occu­ have lived a little back from it, heltered pation was on a gently sloping sandy s ­ from the regular outh-easterly trade face, which human use turnedgrey WI� tl·1 26 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 p

Above: These kinds of rowing boat are still used on Norfolk Island. In the background is Philip Island, denuded of vegetation by people, Pigs and Rabbits in the 19th century. Right: A basalt adze from Norfolk Island now in the Australian Museum. Many of these have been found by islanders over the years 1 and are clear proof that Polynesians once lived there. charcoal and other organic refuse. Radiocarbon dates show was use be it in tween 800 and 400 years ago (AD 1200-1600), but n this form of dating is ot precise enough to determine long how the site was occupied. The range and nature of the excavated �truct ures and artefacts show three important oc things. First, the site was cupie� by East Polynesians; as second, it ; Quite substantial-clearly more n ca b � staways resting and re-grouping ore tryi th· ng to get back home; and t�e inhabitants may to;TI•Y is not have been olated on Norfolk Island.

NATU RE AUSTR ALIA SPRING 1999 A bone awl, a bone fishhook and the pointed part of a two-piece fishhook were among the finds at the Polynesian settlement at Emily Bay.

The Polynesian source of the occupa­ tion was already implied by previous dis­ coveries of basalt adzes. We confirmed this by finding more of them, along with bone :fishhooksand the head of a jabbing harpoon made of turtle bone, all with shapes like those made at about the same time on other Polynesian islands, including ew Zealand. The substantial nature of the occupa­ tion is evidenced by our excavation of two large building structures. Three sides of one of these was outlined by the actual bases of wooden posts and post holes, starting in the grey occupation zone and extending down into the white sand. This structure was at least 3 x 2 meb·es. The other was a 5 x 4-metre area paved with calcarenite slabs (a form of limestone locally available and common· ly used in European period buildings). This may have been used a an outdoor patio area for daily use, or it could h_av� been part of a ceremonial platform, s1m1· lar to a Polynesian marae. We know that the islanders had !mks with a wider world from the discovery of more than 20 small flakes of obsidian, a black volcanic glass that does not occur on orfolk I land. Analysis using a method called Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) has sourced the obsidi­ an to Raoul Island, 1,300 kilomeb·es away to the east. Also, the flakes were cone.en· b·ated near the pavement, suggesbng that their use was resb·icted and maybe even ceremonial. This lends suppor t to the idea that the pavement was used as a marae. These hints of an on-going settleme�t are reinforced by environmental evi· dence suggesting people lived on the island for everal generations. As well as The stone pavement being excavated at Emily Bay. Built from slabs of local calcarenite, it may the 900-year-old rat bones from Ceme­ have been the platform of a marae (ceremonial platform), or just a patio in front of a house. tery Bay, a pollen core of about the same

99 28 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 19 d post still of a P 0 lynesian house The base Mad e of Norfolk Island pine, the in place. end was sharpened and then lo-ground t he sand rather than being set driven into st hole dug for it. into a po r . 1 om ---, aken 1995 f the Kingston age t: li concentration of char am p S 1 10 wed 'a · · ) - sw ine (Cordylme ob;ecta , coal and of cordyl O which was commonly eaten the roo t f. y Polynes1ans. b II-established se�tlement at. AD icl�l,�rly cun 1200-A ��OO. makes it part ous e were no people hvmg on Nor­ diat n t fol s d when Captain Cook arrived in \ ent we excavated, 177 r1,e settlem r a · 'th1 the adzes collected f om all ��: � the island, show that this wa Pnot a s liort-term or very small-scale occupation. Why the ear!y orfolk Is 1a d� ers d'. is- remams a puzzle. Pei �aps 1so- z a p eared � P was to blame? They might not la t oni . . Clffi able to obtam enoug h d esn. e d ·-.c-.c:..;.- � Iia ev been

. Part o f the Euro land pean cemet . snail 5 3 ery at Slaughter Bay There is environmental evidence of Polyne sian settlement here, in the form of changes in nd pollen, but . the main settlement �as at the more protected Emily Bay behind the pine trees on the right NATURE US A TRALIA SP RING 1999 29 b

HILE I WAS LU CI-11 G I rubbish tips and other sites of human the restaurant of the activity to scrounge a meal. In the Can­ ational Gallery of berra disb·ict, as elsewhere, they have Ausb·alia, something at probably benefited from the clamming of theW edge of my vision snapped me to rivers and proliferation of introduced attention. I turned just in time to catch European Carp (Cyprinus carpio). nature in action. A White-bellied Sea­ Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) cruised NE OF THE MOST IMPOSING OF BIRDS, nonchalantly across the panorama Owith a two-metre wingspan, long, framed by the long plate-glass wall, broad wings held in a distinctive shallow scooping a fish from the choppy waters 'V', and short, pale-ended tail, Sea­ almost in passing. It was all so casual Eagles in flight have a silhouette remin­ and I thought how wonderful it was to iscent of a giant butterfly. Adults are share our city with such an awesome mostly white with a grey back and dark creature. Typically, large predators are grey flight feathers and tail base, while unwelcome around human habitation. young birds are dark brown, mottled Yet, here was one of Ausb·alia's largest and scalloped with fawn. The birds take and most powerful birds pab·olling the about five years to attain adult plumage artificial waters of the nation's capital. and, like most birds of prey, females are Sea-Eagles haunt a variety of aquatic larger and heavier than males. habitats, from the bays and inlets of Sea-Eagles soar conspicuously in the coasts and islands, to freshwater lakes, updraughts that form where air currents rivers and wetlands. They need quiet hit hillsides and cliffs, and perch woodlands for nesting and, in general, promin-ently in tall trees overlooking avoid built-up areas, although tl1ey are water. Their far-carrying honks and not above visiting fish-cleaning tables, yelps echo across the water. In flight the

dark win?"s cont1?st with the great sn_o� white of their body; perched, the pnstine white and grey of the adult, broad shoulders, and stumpy tail hidden by the cape of its wings, are unmistak­ able. Not s1:1rprisingly, the Sea-Eagle fea­ tures prommently in Aboriginal mythol­ ogy and wa one of the first Ausb·alian land birds to be described, spotted by the natu,?list accompanying James Cook on hrs first visit in 1770. A� not�cl by early naturalists, the Wh1te-belhecl Sea-Eagle is the only Aus-

The mottled brown of a young Sea-Eagle read­ ily distinguishes it from the pristine grey and _ white of an adult. Each year, until the eagles are about five or six years old, more and more of the cream and brown feathers are replaced with white and grey. 32

NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 tralian represen . tative of a nearly cos­ White-bellied Sea-Eagles are less spe­ A breeding pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagles �ohtan group. Indeed, �ilzaeetus the genus cialised in behaviour and anatomy than meets at the nest, which both have helped contain some of the largest to build or renovate. The male and female �n n:1°st that other notable fish-eating raptor, the � handsome birds of prey Osprey (Pandion haliaetus). Unlike the are identical in plumage but the female is mg lhe Ba (H. ���t�a u _ld Eagle teuc/ Osprey, they are not adapted to plunge noticeably larger. s ) , America's national em ?leri:, bird headlong into water, and rarely do they c the African Fish-Eagle (H fully submerge. (They are able to lift the forearm. He drove his hind talon : veroides)' r often called the voice of themselves f om the water, but for them through to the bone and sent me, a vet­ a, and Steller's ic;�) Sea-Eagle (H. petag- it is a laborious and clangerou process.) eran raptor handler, into a tate of shock. m _of Japan and Korea as O with the most Nevertheless, their sturdy, heavily I was grateful he just gave me a quick s1ve beal< f any raptor..' . th Sea In Austraha scaled legs and powerful, short-toed queeze and chose not to lock on as he m� -Eagle's clo�est r�latives are would to prey. The beer force of his grip ch _mailer, th� feet, soled with sharp spicules, equip m n �p1cal . kites: the Brah­ them well for catching large, lippery was something that had lo be experi­ i Y yte (Haliastur indus), Kite (J sphen Whistling prey. A deep, laterally compressed bill, enced to be believed. : urus) and Black (Mil­ vu' s migrans). Kite much stronger than the Osprey's, allows Much of a Sea-Eagle' day is spent at k The Sea-Eagle and the them to tear open beached seals and favoured perche , watching for prey. tes are only t:u distanlly related to the other tough food. Typically, after sighting a fi h or other eagles, which differ fea�her in having fully Unlike falcons, which kill with their prey item, the eagle swoops clown low, �d leg�, �mong other distinguish- ing ch ai act beak, the eagles use their powerful grip. level out and, on nearing the target, enst1cs. A male Sea-Eagle once grabb d m by thrusts its feet forward to sb·ike. With NATU RE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 33 An incoming adult Sea-Eagle returns to Its nest wedged among the boulders high on a cliff overlooking the Southern Ocean. Nests are refurbished annually and, judging from its size, this nest must be decades old.

the prey clasp�d in _one_ foot, a power fu sweep of the wings lifts it from the water: to be carried back to a perch or the shore. If you look beneath their regular feed­ ing perches, you will often find a thick layer of prey remains. J?epen�ing on the area and what prey 1s available, the debris may contain anything from the remains of mullet, eels, Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata), Water-rats (Hydromys chrysogaster), Canefield Rats (Rattus sordidus), penguins, turtles, sea­ snakes-virtually anything that's edible. The eagles often scavenge dead seals, fish offal and other floating or beach­ washed animal remains. Young birds may also congregate at rubbish tips in search of organic matter. Apart from scavenging, and catching surface-feeding aquatic animals, Sea­ Eagles hunt terrestrial prey, in�luding Rabbits, young wombats, wal�ab1es and large skinks. They steal chicks from heronries and seabird colonies and, sometimes in pairs, harass waterbirds, such as grebes, forcing them to dive until exhausted and easily snatched from the water. They attend foraging dolphins and seals, and trail cane-harvesters, in the hope of picking up prey they flush, and WHITE-BELLIED SEA-EAGLE pluck flying-foxes as they hang at the Haliaeetus leucogaster roost. Altogether, the White-bellied Sea­ Eagle is one of the most gastronomically_ Classification versatile of avian hunters. Order Falconiformes (largely diurnal birds of prey), family Accipitridae (hawks, kites, When attacking, Sea-Eagles often �Y eagles and allies). towards the Sun, or at right angles to it, to prevent their shadow falling ahead and_ Identification warning prey of their approach. Surpnse Large, imposing, grey-and-white eagle found near aquatic habitats. lmmatures are is an effective hunting tactic but the mottled brown. Length 75-85 cm, wingspan 1.8-2.2 m, weight 2.5-4.2 kg; females eagles don't always need to be so cryptic. larger and heavier than males. Kleptoparasitism-stealing food from another individual-is yet another of Distribution their feeding strategies. Apparently com­ Occurs from Aust. and NG through south and south-east Asia to western India and southern China. pulsive pirates, Sea-Eagles frequently In Aust., frequents tropical and temperate coasts and wetlands. chase and scream at other birds until Habitat they drop or disgorge their prey. An�­ Typically occurs along thing that carries largish prey-be it coasts and on offshore islands and inland near larger freshwater another Sea-Eagle, raptor, waterbird or rivers and lakes. Found in woodlands but more often in open freshwater areas fringed with forest or woodland, seabird-is fair game. This same behav­ sometimes far inland. iour in the closely related Bald Eagle led Reproduction Benjamin Franklin to decry it as "a bird of bad moral character". Eggs laid May-Sept., earlier in the north than south; fairly matt white eggs, sometimes with pale splotches, laid Piracy may be a lazy way to get a free in huge nest of large sticks, lined with seaweed, meal but it does have risks. Studies of the grass or green eucalyptsprays, built in prominent position near water a a cliff in tall tree, on Bald Eagle suggest that, when pirating or, on remote islands, on the ground; clutch size usually 2 (1-3); incubation r about 7 weeks; fledging after about 9 f om other Bald Eagles, they adhere t? weeks in nest; about 5 years to reach maturity. the rules of 'game theory', a mathema�­ Status cal concept that ha been applied to deci­ Secure nationally, but listed as threatened (rare) in Vic. and sion-making by interacting individuals Tas., proposed for listing in with conflicting intere ts. Sticking to the mainly because of population declines associated with disturbance from human activities and habitat destruction. rules means that injuries during these robberies are rare. Size and experience

A massive chest, relatively small head, and wings cloaking a short tail, are characteristic of the impressive White-bellied Sea-Eagle.

34 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999

her talons i� mock was low and European Carp were a females prevail over rolls and presents the natter so that Occasionally, the patr e_ve_n clant in shallows, at least four b�n­ adults over youngsters. Th defence. d. This suggests air :11ales �nd � feet and spirals downwarc)s. This 1s neste that althb s hunger also c�unts. The put locks rr� p�irs are resident h degree of � a ritualised version of real confltcl behav­ so e and hold st:\ is thought to assess its ow:1 hunge1 terntones, others must wand suer r ?f the iour seen when an intruding Sea-E�g\e er to 61 ne and that of its victim f om the size it !S food. d 111 the enters an occupied territory. Oft�n crop (the pouch-lik_e enlai_-geme_nt behaviour is Each year we check a nest partially digested). difficult to interpret which that ha throat where food 1s been occupied on and off for m s usually only pursues occurring-courting or fighting. . ore th Thus the pirate a large nest 111 a 15 years. From the boat "!e usua gecl, smaller, younger or less Sea-Eagles construct lly sp�� clisacl�anta or on a cliff, always in a the heavy-shouldered white shape o of food._ Y?ung Se ­ tall gum tree r f th hungry possessors � ee fema\e perched near the nest of their 1m1 1atu1 e commanding position. On predator-f and, clo: Eagles spend many � �r er,_ ghmpse the heads of the where there a1 e ew islands they may build on the ground active white years in areas � of the pair chicks as they peer out from adults, and I s�spect the ( �a­ in low scrub. Both members their stick breeding sticks from the ground platform. As at all the nests I hav soning behind this is their vulnerabd1ty collect large dry e visit­ or break them, in flight, from a tree, and ed, the female takes to the air and disap­ to piracy by older birds. _although finish the nest by lining it with seaweed pears, I have been told that a few pairs defend the SEA-EAGLES VE TERRITORIES or fresh eucalypt sprigs. Although few nest from human DULT � r s that they defend vigorously f om studies have been clone, apparently pairs by swooping at the intruders. We tie the otherA Sea-Eagle , especially during the often remain in the same territory but do boat to the base of the partly submerged year. If they nest tree and Tony Ross, breeding season. In the mo�th or _so not nece sarily breed every an indispens­ before they lay eggs, breedmg pairs do breed, they often reuse their old nest a�le companion in the field, easily court conspicuously. Particularly in the which, over the years, may grow as big cl!mbs the three metres to_ the large morning, they duet from perches, wi�h a five cubic metres in volume. Occa­ stick nest. I look forward to his return to their heads thrown back, the male s sionally, they also occupy a deserted the boat, where we weigh and measure metallic 'ank, ank, ank' higher-pitched nest of their major competitor the the chicks. Removed from the sack used and slightly faster than the female's. Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax), or to ferry them down, the one or two They also call as tl1ey chase each other, extend the more modest nest of a gawky piles of tufty white down with and make mock attacks-and-parries. Whistling Kite. their enormous legs, feet and talo�s lie Soaring together, they circle upwards, The nest sites of neighbouring pairs limp in the bottom of the boat. With their possibly to advertise to neighbours that may be as close as four kilometres but head and neck lowered, they clearly the territory is occupied. In one of their are usually much farther apart. Breed­ hope that if they remain inert we will more spectacular displays, one bird, usu­ ing density depends to some extent on pass them by, not at all like the feisty ally the male, dives at the other. As the prey availability. For example, on a lake chicks of a Peregrine Falcon (Falco pere­ male approaches he sb·etches his talons near Canberra, normally only one or two grinus) or Nankeen Kestrel (F forward in mock attack and the female pairs nest, but in one year when the lake cenchroides), which hiss and strike at

�hite-bellied Sea-Eagles often carry prey back to a favourite feedin its sharply hooked beak, g spot. This one holds a file snake eating the soft parts and some in its feet, and tears and slices with around the b one. The remains are left to be taken perch. by other scavengers or litter the ground

36 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 >

An adult Sea-Eagle attends her two mottled brown nestlings weeks they take short flights but return threatened status, mainly clue to distur­ in a lofty gum tree over­ to sleep at the nest. A looking water. The chicks week later they bance and lo s of much of their preferred grow fast, reaching leave the nest for good, but stay with habitat to coastal development. full weight before their first flight at just ten or so weeks of age. their parents for a few months until they Despite these problems, the Sea-Eagle learn to hunt for themselves. is secure nationally. This impressive rap­ you tor still commonly patrols the waters and with their talons. TUDIES I I VICTORlA, TASMANLA AND shores of bays, inlets and islands around The Sea-Eagles usually lay two eggs South Australia have shown that the entire Australian coast, and graces and S both may hatch, but most often only there is cause for concern for the Sea­ many larger inland lakes and rivers. one young survives to fledge. This beca is Eagles in those States. Adults tend to Occasionally it can even be seen in set­ �se the second-hatched chick may desert eggs if disturbed, causing repro­ tled areas such as Sydney Harbour and be d kille by its older sibling in what is ductive failure, and young Sea-Eagles in Lake Burley Griffin, a evidenced by my often called the 'Cain and Abel struggle after ' particular are prone to poisoning, shoot­ unexpected experience at the National the biblical brothers. In som� ing and electrocution. In Tasmania, Gallery.• eagles siblicide is obligatory, Eagle but in Sea­ many juveniles become fatally oiled s the second chick may survive. while scavenging in offal pits at fish-farm \he utcome may Further Reading i � well depend on the processing factories. Nevertheless, Debus, S., 1998. Birds of prey of Australia: a field s ze difference between has the two, but this destruction and disturbance of habitat guide. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. not been studied. are by far the biggest threats, causing �espite their siblicidal tendencies, Hollands, D., 1984. Eagles, hawks and falcons of Aus­ icks the loss of territories and also reduced tralia. er are quite incapable of looking breeding success. In Victoria, Roger Bil­ Nelson: Melbourne. i ter themselves and are brooded emal by the ney (then at the Arthur Rylah Instit1.1t�) Marchant, S. & Higgins, P.J. (eds), 1993. Handbook of e almost continuously liv­ Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Volume 2. few_ d for the first and colleagues found that Sea-Eagles ays. She then broods less cl trees p1o­ Raptors to lapwings. Oxford University Press: Mel­ t l they and less ing in pasture with isolat� : �h t are about 30 days of age, when clucecl fewer young (0.2 chicks per pair) bourne. e perches near d the nest during the day than those in more natural, tall open for­ fn only broods at night. Olsen, P., 1995. Australian birds of prey. University of _ime, During this est (1.2 chicks per pair). New South Wales Press: Sydney. the male does almost all the hunt­ Only about 100 breeding pairs are e ti­ and deli�ers :fi prey to the female, matecl to occur in Victoria, concentrated in Dr Penny Olsen is a Research Fellow at !he _ ch tear it up and feeds icks. it to the the Gippslancl Lakes and Corner Inlet Di-vision of Botany and Zoology, A11stral,an t Later, both parents hunt and regions. As a result they are Ii tee! a rare, National University. She has studied birds of 0� food at the nest for / id the chicks to eat threatened by various human activities prey for more than 20 years and has a par­ � ed. At �bou� eight weeks ticular interest in evolutionary ecology and chicks of age the especially habitat destruction. Similarly, in practise wing-flapping and at nine Tasmania, they are being proposed for conservation biology. NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 37

u TRALIA's S1 AKES HAVE A ly, it is difficult for an observer lo deler­ reputation for being large, mine in which direclion lhe objecl is venomous and aggres ive. moving. This illusion is particularly ·while most aren't actually effective in dim lighling. So, al dusk or aggressive,A many of the elapid snakes by moonlight, when bandy-bandies are are large and venomous, and bushwalk­ mosl often aclive, the moving bands may ers know all too well the adrenalin rush confuse a predator long enough lo allow that com s from an unexpected the bandy-bandy lo escape. encounter with one. But not all of Aus­ The other notable characlerislic of tralia's venomous snakes fit this scary bandy-bandies is the behaviour lhey dis­ stereotype. A number of venomous play when threatened or dislurbed. snakes are both Bandy-bandies raise small (many le s the middle part of than 40 centimetres) lheir body of f the and harmless to ground in a loop, cre­ humans. To avoid ating an impression predators, virtually B1ack-and-white that was described all of these small by early naturalists species have taken colouration is probably as "incongruous" on a nocturnal and and "most strange". fossorial (burrow­ used to warn off Young bandy­ ing) existence, usual­ bandie start using ly feeding on other predators. Contrasting the body-looping dis­ small reptiles or even play within a week of just their eggs. hatching. Although it Among the most bands are also known to may look amusing, striking of the small this posture serves snakes are the cause an optical illusion several functions. bandy-bandies Not only do the (genus Vermicella). known as flicker-fusion. snakes display their Their catchy com- black-a nd-white mon name comes warning colouration r f om the distinctive more effectively and pattern of black and white bands around generally make themselves look bigger, their body and head. This black-and­ but they draw attention away from the white colouration is probably used to head (the least expendable part!), which warn off predators. Contrasting bands lies flat on the ground away from the are also known to cause an optical illu­ predator. sion known as flicker-fusion. When a Ea�ly naturalists knew that bandy­ series of contrasting bands moves quick- bandies ate other burrowing snakes,

called blind nakes (family Typhlopi­ �ae), and assumed that they also ate lizards, frogs and insects. In 1980 Rick Shine, now at the University of Sydney, examined the slomach contents of pre­ served museum specimens and found that blind snakes are actually the only food bandy-bandies eat. While other elapi�ls are known to eat snakes, bandy­ ban_ ches_ are unique because they spe­ cialise on one particular type of snake (alth _ough probably many different species). _Like the bandy-bandies that eat them, blmd snake are not only fo sorial b ut

The bandy-bandy species V. multifasciata was thought to only occur on the northern end of the Northern Territory-Western Australia border. However, this individual was found on Melville Island, just north of Darwin. 40 - NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999- they are fussy eaters too. Blind snake micetla annulata A bandy-bandy meets its match in a Green follow (commonly referred to the chemical trails laid down by as the Bandy-bandy). The widely accept­ Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea). ants and, once inside the nests eat the ed distribution map suggested that V eggs and larvae. They rely on th�ir thick annulata occurred virtually throughout smooth scales that cover their entire Australia except for the north of the body (including their eyes) the to protect Northern Territory and southern West­ � from the jaws of adult ants. It is ern Australia. (The other generally possible that bandy-bandies also use the recognised species, known . as . the ants' scent trail to find blind snakes. V niultifasczata, Bandy-b Northern Bandy-bandy andies often eat blind snakes occurs on the northern encl of the that are the same size as than or even larger Northern Territory-Western Australian . themselves. Only a few bancly­ border.) If the distribution map for V �and1es preserved in museum tions collec­ annulata were correct, the nake would h�ve anything in their stomachs, be almost unique in having such a broad suggestmg that, since large they eat uch range of habitats. A more plausible meals, they don't need was often. to eat very explanation would be if the map based on a series of separate popula­ tions. In this case, the que lion of the NE INTRIGUING ASPECT OF BANDY­ relationships of these populations is Obandies that hadn't been was the explored important. How closely are they related? large geographic range of Ver- Is there any genetic exchange between

NATU RE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 41 population , or doe 'Vermicella annula­ and examining the jars and drawers of ta' actually represent a number of museum collections. unrecognised pecies, each with a Much of the information available smaller geographic range? Ever since about bandy-bandies is based on studies the genus wa described 140 year ago, of museum specimen . Many p�ople no thorough taxonomic study, u ing all don't realise that, in addition to being a the available specimen , had been car­ source of education and entertainment ried out, so it was possible there were to the general public, natural hi_sto_ry unrecognised species. museums have a signifi­ A number of tech- cant role in scientific niques can b used to research. One of the address the question of most important relation hips. Morpho­ R ather than turning resources museums logical taxonomy clas­ provide is their collec­ sifie organisms ba ed over a rock to find tions. The collections of on their external, and preserved specimens sometimes also inter- somet�ing new, most include whole animals, nal, appearance. By skins, frozen tis ues, measuring and count­ discoveries involve skeletons and informa­ ing a number of char­ tion about where and acters on snakes from hours of work sorting when they were collect­ each population, the ed. Each mu eum coop­ degree of difference erates with the others between populations through museum by loaning and swap­ can be tested statisti- ping specimens and cally. Thi i the way collections. information to be used many new species of by scienti ts. By study­ animals are discov- ing these preserved ani­ ered . Rather than the romantic notion of mals (and plants) we can learn about turningover a rock or opening a b·ap to their diet, reproductive habits, distribu­ find omething new, most discoverie tion and variation in size and shape, as involve hours of work sorting through well as how all of these characteristics

BANDY-BANDIES Vermicel/aspp.

Classification Order Squamata, family Elapidae, genus Vermicella. Currently 5 spp. recognised: V. annulata, V. multifasciata, V. intermedia, V. snelli and V. vermiformis.

Identification The only black-and-white banded land snakes in Australia, distinguished from the black-and-white banded sea snakes (Laticauda spp.) by the absence of flattened tail. The 5 spp. are identified by geographic area, body length and number of bands. Females generally longer than males (av. female length 55 cm, av. male length 40 A bandy-bandy ( V. annulata) displays the cm). characteristic defence posture of these snakes, which involves throwing the middle part of its Distribution and Habitat body off the ground and into a loop. The genus occurs over most of the eastern and northern parts of Aust. Vermicella annulata makes up the largest continuous population along the east coast and north­ change aero s time (both in yearly west to north-eastern orner of the NT, V. intermed a occurs in Darwin and Humpty cycles and over long periods). _ � � Doo area, V. mult1fasc1ata on the WA-NT border (with one specimen from Melville In 1994 Scott Keogh (now at the Aus­ Island, just north of Darwin), V. snelli in the Pilbara, and V. vermiformisin Alice tralian ational University) recognised Springs area. Due to their nocturnal and burrowing habits, specific habitat preferences the significance of the large distribution unknown. of Vermicella annulata while working on his PhD into the relationships of Aus­ Biology tralian elapids. At the time, I was in the Nocturnal and burrowing. Most often seen active on warm nights after rain. Diet second year of my science degree at the consists entirely of blind snakes. Characteristic defence display involves raising middle University of Sydney and, as a keen part of body off ground, to show off warning colours, hide the head and make snake would-be biologist, was thrilled at the look bigger. chance of workina on a 'real' research project. cott d;signed the project, Breeding decided what characters we needed to Lay 2-10 eggs between Nov. and Jan. Incubation period approx. 60 days. look at, organi eel loan of museum spec­ imens, and showed me how to find and Status measure the important characters. Unknown. Using material from the Australian Museum and al o other natural history collections throughout Ausb·alia, we ha? a total of 425 intact specimens of Verrnt­ cella to study.

42 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 only dine upon blind snakes (typhlopids). 43 SPRING 1999 After much research and study it is now accepted that there are five distinct specie of bandy-bandy instead of two. One of the newly recognised species is V. intermed/a, which occurs in the Darwin and Humpty Do area of the Northern Territory. The two species that were recognise when we started, Vermicella annulat and V multifasciata, were distinguishe from each other by both their ge graphic distribution and the presence o absence of two scales between the inter­ nasals (the scales containing the nos­ trils). We examined specimens for this and several other characteristics, including the number and position of certain head scales, length of body and tail, head length and height, eye size, number of scales around the body, num­ ber of bands on the body and tail, thick­ ness of the black and white bands, and ffi the belly z"' the colour pattern on (banded 0 :,: or mottled). We also looked for any _, � stomach contents and counted the num-

Nocturnal and burrowing · , bandy-ban d' ies are most o ften seen active on warm nights after rain when they go in search of blind snakes to eat. 44 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING J999 ·egnant females. 'rare or in ufficiently known'. The new Nothing gs f specie w is known of the basic biology of of eg 1 1 of staring dow_n a have described are even less b er ve�a l�� onths V. annulata most of these species and, until further ,AJ1er se u ling and re-countmg well known than and need to pe, co n studies are done, their conservation sta­ rosco L n.1 and body lengths, be further studied before their conser­ n1·c 11 � � g tail 1 tus will also remain unknown. �] 1ea� e e s; akes, vation statu can be as These es, 11 th s x of dead e ed. small inoffen i sc ter 1ning e all Although taxonomy ive snakes demonstrate an d de 1 eve1· al weeks ent nng i regarded by that there is till ' I d by s e some scientists much we don t know oilowe .i put r spreacI s I t1_ee ' as an uninteresting and about even the �r, f a nto_ a com 1 slow sci nee most distinctive of Aus­ � the dat e were five morpholog �al­ practised by ocially chal­ tralian snakes. • n t ei � y-bandies. lenged biologists in museum K we f?u �e b -roups 0 band r base­ d1ffe1 nt f om ea_�h ments, the importance of this field Further Reading 1 Iy n ; distinguished 11 is c� b e e s­ increasingly being These 1 m asur d characte recogni ed. With the . easily Bustard, H.R., 1969. Defensive K her s l � 1 le and the num­ recent social and political focus on display behaviour in ot u l d b dy ngth the bandy-bandy, Vermicella , inclu _ll i e Several ?f understanding, documenting and annulata (Serpentes: tics d d if if th bands. pre­ Elapidae). Herpetologica r an w'. occur _111 serving biodiversity, a crucial role of 25: 319-320. be 111 1 i,ological groups tax­ ese 0_ p e eas, while onomy ha been highlighted. Simply th a a ll separat ar Keogh, J.S., 1995. The importance of systematics in ogr phi suggests put, it is impossible to know where ge 1�a .Y This evidence understanding the biodiversity crisis: the role of biolog­ e 0�� . e pecies occur or som J s' w identified are actual­ how common they are ical educators. /. Biol. Educ. 29: 293-299. at the gi � P box if we don't know they exist. Studies th 1�s of bandy-bandy (see such 1, five spec · as our show the additional danger of Keogh, J.S. & Smith, S.A., 1996. Taxonomy and natur­ d ons) f�r istributt relying on accepted taxonomy without al history of the Australian bandy-bandy snakes (Elapi­ THE dae: Vermicella) with a description of two new species. TG PERIOD DURI G WHICH questioning the methods used to arrive HE LON 1. Zoo/., Lond. 240: 677-701. n O ndy-bandies was not at these considerations. taxono �y f ba T 1 . ca 1 of the history of The bright colour pattern, unusual ques ti' on ed s typ1 Shine, R'., 1980. Reproduction, feeding and growth in many Australian snakes defensive display and specialised diet of the Australian burrowing snake Vermicella annu/ata. 1. taxonom for a \e important for _the bandy-bandies make them an easily Herpetol. 14(1): 71-77. a d n� y critically n n vation strategies. recognisable component of our fauna. la g 0f conser n . the Action Plan for Despite this, by using relatively simple Sarah Smith is currently undertaking a pBefomre tl11s study ' . PhD on the evolution of live-bearing repro­ a n e wh1c h tmos con- techniques, we have found there to be Austr I'i a R ptiles on duction in lizards, at the South Australian . e reptiles are actually five species of bandy-bandy, not servati on d cision� · about l Museum and University of Adelaide. e Vernncella annu a ta as just two as was previously thought. based, list d

Known as The . when the animal moves. disri t. e stri y r eating an optical illusion fli c nc iv pes on a bandy-bandy may help it avoid predators b _e k er-fusion, f orwar ds or backwards. it results in the inability to tell whether the snake is moving 45 NA TURE AUST RALIA SPRING 1999 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING j

r ty by was he who suggested we e and securing ou boo u� a h DEEPLY I TO TIIE excavating wet copter. That evening we clro elj. E OUG skeletons with strips _of nto to r sedi­ covering the and I rang �P Paddy Berr ��� wn soft c umbly in plaster of Pans. On y, ea start­ hessian clipped Natural Sciences al the m H d of ments, and bones e plaster jackets would vves te rn A out from hardening, thes tra 1an M useum. I explain us. ed to fall r the position of the r ed th_ at we r protect and etain hact r r Within a few hou s we had r probably made one of the b e eveWywhe e. until they could each the labora­ g t i . then bones r d excavated nearly 50 bones, and r the job cove ies ever for the Slate a��' S s r tory. However, afte completing that W dozen more f om sieving r r had no other option but r e found about a realised they we e fa too to h a r of the fossil we quickly � t heli­ the soft sc ee clownslope r rocky cliffs lo copter to get the specimens b c first heavy to car y clown the safely. site. I was ecstatic. This was the r He gave us the OK and the t our campsite, some th ee kilometres . . nex mor time ever that an articulated skeleton of ralian mg a b ng ht ye IIow chopper n. j r Ritchie, from the Aust lande d e r 1/ reptile f om the 'Age of away. Alex � � a sea-going r on the dig and it our camp and flew us to the site i found in Western Museum, was p esent th Dinosaurs' had been hall an hour �e had loaclecl all he� i� r rr . t Pee, Au b·alia. The site nea Kalba i, 600 r . mens, 111clucl111g two mo e pa f1 I s e res north of Perth, was discov­ � l�­ kilomet tons and a dinosaur bone, in(o e \ r r when fourth­ eh­ ered a yea earlie in 1991 was ecstatic. copter and were on our way b r geology students, during the ack to yea I Kalbarri with our precious car course of their mapping project, stum­ go. some bones in an eroding This was the first time bled upon E HU OREO AND TWE they brought the bones lo NTY MILLION gully. When 0 years ago, the WesternAust ralian Museum, I an articulated while dinosaurs w ere me at r ever that could see f om their good preservation roammg around· · on land ' the seas on the skeleton that abou n_cl e cl �1th- sw mming reptiles that and close position r skeleton of a sea-going . i th�y had prob�bly come f om a single occ�p1ed s1m1lar niches to those of a111�1al. I was unmediately hooked and reptile from the manne m. �mm_als today. The three main decided to vi it the site myself to look groups l,vmg m the Cretaceous Period for more of the skeleton. wer� the long-snouted ichthyosaurs the Until these finds, only isolated bones 'Age of Dinosaurs' �les10saurs, and the giant m;rine of reptiles from the Mesozoic Era lizards, the_ mosasaurs. Ichthyosaurs (23�-65 million years ago) had turned had been found in had a fish-like body with a triangular up 111 We�tern Ausb·alia. How to exb·act dorsal fin and upright tail flukes, and these articulated skeletons from their they robably_ shared similar Western Australia. � lifestyles to remote location therefore posed a new today s dolphms. The plesiosaurs 'flew' challenge for me. We spent a whole clay through the water using their front and

NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING J999 > I

Above: Alex Ritchie and John Long load precious plaster-jacketed specimens from the se cond site at Kalbarri into a helicopter. Right: The upper arm bone (humerus) of the short-necked pliosauroid discovered near Kalbarri, Western Australia. rear flippers. One group had long necks and small heads (plesiosauroids) and the other had short necks and generally longer snouts (pliosauroids). The gracile long-necked plesiosauroids may have used their long necks for extending their heads into shoals of fishes; today they ha ve no modern equivalent. The small, short-necked pliosauroids were the sea­ lions of their day, whereas larger pliosauroids, such as the ten-metre-long Kronosaurus queenslandicus from Queensland, could be likened to our modern Killer Whales. Mosasaurs had large heads with many teeth and lizard­ like bodies with powerful front and rear paddles. They propelled themselves through the water using their long tails. So what were the new specimens we had dug up from Kalbarri? Mer a few months of painstaking P:epa:ation in the lab using a small vibrating chisel, the bones were identi­ fied as belonging to a small, short­ ne�ked pliosauroid in the genus Lepto­ cleidus. The genus is also known from 120-100 million-year-old deposits in Eng­ land, South Africa and Coober Pedy in Sout� Australia. The Coober Pedy speci­ men 1s the famous opalised pliosauroid dubbed 'Eric' now housed in the Aus­ tralian Museu� (see Nature Aust*. Sum­ mer 1990-91 and Spring 1993). It is cur­ rently being studied by Natalie Schroed­ er (Monash University) who has shown * Previously ANH 49 N ATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 - that it is distinctly different from the one described from Western Australia back foundin Western Ausb·alia. in 1944 when fossil wood and bones Briti h palaeontologist Arthur Cruick­ were found during the excavation of a shank and I have recently described and phosphate test-pit near the town of Dan­ named the new Kalbarri pecies Lepto­ daragan, about 150 kilometres north of cleidus clemai. We named tl1e species in Perth. The handful of bones consisted of honour of Perth businessman John both ichthyosaur and plesiosaur verte­ Clema who not only donated the funds to brae, and some i olated plesiosaur teeth, mount the expeditions, but also keenly of Late Cretaceous age (90 million years participated in several of the field trips. old). In the late 1950s a creek gully near The specimens collected from Kalbarri Gingin, 90 kilometres north of Perth, belong to three separate individual all yielded tl1ree small, insignificant-looking about 2.5-3 meb·es long, making the bones from a marine reptile. These were species tl1e largest in its genu . When identified and described as belonging to the upper arm bones 01umeri) are com­ a mosasaur, the firstrecord of that group pared to tl10se of 'Eric', it is clear how from Ausb·alia. The 90-million-year-old much larger and more robustly built the bones came from the front paddle, rep­ Western Australian species was. Move resenting the ulna and two of the finger over 'Eric', the West Coast Leptocleidus is bones (phalanges), and the animal coming through! would have been about 2.5 metres long. Marine reptile bones were first In July 1991, Peter Bindon, an anthropol-

ogist at the Western Ausb·alian Muse­ um, and I found another three mosasaur bones during a field b·ip to the Giralia Range just south of Exmouth Gulf. These three large vertebrae were exc�· vated f rom 65-70-million-year-old sedt· mentary rock, representing the final The author, John Long, in the field cleaning a vertebra. stage of the Mesozoic Era. The bones came from the tail region of an animal 50 9 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 199 once swam the seas earlier in a Mosasaurs like these hose l�ngth was close to eight metres been uncovered two years . Here, the ten-metre-long ; were keen to get of Western Australia goo d size for a mosasaur nearby paddock, so we Tylosaurus proriger is depicted The . · region and investigate fur- mosasaur m�st recent discovery of a back to the attacking its much smaller relative, m asa ther. is based m Australia came in late May of the P/atecarpus sp. This reconstruction 19i� t started the day at an outcrop in North America. n _a field party from the West­ We ­ on complete skeletons found ern A:st� Greensand, a green sedimenta . ahan Museum found an associ­ Molecap glau­ ated sen of eroding ry rock, coloured by the mineral vertebrae in an night creek gu1i8 Y near A large conite. It had been raining the Dandaragan. began vertebra of a long-necked plesiosaur had before, so we all spread out and 51 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 • clambering over the slippery, muddy similarities with mosasaur skeletons and creek gullies. Minutes later our techni­ suggested that snakes evolved in the sea cal assi tant Danielle West came over to as swimming reptiles, and that both me with a large fossil bone in one hand snakes and mosasaurs probably evolved and a ked me if it was anything of inter­ from the same common ancestral group est. I yelled out to everyone that she had of reptiles. . found a mosasaur bone. Then, as my Mosasaurs have an excellent fossil gaze fell back to the gully, I was dumb­ record from New Zealand, where sever­ struck at seeing a row of bones just pok­ al complete skulls have been recovered ing out of Lhe top of the exposed creek from Late Cretaceous marine rocks in bank. An hour or so later, we had exca­ the northern half of the South Island vated about ten large vertebrae, some (Waipara River, Haumuri Blu£i), and very well preserved with the neural arch from a single site in the middle of the on top and wings for rib attachment on North Island (the Mangahouanga each ide. The animal would probably Stream). The New Zealand mosasaurs have been at least ten metres long, mak­ indicate that large forms like ing this Australia's largest and most Mosasaurus and Prognathodon were complete associated skeleton of a widespread in the seas of the world. We mosasaur, although still not enough to know that mosasaurs ate ammonites, allocate the beast to a genus. squid-like creatures that lived in buoy­ The mosasaurs were among the most ant coiled shells. Fossil ammonite shells savage looking of all the extinct marine have been identified with mosasaur bite reptiles. They reached lengths of up to marks that precisely match the outer 15 metres, and had skulls with hinged tooth row and inner palatal teeth pat­ lower jaws armed with many stout, terns of certain mosasaurs. The pointed teeth. For many years, it was mosasaurs probably grabbed the thought that their closest living relatives ammonite and gently squeezed it were the varanid lizards like our goan­ between its hinged jaws until the shell nas. Recent work, however, by Monash cracked open, and then the juicy animal University palaeontologist Michael Lee could be easily extracted. Some plesio­ has shown that they were more closely saurs also ate ammonites. The fossilised related to snake . In 1996 he and Mike skeleton of a small pliosauroid from Caldwell (Natural History Museum in Japan had many ammonite 'beaks' (their Ottawa) described a 100-million-year-old hard mouthparts) preserved where its primitive fossil snake (Pachyrhachis stomach would have been. Some problematicus) from Israel that had mosasaurs, like Globidens, had rounded mall remnant legs. They noted close compressed teeth, forming nutcracker-

like dentitions more specifically adapted for cracking harder shells. Australia has a good record of fossil ammonites (see Nature Aust*. Summer 1987-88) but very few mosasaurs. Why is this so? The answer lies in the rarity of good Late Cretaceous exposures of sedimentary rock. These are only found in a few sn:all_ area . in Western Australia, and z..., co111c1de with Australia's only known g z finds of mosasaurs. :c Q y THE E D OF THE MESOZOIC ERA 65 � :::, million years ago, all the great �ea­ 8 B. go111g_ reptiles (the ichthyosaurs, ple­ The author, John Long, at a site s1osaurs and mosasaurs), as well as the near Dandara g an WeStern Australia, _ and most complete specimen ' where Australia's largest d111osaurs and flying pterosaurs and of a mosasaur was found · eTh metres long when alive. animal would have been at least ten * Previously ANH 52 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 many other groups of animals and the plant communities throughout the plants, had be e Further Reading com extinct. It is hard to Cretaceous Period, the huge variations come up with Cruickshank, A.R.I.C. & Long, J.A., 1998. A new species _ a simple scenario that in sea levels, the changes in oxygen con­ �xplains the e of pliosaurid reptile from the Early Cretaceous Birdrong obs rved pattern of extinc­ tent of the atmosphere and so on, a big­ on� of d Sandstone of Western Australia. Ree. W. Aust. Mus. 18: � _inosaurs, pterosaurs and ger e anne re e picture of larg -scale environmental 263-276. ptil s, unless one regards it a more complex as chaos emerges. Maybe the impact event set of events involving triggered off the final series of environ­ Long, J.A., 1998. Dinosaurs of Australia and New many minor change e s to the environ- mental catastrophes, such as acid rains, Zealand and other animals of the Mesozoic Era. Univer­ � nt, cha ge e � s that w re steadily build­ long periods of darkness and volcanic sity of New South Wales Press: Sydney. ing up dunng e th last tens of millions of s e e eruptions, all of which no doubt con­ fi� �efore th xtinctions e e e McNamara, K.J. & Long, J.A., 1988. The evolution rev­ e th ms lv s. tributed towards sounding the final r is ge logical e e olution. Wiley & Sons: London and New York. � vid nce that a mas- death knell for many groups of Creta­ siv e meteorite struck end the Earth at the ceous organisms. The great marine rep­ of the Cretaceous, laeontolog. but many tiles and also the pterosaurs, probably Dr John Long is Curator of Vertebrate �� _ 1sts tend to regard this suc�umbed to change in the composi­ Palaeontology at the Western Australian ent more as the straw e that broke the tion of the marine fauna, as these crea­ Museum, and the author of several cam l's back e rath r than the primary e e cause e tur s seem d dependent upon fishes and popular science books. His research focus�s of th extinctions. If we consider marine invertebrates as their prime mainly on fossil fishes and Mesozoic the major changes to sources of food. • reptiles. NATURE AUSTRAL IA SPRING 1999 53

to species bear an uncann� resemblance USTRALIA' THOR Y DEVIL they also would have to be one of the Australia's Thorny Devil, but. most distinct and bizarre­ share many of its weird behav10urs. looking lizards in the world. Why should these lizards look an? act Living in the de erts of central and west­ so alike? They are not close relatives. ernAustralia, its spectacular spiny arma­ ThornyDevils belong in the _drago� fam­ ment, coupled with its habit of freezing ily (Agamidae) and h?rned hzar�s m the in the face of the enemy, have made it family that contains the iguanas one of the best photographed lizards (lguanidae, although some people now around. And, from study of the portraits place them in their own family, Phryno­ alone, one may be forgiven for assuming somatidae). Could these thorny, horny its formidable armoury is matched by lizards on two widely separated conti­ size. ot so. ThornyImp might be a bet­ nents, have independently evolved their ter name, for this amazing creature will extraordinary features to cope with sim­ sit gently in the palm of my hand. ilar environmental pressures? Such 'con­ But the Thorny Devil (Molock hor­ vergent evolution' is known to have ridus) is not alone in its bizarre appear­ occurred between many non-Australian ance. A band of 13 look-alikes occurs on eutherian (placental) mammals and Aus­ the other side of the world-on the tralian marsupials, the classic example orth American continent, in arid and being wolves and the now-extinct Thy­ montane habitats from Canada down lacine. Have Thorny Devils and horny through the western United States to toads similarly converged? To answer southernMexico. These are the horned this we need to look closely at each of lizard or 'horny toads' (genus Phryno­ these two lizard groups to see just how sorna), and not only do many of the similar their features really are.

B OTH THE THORNY DEVIL ANDHORNED lizards have spiny body scales or horns, particularly around the head aDd extending above the eye. This is usually the encl that is attacked and swallowed "!'irst by a predator, especially those eat­ mg their prey whole, like snakes. The horned lizards have a crown of horns arranged along the back of the head and directed up and backwards over the neck. The neck of the Devil has . an -enlarged--- knob----- with a thorny-=�--­spine pomt· t Both Thorny Devils and horned lizards spor spiny armaments around their heads as a means of defence. When threatened, they ns bend their head forward to expose their hor : Devil Top: When touched on the head ' a ThornY · 1'IS responds by lowering its head and expoSing thorny knob, which acts as a pseudo-head. Bottom: A Regal Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma so/are) raises its crown of thorns as a defensive ulus. 56 reaction to the same stim 99 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 19 p

ing to either side. If this armament has is now converted into a pseudo-head A Regal Horned Lizard emerges from its 1 convergently evolved for protection with spines, potentially expendable if bit­ overnight retreat below the sand and pebbles. from predators in both types of lizard �hen ten off, and difficult to bite or chew. Bet­ 1 �e. might expect to see them use it ter to lose your hump than your head! lizard is further m a s1m1lar the stationary fashion. Horned lizards similarly bend theirhead enhanced by camouflage. By having 1ndeed, both Thorny Devils and forward when threatened. This action skin with colours that match the sur­ �orn ed lizards react to threats by puff­ puts the horns on the back of their head rounding environment and patterns that !ng themselves up with air thus into an upright position, making a verti­ lizard form, Thorny ing increas­ disrupt the typical their size and ,causi�g their body cal bite by a potential predator danger­ and horned lizards are masters of ales Devils �� to_ become more erect and rigid. ous to its fleshy mouth lining and enlarg­ cryptic design. Some scientists have b�th lizard types, I have found groups ing the girth of the lizard's head to suggested that the Devils may even be of micros_copic structures on spiny plants, and the Su�-r the scales thwart swallowing. So spiny armament mistaken for dead oundmg the base of each enlarged around the head in both types of lizard is smallest horned lizard species, the spme. When examined under Lizard (P modes­ tron an elec­ associated with similar behavioural Round-tailed Horned microscope, these structures responses that help avoid predation, tum), mimics the form, colour and _shad­ ' oved to be speci_alised n its stony habitat. It yror erve endings upporting the idea of th ir conver­ ow pattern of rocks in t?uch, suggesting a tactile gence. up its back to ppear possibly function even hunche � during defence, for the spine . ' Of course the best defence of all is lo more stone-like. Other horned lizards If r a Thorny Devil is touched on the avoid being seen in the first place. Both have a row or two of elongated finge h d 01: a bird swoops the sides of their flattened 1 e: at it, the lizard Thorny Devil and horned lizards are scales around 0 e:s its head between eliminate tell-tale shad­ h its front legs so noted for their ability lo freeze in place bodie . These t a_t its neck knob is the soil, enabling them to visual­ T extended· forwarcl' · for long periods of time if lh y see a ows on his 0th ei· wise· non-functional structure potential predator. The visual cover of ly blend into the background surface. NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 57 A Thorny Devil attempts to run across a dry salt lake. An aversion to running, which would attract the attention of predators, is THORNY DEVIL something else that Thorny Devils and Moloch horridus horned lizards have in common.

Classification This feature is not present in the heav­ Family Agamidae, genus Moloch (only 1 described species). (Moloch was the tribal god ier-bodied Thorny Devils, although their of the Ammonites, who required sacrifice of human children by fire.) pronounced spines may serve a similar form-disrupting function. So in this first Identification line of defence (avoiding visual detec­ Conical spines and modified scales on head, back, tail and legs distinguish it from any tion), many details seem convergent, other Australian reptile. Fat, rotund and slightly depressed body. Snout-vent length while others are not. 9 cm. Both Thorny Devils and horned lizards are capable of rapid colour changes, occurring within several min­ Habitat utes. From my studies on several Sand plains, spinifex desert and arid scrub of central and western Aust. horned lizard species it is clear that colour change is regulated by hormones Distribution from the brain, and that it plays a role in Occurs from extreme western Qld across lower portion of the NT and southward maintaining body temperature, through throughout much of western SA into WA, where it occupies all but the extreme darkening and lightening, when the ani­ southern and northern portions of the State. mals are thermoregulating in the sun. Changing colour may also play a role in Breeding camouflage, as shadows change throughout the day. Thorny Devils Lays 3-10 eggs at the bottom of a tunnel excavated by female. After the eggs hatch, change colour by physiological means as the young may eat the egg shells, before tunnelling out to the surface. well, but the mechanisms remain unstudied. Whether or not the colour Behaviour change are for similar purposes also Remains motionless for long periods of time to avoid detection by predators. Moves by remains unstudied, although Devils do a distinctive forward-and-backward jerky locomotion pattern. seem to darken when entering shaded areas. A comparative asses ment would Diet certainly shed light on another aspect of Restricted to ants, mostly of the genera lridomyrmex and Crematogaster. possible convergence between the two lizard types. If detected, mo t prey animals try to *Previously ANH

58 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 >

run for it (tl1e second line of tum) and monitored its a responses to a aroun�I their eye into and, only if corneredor outrun, vanely _ of predators. The the mouth of an Jllf��ce)d resistance attacl;mg Dog or Kit Fox Nature � h actively defen_d �hemselves. As st:rate�1es employed by these lizards . (see d t ey are �ust. Wmter 1993). The blood-squirt- . running for 1t I concerned, y�ry different depending on the capabil- as 111&' response has never been repor frti Devils and horned lizards again 1tie� of th� attacker. They vary from flat­ ted or ny bemg used towards other predators. The h something in common-they are tening their back and using it as a defen- bloo� so t t? a appears to have a repulsive taste bad at !t. The evi_ls r to Kit Foxes b�: � �og1: and probably other canids -n,otion Jerky, fo1. wa1 d pt . ess1on but, as _I discovered s1 ow d to when I first tried it ,ove1 ments' seemmgI y d es1gne (the thm_gs we 0f .1 (no do for science!), it was n,�;n tI,e first line of defence not particularly offensive mm= movmg away. to my taste tion) while really . buds. In fact, had I been blind-folded mduced to fl�e, I wirned lizards can be_ Nothing like this would have assumed it was my o�n only for a short distance, _at wh1c_h blood. Nothing like this blood-squirting but r h tlleir point tI,ey f eeze to re-establis blood-squirting defence defence has ever been reported for the . In these prOtect ive visual camouflage T�orny Devil, nor any other reptile or · tl y diffet - behaviours we see ™'.o d'1stinc . · animal for that matter. a has ever been reported ent forms of locomotion for escapmg A�art �om the head-tilting motions potential predator. . . for the Thorny Devil, nor and mflation of their spiny bodies in the And what about the third lme of third line of defence there seem; to be defence, tI,at of resistance? How do any other reptile or no convergence between Thorny Devils these lizards compare when tlley are and horned lizards. But then we don't cornered? There is very little informa­ know much about interactions between tion on how Thorny Devils react to nat­ animal for that matter. Thorny Devils and their natural preda­ ural predators, which might include tors. Interestingly, horned lizards seem Wedge-tailed Eagl�s and other ra�tors, to have lost the tail-shedding, predator­ Australian Magpies, cuckoo-shnkes, escape ability common in tlleir rapidly butcherbirds, crows, Dingoes, goannas running iguanid relatives. Thorny Devils and snakes. Essentially all the recorded also lack this ability, but in their case tail defensive responses have been towards sive shield against carnivorous retention during attack is the general, humans and tllese have involved the Grasshopper Mice, Roadrunners, Leop­ inherited condition in dragons head-down-spines-up approach. In con­ ard Lizards and whip snakes, to running (agamids). Since we do not know why from rattlesnakes, and to squirting a trast I have worked ratller extensively r horned lizards lost tail-shedding as an with tl,e Texas Horned Lizard (P cornu- stream of blood droplets f om a sinus escape mechanism, it is difficult to envi-

Thor Sonoran Desert in Arizona blends ny Devils and horned lizards are both masters of cryptic design. This Regal Horned Lizard from the p erfectly with its rocky background and so avoids detection by predators. NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 -59 sion this loss as a convergent adaptation. looked in detail at potentially convergent their prey consisting of ants (47-97 per Not all similar features are necessarily aspects of the lives of one horned lizard, cent). On both continents these liz�ds convergent adaptations. the Desert Horned Lizard (P. platyrhin­ eat ants by protruding the tongue, pick­ os), and the Thorny Devil. They related ing each ant up individually in the N A BOOK PUBLISHED IN 1897, NATURALIST the need for camouflage, body armour mucous covering, and returning the I W. Saville-Kent reported on several and a broad ample body to their diet of tongue and ant to the lizard's mouth. aspects of the 'York Devil' or 'Mountain ants, with one of the predictions being This method of feeding is more like that Devil' as it was known in Western Aus­ that the diet, poor in nutritional value, of toads and frogs than of most iguanid tralia at the time. He noted that its diet requires eating large numbers of ants, and agamid lizards, and seems, in these consisted of minute ants, "small black which would expose them for long peri­ lizards, to be a convergent adaptation for evil-odoured". He also noted that the liv­ ods of time to predation. Among several feeding on small mobile prey. ing lizard species that bear the strongest predicted considerations if convergent North American ants are different resemblance to these Devils are the evolution is a major force here, is that from those in Australia, and biologists North American "Horned Toad[s]". So both the Desert Horned Lizard and the have found one group of large seed-eat­ struck was he with the physical resem­ Thorny Devil should have relatively ing ants, of the genus Pogonomyrmex, to blance, and not knowing what the diet of large stomachs. Their investigation occur frequently in the tomach of horned lizards was, he predicted that showed large stomach size to be true for hornedlizards. These ants are noted for "Phrynosoma, in common with Moloch, is the horned lizard, but not the Devil. Ants their venomous, wasp-like sting and, as an anteater". He was right, and perhaps in the diet, it seems, are not good pre­ demonstrated by Pat and Justin Schmi?t lucky, as not all ant-eating lizards are dictors of body form. (Southwestern Biological Institute II1 cryptic and spiny. Most importantly, Pianka's examination of the feeding Tucson) and me, horned lizards show though, Saville-Kent opened our minds behaviour in Thorny Devils and a num­ biochemical resistance to the venom. to comparing features of these unusual ber of hornedlizard species howed that Nothing comparable has been studied in lizards. ant make up 100 per cent of the diet of the Thorny Devil. More recently, Eric Pianka (University Thorny Devils, while horned lizards Heavy infestations of thin, white nema­ of Texas, Austin) and colleagues have vary considerably in the percentage of tode are found in the stomachs of many

60 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 HORNED LIZARDS Phrynosoma spp.

Classification riginally placed in fa ily lguanidae, which has since been split into several families, � _ rr_i 1�clud1�g Phrynosomat1dae (sand lizards of North America and horned lizards). Horned lizards m the genus Phrynosoma (13 or 14 spp. currently recognised). (Phyrnosoma from the Greek phryne, a toad, and soma, body.)

Identification Bony, skin-covered horns along back of skull and a wide, depressed body form distinguish them from other North American lizards. Size, colour pattern, and number and length of horns vary between spp.

Habitat Arid and semi-arid habitats, including sandy areas of western North America to southern Mexico, but also found in montane habitats such as open areas in coniferous forests and pine-oak woodlands. The different spp. may be restricted to very different habitats within one geographic area or, where their distributions overlap, several species may occupy the same landscape. Above: Like the North American horned lizards, Australia's Thorny Devil loves to eat Distribution ants. Above right: A Flat-tailed Horned Lizard From extreme south-western Canada southward throughout western United States, (Phrynosoma meal/it) in its daytime retreat. desert west of Mississippi river, into northern Mexico, where they occur widely in the and dry plateau lands southward to the warmer dry climates of northern Central horned lizards. In the 1950s Sheridan America, near the border with Guatamala. Lee (University of Minnesota) discov­ �ed ,th�t � these nematodes have a very Breeding ight life cycle birth tends to occur � involving infection of Both egg-laying and live-bearing spp. are found in the genus. Live 0th the horned lizards from 3 to 48. and their Pogon­ in spp. with northern or high-elevation distributions. Brood size varies omyrff!ex prey. Every time a lizard eats rnts, It exposes itself to reinfection by rval nematodes Behaviour � potentially harboured to be stepped on. i the a�ts. �emale nematodes Remain motionless when approached, only running when about drop out exits the tear duct and f the digestive tract of the From tissues around the eye, some species squirt blood, which � lizard, desic­ canids. at1 on the ground, and are subsequent­ provides an effective defence against Kit Foxes and other lY ound by foraging ants and carried ba�k to the colony to be fed to the devel­ opin Diet are the g larvae. Thus adult ants infect the almost exclusively. One group of ants commonly eate� n· ext · . All spp. eat ants, some bite and a g eneralion of ants with eggs carried of the genus Pogonomyrmex, large ants with a forceful the body seed-harvester ants d of the dried female nema­ wallop of a sting. Various other insects and arthropods eaten as well. to e. �d when members of this next generation of ants mature and leave the ���� to f?rage, they may be eaten by a ed lizard, · · . and the cycle contin­ ues. Lee might have predicted that

NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 61 A Texas Horned Lizard adopts a characteristic rain-harvesting stance in a rainstorm-its back is arched and flattened and its mouth is opened and closed rhythmically. Although the Thorny Devil doesn't favour any particular rain-harvesting position, both lizards drink the rainwater that is drawn to their mouth via narrow channels between the individual body scales.

Thorny Devils, and other ant-eating backs, spread their legs, and were slow­ lizards, would harbour a parasite with a ly opening and closing their mouths. Flat similar two-host life cycle. However, out like a lizard drinking? It sure looked recent studies by Hugh Jones (Universi­ Native Americans were like it. Was this another example of con­ ty of Western Australia) in the Great Vic­ vergence with the Thorny Devil? Years toria Desert failed to identify any para­ impressed by their later (1990), with the results of dyed­ site with a life cycle closely linked to water experiments, scanning electron Thorny Devils and their ant prey. micrographs of skin scales and further strange horned lizards, e observations, I was ready to say yes �s� Nature Aust.* Winter 1992). �d. it 1� A S EARLY AS 1923, ATURALISTS I attributing to them great m(d zar �ustralia were claiming that convergent too with an aga h from Asia (Phrynocephalus heli�scopus) Thorny Devils absorb water through on sys· their skin, as amphibians are known to healing powers for coping in which a similar water-collecti do. Amazingly, if a Thorny Devil was tem was found. placed in a saucer of water, the water with the hidden forces of But there was still one aspect of the moved up the skin to the top of the ani­ lizards' drinking behaviour I was u�sur� mal's head. But in 1962 Peter Bentley the natural world. about. Both the Texas Horned Lizar phalus adopt and William Blumer (University of West­ and the Asian Phrynoce n ern Australia) reported that the water stereotyped rain-harvesting stances, , moving up the skin surface was not capillary action. which they position their bodies to maJC· absorbed by the skin, but transported to In 1976, I had begun studies on Texas imise the surface area exposed t? :� the corners of the lizard's mouth, which Horned Lizards in Tucson, Arizona, and falling rain. None of the pubhs : Devils d was opened and closed slowly, and then had several in an outdoor enclosure near record on Thorny � to ingested (they demonstrated this by my kitchen window. Early in September addressed this question. So �ff I we� s the Northern Territory (Alice Sptt g using blue-dyed water). Later it was there was a typical mon oonal afternoon t� rn shown that the water flows in narrow shower. As I looked out the window and Uluru National Park) and We5 channels between individual scales, util­ through the falling rain I could see that ising the physical forces associated with two lizards had raised and arched their * Previously ANH

999 62 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING I north of Southern l\zards examples r albin of convergent a ia ( u 1 Tborny Devils stand­ tio n.? c · evo1 u- f\ust: l Ba_'.�1 of . er t a_m 1Y th e re are som Further Readin s) in s� i was with me, for I m these e features Pianka, g cros a Luck lizards that appear E.R & Pianka, H.D., 1970. n the ,_ in . all three places. evo)v�d . to have Moloch homdus: The ecolo of I·n g i an d rain at to meet the same (Lacertilia: Agamidae) in Westerng QeVI1 s purposes­ tra l1a. Cope,a Ls­ foun d s I saw ha d no par ti" c\l 1 ar w�y �vo1d_11�g detection by predator 1970: 90-93. t11e?n e ng th,s mg s, thwart­ But in the rain, suggesti '?•ting �ttacks, catching ants and har­ din not �onver­ vesting Sherbrooke ' W · C·' . of stan ieir behaviour is ramdrops-yet there 1981 · Horne d 1 1zards:unique reptiles t 0 are oth o f westernNorth America. aspec .; ,e other two types of lizard. that do not._ 1:arger convergent Southwest Parks and Monu­ t wit! t1 may patte��: ments Association: Globe, Arizona. gen dly another discovery was be stnl:mgly similar, but in detail nexpe�te . they may U . g 1�y visit to Bungalbin differ . Whether or not Sherbrooke, e du11n . we W.C., 1993. Rain-drinking behaviors 111a d (U111vers1· ty o f vvure s te1 - n choose t? say these lizards have Australian of the ,\f"thers con­ Thorny Devil (Sauria: Agamidae) . 1 Philip been tracking Thorny v�rged (111 some ways they may have 27: 270-275. . Herpetol · ra1�1 ) h ad f\us� a c studies) by attach­ �1verged as well)_ is somewhat . (f0 net boli . subjec­ Devils . to the lizards' tails. t�ve. _But my subJective, overall Sherbrooke, ea J �obbins evalua­ W.C., 1997. Physiological (rapid) change ing tl11 of his thread­ �on 1s that Thorny of color _ a · ng him on one Devils and horned m horned lizards (Phyrnosoma)of arid habitats: f\ onp lizards hormonal cc � i:peditions, immediately after have remarkable and unusual regulation, effect of temperature and role in o ng resemblances nature. Amphibia-Reptilia foU_ fi wer of rain, I found several that are largely due to nat­ 18: 155-175. a g t sho ural selection h , Devils that had been rubbing having caused them to r evolve similar Withers, P.C. & Bradshaw, Th? � Hies in the upper wetted crust of solutions to similar prob­ S.D., 1995. Water and ener­ me� Aust.* Autumn 1995). lems of survival. gy balance of the thorny devil Maloch horridus. is the n tsee Nature devil a sloth? Amphibia-Reptilia sa were using the capil- Other people have looked at these 16: 47-54. Presum ably they s cking-forces generate d b e tw een lizards in different ways. Aborigines lary u of the san_d from central Withers, P.C.& Dickman, C.R., 1995. The role of diet in scales to pull water out Australia have seen Thorny determining water, energy tl1eir on their Devils as food and salt intake in the thorny . t ilie interscalar channels and have referred to them devil Maloch horridus (Lacertilia: Agamidae). J. Roy. :ki� for drinking. Earlier I had noticed a in the Dreamtime story of Miniri, in Soc. W.Aust. 78: 3-11. similar behaviour in Texas. Horn�d which they are reminders of how the of its Lizards, but at the time h�d no. idea small creatures acquired their colour Dr Wade C. Sherbrooke is Director of the purpose. Withers, a phys10log1st, subse­ markings. In North America too, Native American Museum of Natural History's quently demonstrated in laboratory Americans were impressed by their Southwestern Research Station in the studies that Thorny Devils have the abil­ sti·ange horned lizards, attributing to remote Chiricahua Mountains of south-east­ ity to remove water fr?n:1 damp sand in them great healing powers for coping ern Arizona. For over 20 years he has done this fashion. However, 1t 1s yet to be con­ with the hidden forces of the natural research on horned lizards in the south-west­ for horned lizards. world. These strange beasts appear able ern United States and Mexico, and he has firmed visited Australia numerous times. So, are Thorny Devils and horned to impress us all. •

A Regal Horned Lizard from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. 63 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 64 p

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68 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 NAT URE AUSTR ALIA SPRING 1999 poor candidates for fossilisation unless in VIEWS FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION amber or as wafer-thin organic traces on the flat �urfaces of :'hales:--certainly not full-bod1ed, three-d1mens10nal fossils in The next morning, an amazed, bug-eyed me shot out limestone. of my office for the lab to search for more! So it came as no surprise to Steph Williams (University of New South Wales) that I snorted in disbelief when he told me over the phone that he had just found what looked like an BUGS AND BONES uncrushed fossil insect in the acid-insol­ uble concentrate from Riversleigh's Upper Site. I suggested it must have IN ANCIENT been some insect that had dropped into Disquieting they may be to urbanised the acid vat when he opened the lid STONES humans, but insects by the billions, fly­ Rather than argue with me, he simply ing, crawling, swimming, hunting, mounted the impossible object on a pin BY MICHAEL ARCHER munching, mating, pollinating or becom­ under my microscope, and went home ing someone else's dinner, are among the for the night. The next morning, apolo­ most important componentsof all natural gising profusely to Steph along the way, ecosystems. Without them, the world we an amazed, bug-eyed me shot out of my now depend on would collapse from the office for the lab to search for more! bottom up. And this has probably been And more there were! Once we the way of things since the first insects retrained our eyes to look for bits of bugs wandered out on land at least 400 million instead of mammal teeth, fossil arthro­ N "INDIANA )ONES AND 1liE TuMPLE years ago. pods of all sorts suddenly became visi­ of Doom", Steven Spielberg knew just Yet when the World Heritage limestone ble. There were insect larvae with pairs howI to tickle us with terror as the lead­ deposits of Riversleigh (Queensland) of cone-shaped bumps that we dubbed ing lady crept through the dimly lit began to tip out their treasures of spec­ 'Venus de Riversleigh', weevils (cur­ labyrinthine passages of the Temple. tacular skulls and skeletons, we hardly culionids), ommatid and possible his­ Thinking she'd broken a finger nail, she gave a thought to the insects that must terid beetles, caddis-flies (trichopterans) lit a lamp to reveal an army of the have vastly outnumbered the vertebrates and even slaters (isopods), all about 20 biggest and most extraordinary tropical in those ancient forests. After all, while million years old. Most had either lived insects crawling up her arm. Her shriek bones and teeth are made of hard sub­ in or near a freshwater pool that had also alone was enough to make the hair stand stances that readily preserve in lime­ trapped the bones of hundreds of verte­ up on viewers' arms! stone, insects are squishy and mushy, brates including more than 64 different

Rlverslelgh Is one of the few PI aces •'" the world where insects like this 20-milllon-year-old slater have been preserved uncrushed. 70 NATURE AUSTRALIA S.PRING 1999 p i o' 1 � a lie 11 ls. Riversle t ,, O f ,amm t igh deposi s are also .II� inds a st of he fossilised fou d hind, e ;!¼ k o the l rge the �uercy p s including_ J?ossibl jewel e ' n ng t hosphates perha� �; t b etles Uk Ai oc were dozens of sec ions of reflection of sim ' _ upres 1ds), weevils, termites p l bits ilar prehi toric env11 al t and even artl1_ro g them over in my hand ment t . I.on- SC: es tha once ec t e Rollin s lrn t _may (11 turn have t _d orated he elegant il a of . 111 contribu ed wmgs of t m hPi� ��ck nost lgic mem?ries wet to t�� way which the but erflies. With hundreds of ug a t arthropods were t to o bro o e lowl nd ramfores s of fo �ihsecl t a nodules ye be cracked r o in th by phospha is tion. c pen, the e's e n were always surrouncl­ S,_nce St�ph's no ch_an e that Dunsinane afto r �ere we discovery of ar s has revealed B rneo. t a a thropods all of Its t acul r rray of millipedes; a� Riversle1gh, we ha e ecre s. y spec a ve found oth r sites t s ed b f a gi nts over 20 cen­ ft om a t a S eph' chance discovery o o gate bl ck the s me region h t preserve t pened ur 1 that, when clis­ eyes to he fossil arthr �-0 11_ t�o� ng to others o opods that were e e into impene­ under ur noses all along. am b coiled themselves t We hadn' t rbed a t seen hem because t o tu 1 ' fectly spheric l balls he size They we didn't expec t a·ab e, P er were uncrushed see them. Like so much t o t piece. ' o of he biol gical 0 20-cen . t t w �ld th�t s f a t amazmg aspec of he �urrounds us, living as well a tJ,e mos extmc le t B ut a t t he fact t hat three-dimensional t, it is often invisib o us until . _ igh fossils w s no o ve le a a someone else sh ws us how to o ,� sented new nd rare look at l ok. • Riey 1epre t ambassadors c b·onary history of Aus ralia's of liet,t e volu t Further Reading al arthrop_ocl s; 1·t · was h eir · terrestri t Arena, D.A., 1997. The palaeontology . le cond , ion. They were prehistory. and geology of inci·edib Dunsmane Site, R1versleigh. Mem. Qld Mus. 41 · ed , three-dimensional ambas- 171-179. unc1·ush . t . . t o of prehis ory, so exqu1s1 e1 y pre- sad rs t t · t t fossilisa ion had even led to equally unexpec ed things. One of the Duncan, 1.J. & Briggs, D.E.G., ved J,a t 1996. Three-dimension­ of muscles inside heir body most delightful was Dunsinane Site, now ally preserved insects. Nature 381: 30-31. �!�1acement t t he research focus of Rick Arena. 1 cavi ies! Duncan, o this �appen? Sori:ie of �he Although the age of this site is still l.J., Briggs, D.E.G. & Archer, M., 1998. Three­ H w did dimensionally mineralized e t the Rive�·sle1gh uncertain, inside fist-size insects and millipedes from res archers inves igating nodules Rick the Tertiary Derek Bnggs of has been of Riversleigh, Queensland, Australia. fossils (Ian Duncan and finding plant material (the only Palaeontology 41: 835-851. rsity of Bristol, and Rick Arena such deposit at Riversleigh), including ct,e Unive of tl,e University of New South Wales) well-preserved leaves with each layer of Michael Archer is the Director of the Aus­ have concluded that the key to this extra­ cells still intact, aerial roots, twigs and tralian Museum and Professor of Biological ordinary process was the humblest of wood, and even perfectly preserved Science at the University of New South eria. The dark sediments of fruits And caught among these anti­ Wales. His major research interests are the be asts-bact . fossil faunas of Riversleigh, north-western Upper Site indicate that the base of the quarian leftovers of an arthropods' ban­ t Queensland. ancient forest pool in which the arthro­ quet are some of the gues s who stayed pods accumulated had been starved of oxygen, a condition that inhibited the normal processes of decay. Instead, bac­ teria interacted with high phosphate lev­ els in ilie water, rapidly replacing the ar thropods' soft tissues with carbonate fluorapatite, a hard mineral that took on the form, at a microscopic level, of the tissues it replaced. The same process also resulted in fossilisation of the bac­ t r e ia themselves, their tiny round bodies Sometime in the next lwo to five years, many e You can help? Cone toads ore a notional prob­ b ing present in the thousands within will crash. Some will recover in e cr populations lem. Write the federal minister for the environ­ th un ushed bodies of the fossilised never do so. t port. Others may Hill, c/- Parliament House, Canberra ar hropods. Even the microscopically ment, Roberl toad is coming. When they and demand that fine fil_aments of fungi, the first ever The cane 2600 reach Kokodu's wetlands • Cone toad research funding be increased. found m the bodies of fossilised terres­ eradica­ t Their population will explode. • Research be integrated with on-ground rial animals, have in • been preserved They will eat many small animals. tion programs. these fossils. • • Animals which eat them will die. _What most amazed the palaeontolo­ natur· gists If you want to see Kakadu in it's who examined this material were and t e e state, come soon. Wait a few years h yes. Their multifaceted surfaces al er you'll never know whol it once was like. � e as detailed as those of any living t r 20 00 s k is mver eb ate. While some eyes revealed Only a tiny porl of Kokodu's � � �tr ct e by vehicle. Since 1986, W1ll1s s u ur s common to a wide range of accessible nsects t Walkabouts hos offered ihe only comprehensive � , o hers were extremely rare. The Yes o o program of bock country bushwolk- f ne of the beetle larvae for i( ex ing tours in Kokodu, walks $� WAL � ' amp 1 e, most resembled those of trilo- b,t�s, r where you carry a full pock ma ine arthropods that went carry iii::=;:j' "�� v> ex ct r and walks where you gn befo e the dawn of dinosaurs. e very little. � {• G f of the only other places in the � .i wor d where a Ask for our brochure. � - --�� r se similar three-dimension l P e rvation -f'toCENiRt� cc rr of insects in phosphate has Willis's Walkabouts u e e ir d is th Quercy phosphates of St Millner NT 0810 ance. 12 Carrington These French fossils however ' [email protected] have e e Email: all b e n r crystallised or 'encr usted 0 d are fo no match in terms of preserva­ na et r � _ l_ d ail fo the Riversleigh a I is e materi l. f int resting t iv that some of he distinc­ e types of fos sil bats known from the 71 N ATURE A UST RALIA SPRING 1999 ties that Banks and from the d:amatic beauty of ficul er the rnountams themse Solander and all the ot� lves is horticu�turali�ts the unique flora, which �an botanists, be best appreciated REVIEWS and artists coped ""'.1th while by walk. preser mg, des­ ing along one of the many collecting, � tracks winding throu cribing, illustratmg and gh both the plants ma?e ranges. Bushwalking and transporting climbing me wonder at their in�en�ity rock- opportunities and dedication. The timelme in these mountams are corn. gonia indispensible to those our flora prehensively described or of the discovery of from with a recreational given the authors �he the easy to the more chal­ interest in the Bun­ has research framework around which lenging. Average times for gonia Caves. These are com­ the person­ walks and climbs, as well borough they have woven as plemented by . a � grade levels, make for quick of scientific know­ alities, politics and world evaluation events that were current at assessment. Detailed but ledge of the caves. with _an easy-to-read maps are a use­ bias the time. appropriate geological is that ful accompaniment. on cave evolu­ My only criticism towards ideas are a number f Other attractions of the tion, making it a valuab\e there ? It 1s spelling mistakes i� th� �tm region such �s the wineries, educational resource. 1t 1s a accommodation and recre­ well illustrated with numer­ names. Despite this, and very readable book_ full of ational activities are outlined ous colour photographs and for the visitor to round off diagrams. interesting informat10n -Tony Allan with plenty of illustrations of this useful publication, which Consultant Geologist both plants and people that I would like to have had when help bring the history to life. I visited the area last year. I have greatly enjoyed read­ One final point is that an ing it. index would be a welcome Under Bungonia -Tracey Armstrong inclusion in any future edi­ By Julie and Peter Bauer. 18 Books, Royal Botanic Gardens tion. NSW, 1998, 284pp. plus maps. Mount Annan, NSW -Peter Sweedman $45.00rrp. Royal Botanic Gardens Mount Annan, NSW Under Bungonia is a sec­ ond, much-updated cavers' guidebook and compilation of scientific information on the caves of the Bungonia State Recreation Area, located near Goulburn in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. Bungonia contains some of the deepest and most extensive caves in the coun­ try, in addition to remarkable The Flower Chain: surface scenery including the The Early famous limestone gorge. Discovery of In general scope the book Australian Plants follows Bungonia Caves (Syd­ By Jill, Duchess of Hamilton and Dawn Till Dusk: ney Speleological Society, Julia Bruce. Simon & Schuster, In the Stirling 1972), published to document NSW, 1998, 160pp. $39.95rrp. and Porongurup a natural heritage threatened Ranges by limestone mining. Under The flowerchain could sim­ By Rob Olver and Stuart Olver. Bungonia contains ten chap­ ply be described as a chronol­ University of WesternAustralia Birdwatching in ters on scientific studies by ogy of early Australian Press, WA, 1998, 176pp. Australia and New the nine supporting authors, botany beginning with the $34.95rrp. paperback, $45.00rrp. Zealand covering knowledge of geolo­ first recorded landings by the hardcover. By Ken Simpson and Zoe Wilson. gy, regional geomorphologi­ Dutch in 1606. It is, however, New Holland Publishers, NSW, cal evolution, 'foul air', speleo­ much more than a dry com­ Rob and Stuart Olver's pas­ 1998, 206pp. $29. 95rrp. biology and hydrology. The pilation of dates and facts; the sion and enthusiasm for other major component of the authors have added a human these remarkable ranges are There are a number of book, resulting from a com­ dimension to many famous articulately conveyed in this excellent field-identification plete resurvey of the area, is names associated with the practical guide to the region. guides currently available. an inventory of all 190 known discovery of Australia caves and The layout of the book is However, getting a handle on that includes maps, pas­ our Australian flora. clear, covering the history, those seemingly god-like sage descriptions and equip­ Names of explorers ment requirements. such geology and climate, as well skills of seasoned birdwatch­ Smaller­ as Cook, Dampier, Hartog as the amazing biological ers seems an almost unattain­ scale Al-size maps of ten fre­ and Tasman, which I quently visited first diversity of both areas. The able goal to the beginner. caves come learnt in third class, became narrative is complemented These involve identifying with a surface map marking people with ambitions cave entrances and by an array of superb photo­ birds based on characters in a separate responsibilities, and the dan­ graphs. such as behaviour, flight pat­ pocket. gers that they The and their One of the main attractions tern and body shape, and clear and detailed cave crews faced, from storms d­ maps alone make Under Bun- to for visitors to the Stirling and require a greater understan scurvy, became real. The dif- Porongurup Ranges, apart ing of the lifestyle of the bird.

72 - NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 llY come ? lifetime of working ·]Is gene1? 111 the land firS :, h s 1 a t by flower colour su ea<1.i pr ct:Ice, but for­ South Australia Nicholas and ec y of then by flower form (in other aft r e new birdwatch­ Birks has successfltlly man­ t for a words, what colour wna te son nd Zoe aged to combine the is it and e I n Simp two. how many �, a ded to From the petals does it r h ve deci very beginning he have?). This a yvt1s� a accumu- only format m kes it at � eir ye rs of cleared part of his land easy to use 111P th a as you don't need 1 e nd knowledge to and left a large area undis­ a l d s 1a "lls to know anything about t x­ at turbed, providing a sanctuary onomy, ci e masses. a ? �!ant families or keys, covers b d for wildlife. all \his book_ �11 � - a of which can confound and ics sue 11 as d The v riety of animals por­ con��se ang of top a the non-botanist. Jn r �· a at home, breeding tr yed in this book are amaz­ addition, each at n ing species has its we c _ "'ur, record keeping when you consider that own colo_ur ill�stration b l1avi1o O a so you e s f weatl 1er, as this i tl1e work of one pho­ c n d ci 1 effect a easily cl1scarcl options an m .ny help- tographer. Through patience a e 1 a providing that don't m tch your w 1 d en t·t·1 1ca t·1011. and dedication Nicholas has a ful hints for i unknown pl nt, helping you ea is �n�ouraged to taken candid photographs of encl The r der a up with the correct pproach animals within their land­ answer. ke a more hohsti� a (It is not uncommon t a , 111ste d of scape, unstressed and behav­ a t� birdw tchin_g . with botanic l keys to reach th�n1 ing naturally. Among the an outcome simply identify111�·a a that is ludicrous ed on their p�ys1c 1 ttnb many wonderful pho­ and to have to start again.) bas tographs, utes. This view 1s suppor�ed we see Ghost Bats After you've identified your ut the book with catching insects in mid flight, plant, the guide gives you 1 througho a many anecdotes and exam- Malleefowl laying eggs, and general inform tion on simi­ e the disastrous effects of feral lar species in the area, which ' pi s. a . The convers tional tone animals on our native species. allows you to double check al setout of the book Each photograph comes your choice, as well as a brief and logic a make it easy to re d and the with an extended caption description of its habitat and ompanying photographs describing the animal or the distribution. This is a light­ acc a make it an absolute pleasure. situation when it was pho­ weight, practic l and beauti­ is, however, a surpris­ tographed and also a fact box fully presented book that will There a ing lack of photographs of containing the scientific be useful to people who w nt species endemic to New name, habitat etc. to find out more about the Zealand and this is my only Nicholas Birks's under­ wildflowers they're seeing in disappointment. Although standing and interest in the the alpine country of Aus­ there are many examples in wildlife around him has tralia. the text referring to such deeply enriched his life and, -Tracey Armstrong through his photography, Royal Botanic Gardens species, given the title of the Mount Annan, NSW book, I was surprised at their others as well. absence in the photographs. -K.L. This is my only criticism. Overall the book provides many interesting and useful cwldflowers of the Snow Country facts, along with stunning presentation, and will be a great companion guide for new birdwatchers. -Fiona Christie Australian Museum

Ji.ll Mot-ris ...... Lynne. Muir

Australian Wildflowers of the Kangaroos: Snow Country: A Magnificent Field Guide to the Macropods Wild By JillMorris and Lynne Muir. and Free: Australian Alps _ Austr Greater Glider Productions, Old, alia's By Ian Fraser and Margaret Mdan­ Natur 1998, 48pp. $17.95rrp (softback). al World nett. Vertego Publications, ACT, ro_u !� gh the Lens 1998, 186pp. $24.00rrp. �hcholas Glider Productions l 8 N Birks Greater a / !cholas Birks. New a have published y_et nothe_r ub/1sh Holland This :fieldguide will make a ers, NSW 1998 178 pp. a on aesthetically pleasmg n� �ct­ $49.9Srrp. ' ' wonderful comp nion a adcl1t1on through the entific lly accurate summer rambles to their environmental art­ snow country of mainland ­ ar . a book series. Author Jill Mo!· F ming and conservation Austr lia. The plants in_ the don't h a ris and illustrator Lynne Muir ave to be t odds. After book are simply orgamsecl, N ATURE AU ST I RALIA SPRING 1999 an mazed .by t�e illustrated texts. There is � range of have uccessfully collaborat­ have carefully researched about the images 111 his colle . They engaging narrative ction ed to produce another gor­ their subject matter befall a These books showcase the extent f adventures that both geous guide to acid to previ­ even go lo � called the wonderful photograph an aclclenclum clan­ young Dingo pup y ous edition , this time focus­ including a short P!ay of Jiri a�d M�rie Lechman fying why they have included 'Shortsocks', ing on Australian kangaroos problems associat­ and the nch diversity of Aus'. potoroos, bettongs, and about the or, as they are rightly called human visitors feed­ in the title, magnificent Musky-rat Kangaroos in a ed with when ing Dingoes, an informative macropocls. book about macropocls, about they belong set of brief anecdotes The book appears to have sb·ictly speaking four infor­ to the family Potoroiclae, a Dingo behaviour, . been written with older pri­ ts and a basic mary schoolchildren in mind. subgroup of the superfamily mation repor that contains kangaroos. map. They are introduced to the it laudable topic of macropocls by an This book has been bril­ While I think has attempted to interesting fact-filled four­ liantly illustrated and written that Morris in a simple, informative style write a variety of 'user-friend­ page overview, which pre­ chil­ matter in an that will encourage school ly' text types for younger sents the subject pedantic way. Any unfamil­ librarians, teachers, parents dren, I do have a few accessible structure scientific words are and especially children to quibbles about the iar also the explained in a glossary at the consider purchasing a copy. of the reports and book. Also includ­ In fact, I have a sneaking sus­ layout of the map. The three encl of the tralia's fauna and flora. ed i a list of reference books picion that this book could reports entitled "Finding that may be useful to the form the basis of an environ­ Food", "Growing in Sand" Australia's unique wildlife be reader if he or she wishes to mental artbook collection if and "Where Land Meets Sea" can enjoyed by people of research a particular species amassing has not already are really only partial reports. all ages and backgrounds in more depth. begun. The information is not pref­ because the pictures tell the The bulk of the book con­ -Cheryl Hook aced by an introductory para­ story. The introduction gives sists of 17 double-page Australian Museum graph identifying what the a brief description on the evo­ spreads each detailing, rest of the report is about and lution of our animals and why through text and illusb·ations, really only focuses on some Australia i unique. Each pic­ the appearance and habits of of the descriptive aspects of ture ha a short caption, a variety of macropocls. Every information reports. The last which includes the common information report is written report called "Fraser Island and scientific name. This is in a clear, interesting and live­ Dingoes" is a much better an ideal book for getting a ly way and is complemented example of an information feel for the variety of animals by a scientifically accurate report. However, the final and their locality. illusb·ation of the macropocl paragraph is written as an in question. ot only do the exposition, exhorting readers illustrations showcase each not to interact with Fraser macropocl to perfection, they Island Dingoes. Also, the map would greatly benefit by the inclusion of a key and lin­ Wild/lowers ear scale, plus some informa­ of Western Australia The illustrations tion about where the island is located within an Australian showcase each Fraser Dingo context. By JillMorris and Sharon Dye. ;"'Ill '", � \ � However, these are rela­ ..!'" 1 --1 �mi /11, Greater Glider Productions, Qld, tively minor criticisms. Over­ \, � �"-',,, macropod to 1998, 24pp. $9.95rrp. � , �ll the book is visually pleas­ ., J11 I ,Ii.. M,111(' I0(h lll,lll mg and contains many beauti­ perfection. Author Jill Morris and illus­ [ully drawn images. It also trator Sharon Dye have col­ includes useful snippets of laborated to produce an information written in an Wildfl.owers of Western Aus­ attractive and instructive nat­ easy-to-read format that is contains photography also incorporate some of the ural tralia history book for chil­ pi�ched at the right level for that i as good as it gets. This flora and fauna typical of the dren. Older primary school­ pnmary-aged children. is much more than a picture macropocl's home area. At children shouldn't have any -Cheryl Hook book; it's a field guide and the bottom of each illustra­ problems reading the text, Australian Museum tion is an entertaining poem but adult mediation important reference specifi­ would cally on the wildflowers of detailing some of the more help emergent readers. The Australia's Unique this region. The introduction unusual characteristics of the book introduces the reader to Wildlife dif ferent species. Surround­ some fascinating snippets By liri Lochman. contains things like the inter­ of New Holland Pub­ action of birds and animals ing both the texts and illus­ information about Fraser lishers, NSW, 1998, 128pp. trations are delightful bor­ lslan? Dingoes. For example, $29.95rrp. with flowers, and a guide to ders that use an aspect understanding plant names. of the my nine-year-old was interest­ Wildflowers of habitat as their theme, such ed in the Each section is illustrated fact that Fraser W�stern Australia a wreaths of leaves. Embecl­ Island Dingoes, clue to their By lm. & Marie Lochman. with a imple map, a descrip­ clecl New Hol­ tion of the habitat, and how into the borders are isolation, are perhaps the land Publishers, NSW, 1998, small but clear maps showing purest breed of Australian 112pp. $39.95rrp. and where to look for certain the range of the macropocl. Dingo. flowers. It is beautifully It is clear and easy to read. I from the quality The book presents informa­ Jiri Loch designed of both the . man is a prolific certain West­ text and illustra­ tion about �he Fraser Dingo and highly ly wouldn't go to tions that Morris . talented photogra­ ern and Muir using a vanety of beautifully pher, and Australia without it. I never cease to be -K.L.

74 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING !999 SOCIETY PAGE Australia there is a network of active societies, large and small, local and national, which exist to further the cause of the subject that you hold dear. �l A ss Get 1nvo ve� ��� u l interest is conservation, birds, science, national parks, bushwalking or a particular group of animals, there's a society for you. he r yo r specia

Ph: (03) 9503 9823 TAMS, The Australian WELFARE Francis Street ANIMAL E-mail: [email protected] Perth, WA 6000 Museum Society Wildcare Contact: Jody Plecas Ph: (08) 9427 2767 6 College St PO Box 2379 ••• Contact: Kate Trinaistic Sydney, NSW 2000 entre, Qld 4211 Membership fee: $30.00 erang Mail C • Ph: (02) 9320 6225 (07) 5527 2444 Membership fee: $12.00 Contact: Michelle Ball Pb: ger. tact: Eleanor Han ••••• Con Linnean Society of NSW •• FROGS Membership fees: $55.00 single; •• $35.00 family; Membership fee: Queensland Frog Society PO Box 457 $70.00 household; $40.00 le Milsons Point, SW 1565 $25.00 sing PO Box 7017 student/pensioner Ph/Fax: (02) 9929 0253 East Brisbane, Qld 4169 Contact: Claudia Ford Ph: (07) 3366 1806 •••• ASTRONOMY Web: http:/ /www.qldtrogs. Membership fee: $50.00 full REPTILES t Queensland asn.au South Eas members; $28.00 student or SA Herpetology Group Astronomical Society Contact: Jenny Holdway retired, $8.00 associate (no Cl- PO Box 516 ••••• journal) SA Museum Stratbpine, Qld 4500 Membership fee: $15.00 family; North Terrace 3205 4541 $10.00 single; $7.50 junior Pb: (07) Field Naturalists' Adelaide, SA 5000 Contact: Graham Long Association of Canberra Ph: (08) 8204 8772 •••• GPO Box 249 fee: $20.00 HUMAN & Membership Canberra, ACT 2601 Contact: Helen Owens ENVIRONMENTAL Ph: (02) 9240 8152 ••••• HEALTH & WELL Contact: Joyce Weeks Membership fee: $28.00 BIRDS BEING •• Cumberland Bird Nature and Society Membership fee: $20.00 Herpetological Society Observers Club Inc. Forum Inc. of Qld Inc. PO Box 550 PO Box 11 PO Box 5001 Canberra, ACT 2601 MARSUPIALS Kenmore East, Qld 4069 Baulkbam Hills, SW 1755 Ph: (07) 3202 9054 Ph: (02) 6288 0760 Marsupial Society of Victoria Ph: (02) 9769 0928 Contact: John Schooneveldt Contact: William McGrath Contact: Rob Gibbons ••••• 20 Wavell Avenue •••• Kilsyth, Vic. 3137 I Membership fee: $25.00 full; Membership fee: $25.00 single; $12.00 concession, $40.00 Ph: (03) 9779 9418 $30.00 family; $20.00 Membership fee: $25.00 family; Contact: Heather Niggendyker $22.00 metro; $15.00 pensioners/ organisation student/pensioner students/ country ••• Membership fee: $30.00 full; Hunter $35.00 family WILDLIFE Bird Observers Club INSECTS PROTECTION PO Box 24 Entomological Society New Lambton, NSW 2305 Australian Wildlife of Victoria Ph: (02) 4958 5942 MUSEUM Protection Council Contact: Peter Phillips 56 Looker Road Queensland Museum 247 Flinders Lane ' Montmorency, Vic. 3094 Association Inc. Melbourne, Vic. 3000 1 M.embership Ph: (03) 9435 4781 .. fee: $20.00 family; Box 3300 Ph: (03) 9650 8326 St6.00 smgle; $2.00 junior Contact: Ian Endersby South Brisbane, Qld 4101 After hours: (03) 5978 8570 •• Ph: (07) 3840 7632 E-mail: kangaroo@peninsula. Membership fee: $20.00 metro; Contact: Carol Middleton hotkey.net.au EDUCATION $16.00 country; $12.00 student ••• Contact: Maryland Wilson SA Science Teachers Membership fee: $25.00 single; • Association Inc. $30.00 family; $20.00 concession Membership fee: $20.00 1st Floor, NATURAL HISTORY & country 211 Flinders Street Adelaide, SA 5000 Field Naturalists' Club of Newsletter/Journal Ph: (08) 822 Victoria • Monthly meeting 4 0871 Are you a Contact: Judy • Bi-monthly meeting Morton Locked Bag 3 Club Secretary? •• Annual meeting/conference Membership . . . Blackburn, Vic. 3130 NATURE AUSTRALIA's • Weekly meeting l ue e. $SO. 00 md1vidu secondary· . al • Quarterly meeting · ' $6 · 9 OO mdividu Ph: (03) 9877 9860 Associate Society Scheme is Pnmary al • Field outings/Tours Contact: Felicity Garde designed to help your club or • Conservation/Working programs Marin society with free publicity, e Ed ucatio ••••• • Discounted Goods f A n Society o ustralasia Membership fee: $40.00 single; funds and member benefits. Magazine P O Box 461 $30.00 concession Call Robbie Muller on (02) • Social/Education Activities Ea • Nature Australia magazine st B entl e1g · h, 9320 6119 for more details. Vic. 3165 WA Museum Dinosaur Club • Seminars

NATURE A USTRALIA SP RING 1999 75 NORTH WEST SAFARIS WIRES 1999 GETS A NEW NUMBER

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77 when replying to advertisements Readers please mention Nature Australia the apparent rarity of such melanistic blue-tongues, there is some precede�t. In the Shingleback (�iliqu_a rugosa), some population� m Q South Wales (particu­ New larly those in highlan� areas) consist mostly or entirely of melanistic individuals, t�e & being normal m melanism this case. Further, the Blotched Blue-tongue is a more heavily melanised A species than other blu�­ tongues, with the mela�m present in other species much more extensively spread over the bod}'., reduc­ Black Blue-tongue ing the pale markings_ �o . At a school display in smaller blotches. Hence, 1t 1s • Hobart we were handed probably not too difficult aQ black blue-tongue that was developmentally for the really a Blotched Blue-tongue melanin to spread just a bit (Tiliqua nigrolutea), the only farther in your animal to member of its genus found in obliterate the pale blotches. Tasmania. Its appearance was -Glenn Shea quite extraordinary as the scales University of Sydney were all jet black, although the tongue was still blue and the Sponges mouth lining pink. How common While walking along the is this colour variation in blue­ Q •. beach, I came across a A marine sponge (Theonella cylindrica) . tongues? sponge that had been washed -Bob Fletcher ashore. What exactly are beaches after storms they are ate or silica and give the Colebrook, Tas. sponges? Are they plants or ani­ usually dead and dis­ sponge its shape. Some con­ mals, and do they floatai mlessly coloured. Sponges are filter­ tain a matrix composed of an A. I am only aware of or are they anchored somehow? feeders that draw water organic substance called • one other fully or -Angela Perry through small pores called spongin. More than 1,350 near-fully melanistic blue­ East Hawthorn, Vic. ostia and expel it through species of sponges have been tongue, if melanism is treat­ large pores called oscules. found in Australian waters ed as an occasional abnor­ . Sponges are animals This makes them very effi­ and in recent years the phar­ mality. Curiously, this was A • that usually live cient pumps and a reef cov­ maceutical industry has reported in a newborn East­ attached to a hard surface in ered with sponges can pump shown great interest in them ern Blue-tongue (Tiliqua the sea, such as reefs or thousands of litres of water in as a source of biologically scincoides) from Sydney, at wharf pilings. They are found a day. The body of the sponge active chemicals. about the same time that in many shapes and colours, contains spicules, which are -Penny Berents your letter arrived. Despite although when washed up on tiny rods of calcium carbon- Australian Museum The Eyes Have It I have been reading a •. book on fossils in which someQ anapsid reptiles (Pro­ colophon and ElginiaJ are shown as having a third eye. Was this actuallyan eye, a nerve centre, or what? -David Shera Greenslopes, Qld

.A number of fossil A • reptiles have a small hole in the middle of the top of the back part of the skull. Comparison witl1 living rep­ tiles, such as New Zealand's this ffi Tuatara, suggests that hole was almost certainly for � a third eye. Among Aus­ a, 0 a, tralian lizards this third eye, or parietal eye, is best seen in

:::,� the larger skinks. If you look 8 closely with a hand lens or a microscope you can see a lit­ tle clear spot in the scales in 78 NATURE AUSTRALIA SPRING 1999 s

of the 'ddle of the back t11e rn n u look ver y d. iA d if yo hea ay be able to sel ou m clo r oks like a little eye ee"!' rnflo s a at you through stanng b ck !ear spot · tl · eye has some 11h� parietal features of the eyes on of th the lat­ s�de of the head, t i example, what erh� eyes For see · as a .dark circular You . tl1e 1·1g ht - area 1s the retina ' · of the eye, and traPP1 ng part clear area in_the cenb·� is tl1e mg tlie Jens, the hght-focus art of the eye. The clear P s atch in the overlying scale ISp even similar to . a small cornea, the protective ?� t er part of the eye. In hvmg species, an� hence �robably The mysterious eye of the Superb Fruit-Dove. also in extinct species, the parietal eye is �o�nected to species such as the geckos The Superb Fruit-Dove tile brain by a distinct nerve, have lost it, and several tropi­ (Ptilinopus superbus), with its just as the lateral �yes are cal species such as some yellow iris, has a particularly connected to tile brarn by the skinks in New Guinea and large and dark spot, which optic ner ve. However, unlike elsewhere have also lost it. gives the impression of a tile lateral eyes, tile parietal Snakes, possibly because greatly enlarged and elongat­ eye is probably not . ab!e. to they went through a burrow­ ed pupil. 'see' images, at least m hvmg ing phase in their ancestry, -Walter E. Boles species. Instead it is probably also no longer have a parietal Australian Museum a means for measuring the eye. amount of solar radiation tile -Allen E. Greer Answers to Quiz in animal has been exposed to. Australian Museum Nature Strips (page 16) Knowing the amount of radia­ 1. CometTempel-Tuttle tion received during the day Split Iris 2. Bryan Gaensler may help regulate physiolog­ Why do fruit-doves have ical processes such as ther­ •. a split iris? 3. Teeth moregulation and reproduc­ Q -M. Barnett 4. The transfer of an animal tion. Whether the parietal Mackay, Qld organ into a human. eye began its evolutionary 5. Fins history as an eye that could The pupil is actually 6. El Nino Southern really see is not known. • A• not split at all. There Oscillation Not all lizards retain the is a dark spot on the iris of parietal ·eye. Many pecies many fruit-doves, usually 7. Eight arms, two tentacles that live. in environments · directly anterior to, and con­ 8. Yes· with little light or with more necting with, the pupil. In 9. New Zealand or less constant amounts of species with light irises, this 10. Cyanobacteria light lack a parietal eye. For spot makes the pupil look (blue-green algae) example, many nocturnal much larger than it really is.

p C T E A s E R

Do you recognise this? If you think you know what it is, then send your answer to Pie Teaser, Nature Australia Magazine. Please don't forget to include your name and a ddress. The first correct entry will win a copy of Aus­ tralia 's world heriatge from the Australian Museum Shop. Wint er's Pie Teaser was a cl ose-up of bark.

N ATURE A US 79 TRALIA SPRING 1999 11111 fictional, defamatory or just plain One effect of the media in g :rong, e era R D that, with its small packages \ is S T w o of s c T H E L A and sometimes third-hand inf � �nd. or ation, it tends to remove us from th fellows. world. Ask any Australian to na : t�l ith unusual bed m sci. It's a strange bed W entist, for example, and they're come up with more I likely to Robyn Wi\r a l Kruszelnicki than Gu � rns or Kar stav N ss \ or Peter Doherty. However ' rec aJ D · ar · ent E AN changes, particu1 1 y m the electro . CIENC . 'd' nic S media, are prov1 mg new opportunit for scientists t�em�elves to write IA l th! HE MED news, an� the_ sc1ent �t-as-communicator T becoming mcreasmgly co AR & PAUL WILLIS is mmon. TV BY RICHARD FULLAG programs like the ABC's "Quantum" provide a venue for on-line discussion and debate between scientists, and between scientists and the public, and websites such as The a (www.abc.net. au/science) L b feature the communicating scientist in a variety of disciplines. The ABC also has a program

CICNTISTS AND THE MEDIA ares often at loggerhead�. S<:ientists accuse journalists of sensat10�ah_sm and We live in a society misrepresenting the facts, while Journal­ ists accuse scientists of stuffiness and uncooperation. In the public eye, the where the intricacies and media wields enormous power com­ pared with any individual scientist. or details of science have to research institution. Such concentration of power leads to conflict. But the irony be compressed into a of this conflict is that both groups share a common goal: communicating ideas. Only with a greater understanding of the five-minute package for different forces and pressures that each group works under, willa solution to this general consumption. conflict be found. Australian people have been known for their heavy-handed criticism of the rich and famous, or of anyone who thinks differently; for cutting down tall called 'Science Fellows' where three poppies. Barry Humphries has already working scientists get to spen� six pointed out the irony of knocking the weeks with the media, learning science knockers; so we need to keep a sense of communication from the inside. humour when looking at the interaction The things scientists do to sell science ... Television, radio, websites, newspa­ of science and the media. It is easy to pers, magazines and other m�dia are imagine (if not recall) an episode of the the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Sydney. tremendously important not Just for TV program "Frontline " in which the Called 'Science and the Media: Friend entertainment but for circulating and similarly pretentious worlds of science or Foe?', scientists complained that jour­ challenging ideas about science and and journalism are exposed. (Life rarely nalists distort facts with sensational society. Scientists, by the same token, runs so smoothly as on ABC Radio's Sci­ headlines, oversimplify complex argu­ should ti·y more to add some fun o_r ence Show.) ments, and attack personalities by pre­ entertainment in their public commum­ In a recent article in The Australian, senting scientific judgement as right or cations. Many are doing it. columnist Shelley Gare bemoans" ...so wrong. Journalists defended their prac­ We live in a society where the intrica­ many Australian journalists have the tices by appealing to copy deadlines, the cies and details of science have to be backbone, grace and generosity of a necessity of summarising and the need compressed into a five-minute package tapeworm ... " and goes on to state that to reach a wide audience in an eye-catch­ for general consumption. Can this be the "world of journalism ... is an odd ing, entertaining way. The objective done without offending the scientists? one. Jealousy, callousness and grace­ communications of the scientist contrast It's a big ask but it can be done, provid­ lessness abound." No need to dig out violently with the personal stories need­ ed both sides understand and respect quotes from academic colleagues whose ed for the general public.Attention-grab­ the other. It's a strange bed witl1 unusu­ accusations of backstabbing, jobs-for­ bing entertainment is crucial because al bed fellows. the-boys and political professorial expe­ the papers have to sell, but this also diency frequently fly. Professionals are works against scientists who can get a Dr Richard Fullagar is a Visiting Fellow_ in � good at putting down their colleagues, bad reputation among scientific col­ the Anthropology Division of the Australia�1 i3 because they can. However, when the leagues, sometimes jealous of media Museum.. Dr Paul Willis is a Trainee Sci­ � crossfire is interdisciplinary, as in attention needed to raise the profile of ence Broadcaster with the ABC. � between scientists and journalists, the poorly funded research division . Some >- gloves are off. research is dismis ed by journalists as The last Word is a11 opi11io11 piece � and does 110I 11ecessarily reflect the views :'5 In June 1998 a debate was hosted by uninteresting or worthless, while some of the Australian Museum. 8 ABC's 'Science in the Pub' program at news reports are seen by scientists as

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