Apostles Vs Fossils

UNSURPASSED QUALITY AND ACCURACY Up Front always seem to be few and far between and certainly not from around the Sydney region. unless you've Why? Is this because Sydney spent time SCUBA diving, doesn't have many good fossils you're experience with octo­ or could it be that we are puses is probably limited to destroying them before they those that have appeared on can be found? Dr Paul Willis your dinner plate. And that is digs up the past and shows us definitely not the same as the that Sydney has a rich history real thing, because an of fossil discoveries. encounter with a live octopus Then enter the wonderful is amazing. They're such world of mammals. There's unusual creatures, and so Professor Uwe Proske's � unlike anything on dry land. I account of what goes on when 5 :i: remember one night, many an Echidna sticks its snout into � years ago, when I was out something-and it's certainly diving around Sydney and met an octopus for the first time. It more than you would imagine. Dr Graeme Newell's fieldwork was a good-sized adult Common Sydney Octopus and I was on Lumholtz Tree-kangaroo's, which has provided some much both absolutely fascinated by it and a little frightened at the needed information on these beautiful and rare animals. And same time. But I quickly came to realise that the fear was Drs Ross Goldingay and Sue Carthew's eye-opening insight unnecessary and from then on I never ceased to be captivated into the vital pollinating role our mammals play. All this plus an by the octopuses I encountered. And that's not surprising, underwater Photoart from the award-winning photographer because Australia's oceans are home to what appears to be the Becca Saunders goes together to make this a very entertain­ most diverse and rich octopus fauna in the world. So, in this ing issue. issue, Dr Mark Norman will introduce you to posioners, arm­ Oh, and whatever you do this Summer, don't miss the droppers, spindly giants, mimics, sand-swimmers and camou­ Australian Museum's new Spider exhibition-you won't be flage experts-just a few of Australia's extraordinary octopuses. able to take your eyes off it! Spectacular or unusual fossil finds can be big news, but they -Jennifer Saunders

yourself 1n You will need more than JUst one night to immerse Shanng Freyc,net 1s an expenence you'll Name ______most stunning coastal wilderness area. never forgetS�uated inside Freyc1net the beauty ofTasmania's Address ______of highly acclaimed natural NatjonaJ Park.Just a walk away from famous Moreume to share our range share the Lodge's quiet comforts Wineglass Ba�Freyc1net Lodge is a relaxing. actMtJes.More tjme to ______Ph _____ - of a fulfilling day.Your travelagent knows multi-award 'Mnning havenwrth1n an area at the end Send this coupon to: Freycmet Lodge F re y c i ne t L o d g e Ask about us today. BAY a II about Freyc,net Lodge. of spectacular natural scenery. FREYCIN[T NATIONAL l'ARK•COLLS PO Box 225 Kmgs Meadows 7249 TASMANIA. S Phone (03) 6257 0/01 Fax (03) 6257 0278 "r�'349 L AC TIVITIE A WORL D OF NATU RA

NATU RE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 Nature Articles SUMMER 1997-98 VOLUME 25 NUMBER 11

Published by The Australian Museum Trust 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2000. Phone: (02) 9320 6000 Fax: (02) 9320 6073 Internet: [email protected] Web: http://www.austmus.gov.au Trust President: Malcolm Long Museum Director: Desmond Griffin MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Saunders, B.Sc. SCIENTIFIC EDITOR SYDNEY'S FOSSIL Georgina Hickey, B.Sc. TREASURES Priceless fossils are being lost PHOTO & EDITORIAL RESEARCHER beforethey can be found. Paul Kate Lowe Willis explains why. DESIGN AND PRODUCTION BY PAUL WILLIS Watch This! Design 24 PRINTING Excel Printing ADVERTISI G AND MARKETING Phone: (02) 9320 6178 SUBSCRIPTIONS Rebecca Kinsela AUSTRALIAN OCTOPUSES Phone: (02) 9320 6119 Octopuses may have 'super lips' Toll-free (1800) 028 558 Fax: (02) 9320 6073 but would you really want to kiss one? Find out all about Annual subscription (4 issues) our diverse and amazing Within Australia $A33 Other countries $A45 octopuses without having to get Two-year subscription (8 issues) up close and personal. Within Australia $A63 Other countries $A83 BY MARK B. NORMAN Three-year subscription (12 issues) Within Australia $A89 Other countries $A116 40 'ew subsc1iptions can be made by credit card on the NATURE AUSTRALIA toll-free hotline (1800) 028 558 or THE FORGOTTEN use the form in this magazine. If it has been removed, POLLINATORS send cheque, money order or credit card authorisation Now when we talk about the to the address above, made payable to the 'Australian birds and the bees, we need to Museum' in Australian currency. include the non-flying All material appearing i1l NATURE AUSTRALIA is copyright. Reproduction in part or whole is not permitted LUMHOLTZ'S mammals as well. without written authorisationfrom the Editor. TREE-KANGAROO BY ROSS GOLDINGAY & NATURE AUSTRALIA welcomes articles on the natural Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos may SUE CARTHEW and cultural heritage of the Australian Region. Opinions be cute and furry, but we know expressed by the authors are their own and do not very little about them-that was necessarily represent the policies or views of the until Graeme Newell set off ECHIDNAS ON THE NOSE Australian Museum. NATURE AUSTRALIA is printed into the bush with some radio When an Echidna pokes its on archival quality paper suitable for library collections. collars and a good deal of Published 1997 ISSN-1324-2598 nose into something, the most patience and curisoity. amazing things happen. NATURE AUSTRALIA (as ANH) BY GRAEME NEWELL BY UWE PROSKE is proud winner of the 1987, '88, '89, ® '90, '91, '92 & '93 Whitley Awards for 30 58 Best Periodical, and the 1988 & '90 Australian Heritage Awards.

Front Cover Although the skin on an Echidna's snout is tough and relatively inelastic, it is still highly sensitive to both electrical and mechanical stimuli. Photo by Reg Morrison. 2 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-9B • d Shun Lopsided Flowers; Quick Regular Features Quiz.

NATUR ALIST 6 THE BACKYARD REVIEWS BREAKING THE Layers of Time; Bats SHER'S C�DE . . in FLA 1nisszle, the Question; The Incomplete Book Like a heat-seeking of Australian in on his land- Mammals; male zeros Wilsons Promontory when her pulsing Coastal tocked /over Wilderness; An Australian signals a match. bottom Landscape; Field Guide to the e to the glorious world Welcom Orchids of New South Wales offirefl ies. and Victoria. DYCK BY STEVE VAN 72 18 SOCIETY PAGE Interested RAR E & ENDA NGERED P H O T O A R T THE LAS T WORD in nature but not sure what to do or where to go? BLACK-CHINNED SEASHOTS DOES LYME DISEASE Nature Australia's SocietyPage H0NEYEATER A brilliant spectacle from the OCCUR IN AUSTRALIA? is a great place to start. Black-chinned Honeyeaters are sea by an award-winning Lyme Disease-the other side of 74 our ecological 'canaries in a underwater photographer. the coin. coal mine'. BYBECCA BYBERNIE HUDSON BY TAMRA CHAPMAN SAUNDERS/ AUSCAPE 80 20 64 Columns LETTERS Butterfly Trees; Research on Corridors; Who's to Blame?; Cats and Rats; Cock Sure; Moving Forward. 4 NATURE STRIPS Colour-blind Cuttlefish; Semi­ THE GUIDE carnivorous Plants; Dinosaurs Nature Australia's market Get the Hump; Giraffes Win by place. a Neck; Bringing Home the Baleen?; Sonic Symmetry; 76 Worms, Take your Leaves; In Support of Menopausal Q&A Women; Crab Cleansers; Scaly Fish Balls or Beach Balls?; Scrapers; 'Feets' of Strength; Random Feast; Eating On the Pee and Flee; The Aardvark Run; Tiny Hitch-hiker; Pie W I LD THI NGS and the Cucumber; The Ghost Teaser. THORNY THOUGHTS of Death Valley?; Bumblebees 78 What could Vicious Hairy Mary, the most savagely armed Plant in Australia have been trying to deter? BYTIM LOW 22

VIEWSFROM THE FOURTHDIMENSI ON KOALAS: APOSTLES OR FOSSILS God popped Koalas into being, along with everything else, in one creative week-at least that's what creationists would have us taught as science. But what about the fossil record? BY MICHAEL ARCHER

ATURE U 70 3 N ASTRALIASU MMER 1997-98 �cientific evide�c�. The key issues for obtammg reliable usefu I da�a �re replication LETTERS and sampling The forum for readers to _ 111 non-corridor hab1_tats. Data should their views about their be air obta!ned from several similar concerns, past articles and c?rndor and remnant forest sites, and compared interesting personal events. with data �om areas in the surround­ mg alt�red landscapes. Such a task 1s not impossible; we demonstrated (Conservation Biology 11: 1-10; 1997) that corridors in the woodlands of Butterfly Trees leaves are great for gripping, ic' data on corridors, implies northern Victoria are likely I was very interested to as these butterflies spend a that research in this field to be beneficial for some, but read Tim Low's article on good deal of time aggregated offers wildlife managers little not all mammals, and per­ overseas eucalypts in the together. When their wings more than anecdotal specula­ h�ps more interestingly, that Summer 1996-97 issue of are folded and the tan under­ tions and/ or personal preju­ different kinds of individuals Nature Australia. Here in surface exposed, the clusters dices. If conservation man­ of the same species utilise coastal California they've of Monarchs are effectively agement decisions are to be corridors in different ways. taken on an importantecolog­ camouflaged as dead euca­ based on credible data, then Conservation issues are ical role by providing over­ lypt leaves to the untrained this research is largely irrele­ too important to be resolved wintering habitat for migrato­ eye. These 'butterfly trees' vant and the biologists should with inadequate or anecdotal ry Monarch Butterflies. are a popular winter attrac­ do something else. information; mostly what is Monarch Butterflies (Dan­ tion along the coast, with We agree that it may not be required is creativity to aus ptexippus) belong to a tours available at many possible to examine the value design statistically robust tropical family and are not locales. of corridors experimentally, sampling programs. adapted to cold winters. -Susan J. Williams but it is certainly possible to -Sharon Downes Adults emerging in late sum­ Ventura, Ca. USA obtain credible data by con­ (University of Sydney), mer migrate in the fall, with ducting a fully replicated sam­ Kath Handasyde & Mark Elgar the western US populations pling program. Such data can (University of Melbourne) heading for California. In Research on be collected if the research addition to native Monterey Corridors biologist is willing to indulge Pines, eucalypts are favoured Richard Hobbs recently in a little creative thinking Who's to Blame? by butterflies. With their mul­ described the difficulties before rushing into the field. It was interesting to read tistoried canopies the Eucal­ involved in researching the Unfortunately, such thought the angry letters written in yptus trees provide a .shel­ value of corridors to flora and has been absent in many response to Tim Low's Last tered microclimate for the fauna (Nature Aust. Autumn studies, with the result that Word article "Cats: Scound­ Monarchs, in addition to a 1997). His comment that it is corridor management plans nectar rels or Scapegoats" (Nature source. The long impossible to obtain 'scientif- are rarely based on informed, Aust. Summer 1996-97). I find the borderline hysteria generated by the cat debate somewhat disturbing, as it seems that people are willing to lay the blame for loss of wildlife firmly with cats with­ out even considering other possibilities or taking any responsibility themselve . I work in bush regenera· tion and as part of my job I must sometimes remove large areas of lantana and other exotic weeds from degraded urban sites. M�ny of these weeds provide important habitat for small birds and their removal often caus�s the loss of some species from an area. It is one of the depressing aspects of my job that insecurity of fun�­ ing and lack of full communi­ ty support often mean that we u have to go into an area and e fell "'= remove all weeds in one swoop. Most of us would rather preserve habitat by 15 weeds c:, removing a section of c.:"' In California, Monarch Butterflies ""' overwinter in introduced 4 eucalypts. NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 a:tf Nature allowing regener�tion of prey. In his letter to bandicoots, they're pets). correct, an d the Australia, Peter Mirtschin tives before removmg We live on the edge of a Except when it looms up na weed infesta- includes rabbits with cats and reserve nex t patch of · and are conservation­ erect, . However, once su1·t a bi e f oxes w hen I1e mentions the ists. We are fully aware of the And what a wondrous t on t- success of native wildlife in i 1·v e· habitat has regenera problems caused by domestic turnaround nat · b acI < areas fTee o ft hese species. d many birds do come It and feral animals and do not To watch it drag along the e te_m- may therefore be possible 'the loss is often only r suggest that cats don't do ground. spe 1es that competition f om rabbits ��rary, providing the � enormous damage to our cted are not endange1 �d. is the driving force in reduc­ wildlife. But it's worth think­ A club-shaped knob affe 111 adorns Habitat of endangered species ing native wildlife non­ ing about-Claude alone has the tip is left well alone. . urban areas, and habitat loss killed 52 rats per year (I keep To obviate vaginal slip, However, I must pomt out the driving force in urban count) for the last seven-and­ But once he's most securely that bush regenerators . are areas, with predation from a-half years, which equals in, not the only ones responsible, cats having a lesser effect approximately 390 rats, and The mating motions may or even the 111ajo1: reason, _for than many would have us given that each rat produces begin. native birds d1sa�pea�111g believe. about 80 babies per year, that This joint pursuit is over from an area. Our native birds However, whether the rab­ means Claude has saved our long lose out every time some res- bit or cat or something else is reserve from 31,200 rats, not In keeping with that massive ident removes trees and the scapegoat, the loss of our counting the young they dong. bushes to put in a swimming native wildlife cannot be would have borne ad infini­ My source for this lame pool or garage. N�tive birds remedied by a single solution. tum. verse obscene? loose out every time some Ridding Australia of cats, I'd say Claude not only Nature Australia magazine! re sident chooses to grow both feral and domestic, is deserves his meals but a -Len Green roses and agapanthus rather unlikely to be the cure-all medal as well. The 'trade-off' Rose Bay, NSW than native plants, or chooses many cat haters presume it has been two pardalotes and to have a neat and ordered will be. Loss of habitat and two Little Wattlebirds, and garden with vast expanses of food resources, and competi­ several exotics such as Moving Forward lawn rather than a less tidy tion from introduced feral Spotted Turtle-doves, House Australia is amazingly garden with some dense herbivores and omnivores Sparrows etc. caught during lucky to retain areas like the undergrowth and a small are of equal, or even greater daylight hours. We've found Franklin River, Fraser Island 1 amount of lawn. importance than the effects of that he does more harm to and the Great Barrier Reef, Our native animals also domestic carnivores. We lizards and birds when cur­ which are more or less lose out every time some dog should be concenb·ating on fewed and belled. He would untouched. This freedom dealing with every one of sleep all night and hunt all from development can hope­ owner lets theirr dog off the le ash to run f ee in urban these factors, particularly loss day. During this period Rattus fully be maintained. It is a bushland. Although dogs may of habitat and food resources, rattus had a great time wiping pity, however, that govern­ not catch and kill as many rather than wasting our ener­ out our last remaining New ments do not put more effort native animals as cats, they gies becoming hysterical Holland Honeyeater's eggs, into the restoration of other are effective at disturbing al)i- about one species. and chewing through the preserves, spaces that are mals, often causing them to Indeed, if we must indulge wiring of my neighbour's less pristine. Surely it is now abandon nesting sites per- in any hysteria at all, it should expensive new fridge. time to carry out programs manently. It never ceases to be directed at what is perhaps I do hope the politician who similar to Warrawong 111 amaze me how many people the most destructive 'feral' wanted all cats eradicated South Australia, erecting will not believe that domestic animal Australia has ever from Australia by 2010, wor­ exclusion fences around dogs kill or disturb native ani- known and the reason all thy though his suggestion some conservation areas and mals at all. Many native ani- other feral animals and plants may seem, has figured out bringing back species (other­ mals also lose out in competi- are here-white Homo sapi­ how to eradicate Rattus rattus wise long gone) to small tion with introduced pests ens. first. pockets of the continent. That such as rats and mice and -Karen Bayly -Joy Hutton would be a real step forward. against native animals' that Epping, NSW Newport, NSW -Steven Carr North Adelaide, SA are more adept at adjusting to urban life. Common Brushtail Possums, rats and curra- Cats and Rats Cock Sure wongs are all able to eat bird Thankyou for the excellent, Yon tapir is an ugly hulk, NA TUR£ AUSTRALIA welcomes eggs or kill young birds and very funny, "Ratbags of Prehensile trunk, right I'm not saying that· cats the Rafters" article by Steve pig-like bulk. letters for publication and aren't (Nature Aust. has the firm suspicion a problem in some Van Dyck One r requests that they be limited to areas and I wholehearte eight-and-a­ It's made up f om reject, a dly Spring 1996). Our gree that both domestic cats half-year-old neutered moggy, cast-off bits. 250 words and typed if possible. and dogs should be more catches one Inamorata rarely meet, rig- Claude Depussy, Please supply a daytime tele­ orously controlled, with all rat per week on average Those dense rainforests are fera l predators eliminated (three this week) and I've off beat, phone number and type or print fher� po_ssible. Neverthe- long harboured a concern And thus it's left to fickle ess, it is mteresting to note that his victims may have fates your name and address clearly hat ther� _h�ve been reports native rats. Van Dyck's To find and woo putative �f been on the letter. The best letter in the cahc1v1rus causing feral article explained identifica­ mates. cat� to starve to death and simply each issue will receive a $20.00 � as their tion so cleverly Jor prey, rabbits, have per- that my fears have been This is an awe-inspiring art � private gift voucher from the Museum �� ed. Examination of the allayed. Claude's rodent catch Because of mister's omach Rattus part. a contents of these has been 95 per cent Shop catalogue. The winner this � ts showed lots A metre long, you would 1 that they had not rattus interspersed with cre�sed their consump and some big agree issue is Joy Hutton. � tion of Ho�se Mice to be. native faunato compensate with smaller Is longer than it ought ior plain brown rats strictly the loss of their favoured ears and shorter tails (not That length is not NATURE 5 AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 than white and about twice as dark as blue gravel, while yel­ low and blue gravel are almost indistinguishable. It seems that the animal is Nature responding to contrast in its background when it selects the pattern most likely to con­ ceal it. In these experiments Strips the cuttlefish were not responding to the colours of COMPILED BY the stones, only to their rela­ GEORGINA HICKEY tive brightness. -C.B. Semi­ Colour-blind stippled and mottled, or bold They measured the bright­ carnivorous Cuttlefish and disruptive. The skin pat­ ness of these gravels and Plants terns hide the cuttlefish by found that the red was very ow can you be a master making their body appear dark, the blue, green and yel­ ince 1875, when Charles H of disguise if your eye­ continuous with their back­ low were of intermediate but S Darwin first suggested sight is a bit dodgy? This is a ground and by obscuring almost identical brightness, that the plant Roridula gor­ question that could be asked their overall form. and the white, obviously, was gonias, a rare two-metre-tall about cuttlefish, which are Cuttlefish have eyes with very pale. shrub endemic to South able to blend almost magical­ only a single visual pigment On red and white gravel, Africa, was carnivorous, the ly with their surroundings that is most sensitive to the cuttlefish had a bold mot­ issue has been open to con­ but, like most cephalopods, blue-green light. What then tled pattern. On blue and red tention: while the plant has are colour-blind. are the cuttlefish responding gravel, it was lighter and sticky leaves that trap many Cuttlefish can conceal to when they change their more uniformly coloured. On insects, it possesses neither themselves by making inter­ patterns? Two UK biologists, yellow and blue gravel, it had digestive enzymes nor the esting patterns on their skin Justin Marshall (University of almost no visible pattern at glands commonly associated that they can change to Sussex) and John Messenger all. To see what the cuttlefish with nutrient uptake found in match their surroundings in (University of Sheffield), saw, the researchers viewed other carnivorous plants. seconds. These patterns, cre­ tried to find out by putting an the gravel through a ated by tens of thousands of Atlantic species, Sepia offici­ blue-green filter. This con­ Despite their often brilliant tiny organs called chrom­ nalis, into tanks with combi­ firmed that, to a cuttlefish, colour patterns, cuttlefish (Sepia) atophores, may be uniform, nations of coloured gravels. red gravel is much darker have limited colour vision.

I

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NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 The new-look Ouranosaurus: out with the sail and in with the hump.

Also unusual about this plant from the plant. Sure enough, saurus, or maybe the huge Bailey argues, however, is its association with the bug the nutrients from the flies carnivorous Spinosaurus. that close inspection of the Pameridea roridulae, which were no longer detected in Whatever the species, the structure of the vertebral h_as long been thought to the plant. sail shouldn't be nearly as spines tells a different story. pmch the prey items trapped So it seems that the bug, slender as it is invariably Rather than being gracile and by the plant's leaves. rather than being a kleptopar­ depicted, according to Jack tapering to a point as in �Ian Ellis and Jeremy asite, is actually doing the Bowman Bailey, Professor of Dimetrodon, those of Ourano­ Midgley from the University plant a service by digesting Geology at Western Illinois saurus and Spinosaurus of Cape Town have recently its food for it. This is the first University. In fact, Bailey expand at the end to form she� light on the mystery of report of this kind of mutual­ believes that it shouldn't be wide blades and so would Roridula. By providing the ism between a carnivorous depicted as a sail at all. more likely have formed a plant with vinegar flies that plant and an invertebrate, For decades now, palaeon­ framework to support thick ha� been fed yeast laced with although the researchers sus­ tologists have been telling us masses of tissue, like the a rntrogen isotope, they were pect it may well be going on that the spines sticking up humps of modern-day bison, able to prove that nutrients in other carnivorous species from the backbones of the rather than sails. One possi­ from the flies were being as well. likes of Ouranosaurus and ble function of these humps absoi:bed by the plant. But -R.S. Spinosaurus were used as a may have been as energy �ow, if the plant had no diges­ framework to support a large stores for long migrations tive enzymes? Dinosaurs Get thin sheath of skin used in between breeding and feed­ The researchers noted that the Hump thermoregulation-just as ing grounds. t_h e bugs attacked and, they were for Dimetrodon, a Bailey believes that, not l quite �erally, sucked the sap out of true sail-backed reptile. only do we have to alter our � e freshly trapped flies. ake a look at one of those Popular thinking has been perception about what these �rther, within only a few T ubiquitous dinosaur wall that, when a dinosaur with dinosaurs carried on their lim�tes, the bugs excreted a charts that hang in primary such a structure wished to back, but what the rest of the Uid onto the warm up, it positioned the animal would have looked �e underside of school classrooms and there's � plant's leaves. Suspecting bound to be at least one large sail at right angles to the sun like. The creatures carrying hat the the amount of these humps would have b leaves may have reptilian creature represent­ to maximise !{n absorbing this liquid ed with a crest or sail set ele­ heat absorbed. To cool down, been much stockier than we E 1� and Midgley repeated gantly along the length of its the sail was moved so that are used to imagining-cer­ t.h eir experiments the fiat­ it received as little sun as tainly not the anorexic light­ t but this back. It might be 1me wit · h the bugs' removed headed herbivorous Ourano- possible. weights depicted in primary NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 7 'Necking' between male Giraffes is a serious affair.

had been to reach higher, it might be expected that both legs and neck would grow longer. The new explanation for the long neck is based on the method of fighting between bull Giraffes, called 'necking'. Males exchange blows by swinging their head and neck at each other. The top of the skull is used to strike the neck, chest, ribs or legs of the opponent with a force capable of knocking him off balance, breaking limbs and in some cases causing death. Bulls with the biggest heads and longest necks are tlie domi­ nant animals. They court more females and are more frequently chosen as mating partners. Long necks can therefore be advantageous, and passed on to future sons (and daughters). Having a long neck does not come cheaply, however. Not only does it require a high blood ptessure (the highest known in mammals) to ensure that blood reaches brain, but trying to run the_ _ _ while supporting a massive head and long neck is diffi­ cult. Indeed, twice as many male Giraffes are killed by Lions as females. But why do female Giraffes also have long necks (albeit not as long as males') if they don't fight? Of the two se�es, females spend more time feeding with their necks at or below shoulder height, so there's no advantage �er�. One suggested explanation is that it is simply a neutral by­ product of the selecti?n of genetic factors favounng a long neck in males. Lon¥ necks, unlike elaborate tail , ( feathers in birds, for example are an integral part of the skeleton and factors that school wall charts-and ditional answer is that it that, in the dry season when select for long nec�s are I would have had a quad­ enables them to outreach food is scarce, Giraffes feed inevitably expressed m both rupedal gait, consistent with competing browsers during mainly from low bushes, sexes. I the probable forward shift in feeding. However recent which are also within reach of -Uwe Proske the centre of gravity due to observations by Robert other browsers. They do not Monash University l the mass of the hump. Simmons and Lue Scheepers take advantage of their long -K.McG. (Ministry of Environment necks as competition for food and Tourism in Windhoek, would predict. Also, compar­ Home I Namibia) have challenged isons with fossil giraffes and Bringing Giraffes Win this theory. Instead, they the only other living member the Baleen? believe by a Neck the driving force of the family, the Okapi not behind the hat you see might Giraffe's long ( Okapia johnstoni), showed you neck is sex. that the modern Giraffe's always be what of whale hy do Giraffes The researchers first exam­ neck really is disproportion­ getW as a recent study _ W 1� (Gira/fa cameloparda­ ined the evidence for the con­ me�t products bought ately long and leg length has reta1 lis) have long necks? The tra- ventional view. It turns out not kept pace. If the object Japanese and Korean 8 1997-98 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER nts coastal form a ·l{ets· and restaura of Bryde's 111 1 (U mver- Whale (Balaenoptera borealis) , nd c · Scott Baker . 1ou · New ea- from tropical waters sity of Auckland, _ � of the v1s1ted Indo-Paci:fic. Little is known l d) and colleagues ��se establishments and about this animal. How it t ended bought products labell�d var­ up on a plate in a d restaurant iously as bacon, mannate is still a mystery and a concern. steak strips, smoked bacon, lean meat and salted blubber The researchers politely (remember, these are Eng­ noted the difficulty of recon­ lish translations). They then ciling current catch records, se quenced mitochondrial DNA reported to the International from the bought 'test' sa!11- Whaling Commission, with ples and compared these with what is available for sale in 'type' sequences obtained the markets! earlier from known whale and -Leo Joseph dolphin species. A number of Universidad de la Republica cetacean species were identi­ Uruguay fied 1 including a beaked whale, two dolphins (sold as whale meat), and several Sonic species of baleen whales. Symmetry This is disturbing, consider­ ing that there has been a n the world of crickets, moratorium on the commer­ I researchers are finding Crickets in love prefer symmetry in sound. cial hunting of all baleen that females are very choosy whales since at least 1987 and about their mate's calling they tell if he's their kind of drawn to lower-pitched songs. only one species, the Minke card. guy? This reflects larger sound­ Whale (Balaenoptera acu­ Many things determine Leigh Simmons (University producing structures on the torostrata), is hunted by the how female crickets select a of Western Australia) and cricket's forewings, and thus Japanese under an exemption mate-and the lucky males Mike Ritchie (University of St a larger cricket. Crickets forscienti fic research. are usually larger, older and, Andrews, UK) played com­ make their songs by scraping One baleen whale species mysteriously, have fewer gut puter-generated male songs a plectrum on the left that was for sale in a South parasites. Yet the only thing a to female field crickets (Gryl­ forewing over a file-like Korean restaurant has since female has to go on is a poten­ lus campestris) and found that object on the right forewing. been identified as the small, tial mate's song. So how do the crickets were mostly This causes a small triangular

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QLD: Ashgrove Accurate Instrument Service the parasite and its Chimp 07-3366 4495 'harp' on each forewing to Michael Huffman (Kyoto · Brisbane Ted's Industrial resonate-the larger the University) and his Tanzan­ host. In some species of para­ 07-3221 9911 sitic worms, including those · Broadbeach Camera Town harps, the lower the frequency. ian colleague Mohamedi 075-538 1191 But Simmons and Ritchie Kalunde regularly track a expelled by leaves in this Cairns Sunbird Photographies 070-510 222 also found females respond group of Chimpanzees (Pan study, the presence of adults lndooroopilly Bentleys Camera House well to sonic symmetry. troglodytes) through Mahale in the gut inhibits the matura­ 07-3378 7133 Mackay Garricks Camera House Cricket chirps are made up of Mountains National Park, tion of the larvae, which bur­ 079-572 164 pulses. 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The researchers in 1994, that dung samples vae to migrate from the gut 08-231 5632 · Adelaide James Place Cameras found that, for low-frequency containing whole leaves also wall, and so relieving the 08-231 4811 songs, females preferred Adelaide Photographic Wholesalers contained the largest loads of pain. 08-223 6777 those with the smallest drop the nematode worm Oeso­ -A.T. Adelaide Ted's Camera Store in 'pitch' between phases, in Phagostomum stephanosto­ 08-223 3449 other words those produced mum. NT: When Jonathan Page In Support of Darwin Bell Photographies by crickets with more sym­ (University of British Col­ 089-815 769 metrical harps. Such symmet­ Menopausal WA: umbia) analysed the leaves, • Fremantle Photo & Video Centre ry is thought to reflect an however, he found no nema­ Women 09-430 5072 individual that is fitter and Perth Camera Electronic Services tocidal chemical compounds. 09-328 4405 more able to survive environ­ Indeed, worms found in the enopause is the Perth Plaza Camera Centre mental stress. So it seems dung were active and very exhaustion and ageing 09-325 3154 that a top priority for female much alive. The only thing M TAS: of a woman's egg supply, Burnie Rettke Photographies crickets is to keep an ear out these leaves did have in com­ which is fixed at birth and not 004-314 126 for well-balanced males. mon was their rough texture. Hobart Walch Optics added to thereafter. But why 002-234 962 -A.T. Examination of the leaf sur­ do women live beyond · Launceston Stallard's Camera House faces under an electron menopause? What is the 003-319 604 microscope showed them to point of old, non-reproductive · Duty Free Worms, Take be equipped with tiny hooks women? Any way you put it, it your Leaves called trichomes. The leaves sounds like some horribly For more information send may therefore act as a kind of ageist challenge from a brave this coupon or photocopy to: natural Velcro, scraping the new world. ADEAL PTY LTD Chimp chomping leaves 3025 worms off the intestinal wall But think about the issue 2 Baldwin Rd Allena North Vic ) 9369 52 � is not unusual, but sci­ ph: (03) 9369 7811 lax: _(03 �l r A and trapping them in the from the perspective of an send me information on. Binoc Please entists are puzzled about why folds of the leaves as they evolutionary biologist. Jared these primates sometimes pass through the gut. Name: ...... , Diamond from the University Address: .. . swallow and excrete leaves Huffman et al. think there of California, Los Angeles, whole, with no obvious nutri­ may also be a more subtle argues that natural selection ...... P/C.... B01 tional benefit. interaction going on between essentially favours genes for N 10 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER i997-9S """' NEW VISION

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The freedom to see. How does this Giant Crab (Pseudocarcinus gigas) keep its shell so clean? those characters that most other animals, it seems, more children herself. The the need for speed, a smooth increase the number of one's females are reproductive same argument would apply shell is de rigueur, as any descendants bearing those until they die as, of course, to certain whale species. additions create drag as the genes. are human males. Traditionally, post-meno­ crabs move through the When you think about it Diamond argues that the pausal women have had a sig­ water. like that, the questions above "0lutionary advantage of nificant role in many preliter­ Without the option of twin­ sound quite legitimate. Dia­ 111, opause, and therefore ate cultures as critical fonts of blade pivoting head razors or mond is not implying that the the reL1SOn why it has been knowledge and keepers of depilatory cream, how do sole purpose of women is to favoured as a trait by natural wisdom crucial to the sur­ crabs keep their shells clean? vival of whole family groups. Do they use mechani_cal Perhaps the notion we often methods such as moulting have of our mothers and and grooming? Do they pro­ In most other animals, it seems, females grannies as wise old women duce chemicals that repel the comes as much from our bio­ fouling organisms, or use are reproductive until they die as, of logical heritage as it does behavioural methods such as from our hearts. burying? Or do they use graz­ course, are human males. -K.McG. ing gastropods as a sort of biological razor? German biologists Klaus stay at home and have kids. selection, may be related to Crab Cleansers Becker (Biolab Research But if you use, as he puts it, the valuable knowledge Institute) and Martin Wahl "narrow evolutionary reason­ women accrue as they age. ersonal hygiene is a con­ (University of Kiel) set out to ing", menopause stands out As a woman gets older, she P stant problem for many answer these questions by as a bizarre biological trait. may be able to do more to marine crabs. Unwanted investigating seven crab The only other animals in increase the survival of peo­ pests, ranging from bacteria species that inhabit the Gulf which menopause is known ple already carrying her to barnacles to algae, queue of Thailand. They extracte� to occur naturally are the genes, by devoting herself to up to hitch a ride on their chemicals from the crabs Short-finned Pilot Whale her existing children, grand­ shells. Some crabs just let shells and tested them on a ( Globicephala macrorhynchus) children and even great themselves go, using the variety of colonisers without and possibly also the Killer grandchildren, than by risk­ resultant growth for camou­ effect. They immobilised the Whale (Orea orcinus). In ing the rigours of bearing flage. But, for those that feel crabs in mesh to stop them 12 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 scrapers? How do sueke rs or Sea Snakes harvest 'Feets' of Turi I e-headed Strength their food? eamwork is a must in themselves T rom grooming . modern workplaces. In a f them m c�ges. to and plac�d _ model of corporate behav­ from g1 azmg on 5t 0 p snails iour, teams of African Weaver sfll 1 their shells.· Ants (Oecophylla longinoda) them; 1 t1 g. mained clean. Mou � can join forces to immobilise re free-hv- was also ruled out, as and kill prey much larger . had not uig ci·abs that· than themselves. Individual hed their s I1e II s ants sloug r latch onto the legs of remained f ee of unwanted their normally insect prey growth. and they all pull in different It was only when the directions, killing the prey in researchers placed the crabs an insect version of the � r?m in cages to prevent_them f 11:edieval rack. They then 3 going about their_ routine either cut the prey up or � that_ their shell_s carry it activities whole back to the :i/;; started sprouting. In fact 1t nest. Such team efforts were � seems that the myriad day-to­ recently recorded by Janusz 8 day behaviour� of crabs are Wojtusiak of the Zoological what keeps their shells clean. ern Territory University) of lodged and started drifting Museum of Cracow (Poland) They bury themselves in the wild sea snakes on Ashmore away, the snake snapped at and colleagues Ewa Godzinska sand hide under stones and Reef have revealed quite a dif­ them with an open mouth. No (Nencki Institute of Experi­ in 1:ock crevices, remain ferent feeding method. A suction was involved. mental Biology, Poland) and active only at night and male Turtle-headed Sea Not only is this mode of Alain Dejean (University of expose themselves to the air Snake was seen scraping the feeding unique among Paris Nord, France). ' at low tide. eggs of a Neon Damsel Fish snakes, but it is the first African Weaver Ants, like By burying themselves, (Pomacentrus coelestis) from a record of these snakes eating their relatives the Australian crabs restrict the colonising coral head, using the damsel fish eggs. They were Green Tree Ants (Oecophylla organisms' access and might enlarged supralabial scale previously only known to eat smaragdina), live in large ev en scrape some of them off. like a trowel. The damsel fish the eggs of blennies and colonies and make huge arbo­ Nocturnal activity and hang­ repeatedly attacked the head gobies. real nests by weaving leaves ing out under stones and in of the sea snake, but to no together, hence their name. crevices reduces the growth avail. Once the eggs were dis- -K.B. Although Australian Green of algae and, by spending time out of the water, crabs can dry out their unwanted guests. Although not all species indulge in all of these activities, the combinations The World's Best they employ are apparently sufficient to keep them smooth and streamlined. -G.T. Bushwalking! Scaly Scrapers • Spectacular scenery with- Willis's Walkabouts - huge climbs. 12 years guiding bushwalks o make a living out as a sea art. in the Top End of Australia. Tsnake you must use your e 20 000 years of rock head. At least that's how it is • Clear, tropical pools, per- We offer short walks of 4-5 for the non-venomous Turtle­ feet for swimming, pure days, long walks of 3-6 headed Sea Snake (Emydo­ easy walks, hard cepha enough to drink. weeks; lus annulatus) of tropi­ in cal e Predictable weather and walks and everything Australia. This species is between; kno".Vn for light packs. the peculiar modi­ North Australia - nowhere walks fications to its head scales In vIOU 'II need • else (an give you t h e I ot. we ve addition to males sporting a a tent or a blu nt 'rostral spine' at the tip sleeping bag, not both. done dozens of times, ?f t heir snout, thought to be e Abundant firewood means exploratory walks charting mv�lved in tactile stimulation small campfires are better the unknown. �unng courtship, the species than stoves. Ask for our _as only three (rather than 8tX without or more) scales along the e Walk for weeks brochure. Upper lip • • seeing a soul. (supralabials) with It th \5 1f second one, situated' n flf17 e One of the world's least be! the _eye, . e w;. very elongate. e�penen disturbed ecosystems. Ile It was previously tho ught that Ced·1 I S Turtle-headed ' ror yourself? Snakes _fed by sucking up fi:he �gs, b direct observations Y Michael Guinea (North­ NATURE 13 AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 - The secret to this African Weaver most daylight hours under Ant's display of strength lies in ground, venturing out at its feet. night to forage mainly for ants and termites. Their teeth sity) examined this 'pee and too are quite peculiar. They flee' behaviour in the North have no enamel and grow American Squirrel Tree Frog continuously from open (Hyla squirella). Th�y foun? roots. that when a frog unnates 1t It has now been confirmed lightens its load, and there­ that, to the list of unusual fore can jump farther. In Aardvark features and behav­ laboratory tests, frogs that iours, we can add an extraor­ 'leak before they leap' jumped dinary symbiotic relationship 26.4 per cent farther-that is, with a cucumber. at least two extra body Cucumis humifructus is the lengths more-than frogs only one of the cucumber that held their bladders. family's 735 or so species Such an increase in dis­ that, like the peanut, adopts tance may be the difference the rare reproductive strate­ between life and death when gy of fruiting deep in soil, a evading predators such as fact that has only been estab­ snakes. It may be a leap of lished during the past few faith, but if it works then it is years. well worth expelling the valu­ The fruit, protected from able store of water. rotting by a tough, water­ Emptying the bladder may resistant rind, develops also enhance the chances of between 15 and 30 centimet­ escape if the urine contains res under ground, meaning chemicals that repel or con­ that it has to be brought to fuse the predator. This the surface somehow for its hypothesis is yet to be tested seeds to get the glimpse of for the Squirrel Tree Frog. sunlight they need to germi­ -K.B. nate. Enter the Aardvark. Jeremy Hollmann and Susan Myburgh (University The Aardvark of Pretoria) have recently ver­ and the ified suspicions that the ani­ Cucumber mal supplements its normally insectivorous diet with the rom the little we know so cucumber fruit, which it digs far, Aardvarks ( Orycteropus up and eats, passing the Tree Ants are known to act in ants, enable the ants to suc­ afer)F are bizarre creatures. seeds out in its dung. In large groups when carrying cessfully hold on to strug­ These secretive sub-Saharan doing so it creates wh�t prey, African Weaver Ants gling prey and to drag it back African mammals grow to the appears to be the only way m were thought, until now, to up to their nest. So well devel­ size of a large pig. With their which the cucumber seeds act alone or in only small oped are these arolia on tubular fold-over ears, open­ can germinate. groups. African Weaver Ants that a and-sh u t nostrils, strong No other animal is known Carrying prey in groups is single ant was observed sus­ limbs and clawed feet, they to dig up or consume the not unique. 'Army ants' are pending a seven-gram dead are superbly adapted to a bur­ cucumber. And it is not noted for it. However, Wojtu­ bird over the edge of a shelf! rowing lifestyle. They spend known how the Aardvark siak et al. 's observations -C.B. were unusual in the large number of ants involved (between about 70 and 100- Pee and Flee never before recorded in African Weaver Ants) and in the ruggedness of the terrain rogs have to work hard over which the prey was car­ F to conserve water in the ried. Previous sightings have desiccating terrestrial envir­ usually been of prey being onment. By absorbing water carted over level ground. But through the skin and storing the researchers saw the ants it as urine in the bladder, carrying a dead bird up a ver­ these amphibians can survive tical tree trunk, even man­ in dry, arid conditions. Yet, oeuvring it over a branch that when threatened by a preda­ blocked the way. tor many frogs discard this When the researchers look­ precious commodity of water ed at the ants' feet under an by emptying their bladders electron microscope, the before leaping to safety Oiter­ secret of their strength was ally 'pissing off'!). revealed. Special adhesive Bryant Buchanan (University structures called 'arolia', pre­ of Missouri) and Ryan Taylor When load before sent on the feet of worker threatened, the Squirrel Tree Frog lightens its (Florida International Univer- leaping to safety.

14 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 >

supplements its The Aa rdva rk . . insectivorous diet with norrna lly .. d-fruiting an undergroun cucumber.

locates the underground fruit or why it feels compelled to eat it. I It see ms, however, that t h e \ is intimately , fate of the plant linked with the large mam­ mal. Should the Aardvark, regarded as a threate_ne_d species, disappear, then 1t 1s likely that so too would the cucumber. -K.McG.

The Ghost of l Death Valley? ysterious tracks hun­ dreds of metres long chusetts, and colleagues winter rains, the area is cov­ ers, scarM Racetrack Playa, a dried the reason the move­ mapped a large number of ered by a shallow lake and, in ments haven't been observed lake bed in Death Valley, widely spaced tracks, they certain meteorological condi­ is because California. They are pro­ the very specific found that many maintain a tions, a sheet of ice forms on conditions required for rock duced by moving rocks constant degree of separation top. The researchers believe sliding occur weighing up to 320 kilo­ so rarely. These at the start, no matter how that even light winds may are sufficient rain for a lake, grams, but the ghostly phen­ large the individual rocks are cause the ice sheet to glide followed by cold, relatively omenon has never been and how much the tracks over the muddy lake bed, tak­ calm weather to allow the for­ observed. curve-an unlikely scenario ing the embedded boulders mation of a thick enough Geologists have speculated if only wind was responsible. with it, and only when the ice layer of ice to move the that wind moves the rocks, Instead they believe that sheet breaks up do the tracks embedded boulders. but when John Reid Jr from ice carries the boulders begin to diverge. Still, the controversy over Hampshire College, Massa- across the playa. Following According to the research- the moving rocks continues.

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Bumblebees Shun Lopsided Flowers he natural world is full of symmetry and, in many Tcases, evolution actually favours the retention of bal­ anced features in species. Over and over again it has been shown to be a design concept that somehow con­ veys fitness during mate selection. Female Barn Swallows, for example, prefer mates with evenly balanced tails. Even we humans are said to (sublimi­ nally) steer away from mates with lopsided features. But for many years there has been no similar proof of the signifi­ cance of symmetry in the Plant Kingdom. Now, howev-

QUICK QUIZ 1. Lichens are made up of two sorts of organisms. What are they? 2. Name the faunal (animal) emblem for New South Wales. 3. In which country was Sinosauropteryxprima, the first 'feathered' dinosaur, discovered? 4. What is the name given to the 5,300-year-old hunter ') that was found, in 1991, thawing out of the Alps that border Austria and Italy? 5. Adult male Budgerigars have blue 'noses' or ceres. What is the colour of the cere of adult females? 6. With what type of organism do clownfishes live in close association? 7. Name the Strait that lies between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. 8. What are the larvae of cossid moths more commonly known as? On return visits to the playa, the wind speeds necessary to elevation of ten metres (the geologists have noticed how, move a 320-kilogram rock usual way to express wind 9. rn which State of Australia among rocks that had not over a wetted section of the speeds), it appears unreason­ would you find the moved, there would be one or playa indicated that steady able to expect that wind alone archaeological site known as two that had shifted. As Reid winds up to 450 kilometres can move these rocks. Jinmium rock-shelter? explains, it is hard to imagine per hour were required. If Meanwhile the ghost contin­ 10. How many forward-pointing how ice could be that selec­ you consider this would be ues to haunt the playa. tive. On the other hand, equivalent to a wind speed of toes do parrots have? experiments that measured 930 kilometres per hour at an -R.S.

16 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 from rical flowers that had been er, Anders M�ller_ Becker, K. & Wahl, M., 1996. Behaviour 408--409. enhagen U mvers1 ty ha favoured by bees, M01ler patterns as natural antifouling mechanisms M0ller, A.P.,1995. Bumblebee preference Cop _ � found that their new lopsided of tropical J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Proc. Natl Acad. orted on a preference fo1 £col. marine crabs. for symmetrical flowers. rep form failed to attract the 203: 245-258. Sci. USA 92: 2288-2292. symmetrical flowers among blebees (Bombus ter- insects. bum The reason bumblebees Buchanan, B.W. & Taylor, R.C., 1996. Reid, J.B., Bucklin, E.P., Copenagle, L., restris). Lightening the load: micturition enhances Kidder, J., Pack, S.M., Polissar, P.J. & 1 M0ller carrie� out � sen�s prefer flowers with symmetri­ ) cally patterned petals may jumping performance of squirrel treefrogs. Williams, M.L., 1995. Sliding rocks at of experiments mvolvmg _vis­ J. Herpetol. Racetrack, Death Valley: what makes them to Epilo�­ relate to the fact that, as 30: 410--413. Geology \ its by bumblebees move? 23: 819-822. angustifolium, a pere1�111- M0ller found, they produce Diamond, I ium Discover J., 1996. Why women change. al herb that produces a sim­ more nectar than their unbal­ July 1996: 130-137. Simmons, R.E. & Scheepers, L., 1996. Winning by a neck: sexual selection in the ple flower with two pairs of anced counterparts. Thus Amer. Nat. He found firstly that symmetry, in animals as well Ellis, A.G. & Midgley, J.J., 1996. A new evolution of giraffe. 148: petals. 771-786. the bigger the flowers were, as plants, appears to be a reli­ plant-animal mutualism involving a plant they were able indicator of an individ­ with sticky leaves and a resident hemipter­ the more popular Oecologia Simmons, L.W. & Ritchie, M.G., 1996. with the bees, presumably ual's quality. an insect. 106: 478--481. Symmetryin the songs of crickets. Proc. R. because they tended to con­ -K.McG. Soc. Land. 8263: 1305'-1311. I tain more nectar. Far more Guinea, M.L., 1996. Functions of the however, was cephalic scales of the sea snake Wojtusiak, J., Godzinska, E.J. & Dejean, A., interesting, Further Reading Emydocephalus annulatus. J. Herpetol. 30: M0ller's discovery that the 1995. Capture and retrieval of very large ' flowers in Bailey, J.B., 1997. Neural spine elonga­ 126-128. prey by workers of the African weaver ant, bees preferred tion in dinosaurs: sailbacks or buffalo­ Oecophylla longinoda I 1 of each pair Pa/eontol. BBC (Latreille 1802). which the petals backs? J. (in press) Hollmann, J., 1996. A fruitful affair. Trap.Zoo/. 8: 309-318. l were evenly matched in Wild/. Nov. 1996: 28-30. It shape and size. Baker, C.S., Cipriano, F. & Palumbi, S.R., M0ller observed this pref­ 1996. Molecular genetic identification of Huffman, M.A., Page,J.E., Sukhdeo, M.V.K., erence for symmetrical over whale and dolphin products from com­ Gotoh, S., Kalunde, M.S., Chandrasiri, T. & lopsided flowers repeatedly. mercialMalec. £col.markets in Korea and Japan. Towers, G.H.N., 1996. Leaf-swallowing by Andwhen he used scissors to 5: 671-685. chimpanzees: a behavioral adaptation for modify the petalsof symmet- the control of strongyle nematode infec­ Baker, C.S. & Palumbi, S.R., 1994. Which tions. lntemat/1. Primatol.17: 475-503. whales are hunted? A molecular genetic Science Bumblebees prefer symmetrical approach to monitoring whales. Marshall, N.J. & Messenger, J.B., 1996. flowers. 265: 1538-1539. Colour-blind camouflage. Nature 382:

NAT URE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 17 soft-bodied and frail, scarcely a centimetre long, and with the males more inclined THE BACKYARD NATURALIST toward flight than females. The females are a mixed bag, some being almost identical in appearance to their mates It is incredible how much more appealing we find while others have degenerate wings o; those insects that have a flashbulb in their bottoms. look like small, soft grubs. Females however, generally suffer from chroni� airsickness at mating time and keep their six legs firmly on the ground or around the top of a grass stalk from BREAKING where they can survey the night sky and 1 pray for love from above. When conditions are right they don't THE FLASHER S have to wait long. With the air warm, the humidity high and the sky dark, for CODE those patient females the glorious encl is soon in sight. With perfect self-control the flashing Jack-o'-lanterns cruise over­ BY STEVEVAN DYCK head, their fiery rumps set to a narrow band of visible wavelengths (500-650 nanometres) and a strict beat between their rumps in Wite-out. If Dad closed prestissimo, moderato and largo depend­ his eyes and sniffed the metho, the ing on the species, their enormous hemi­ fumes, like an opiate, would waft him spherical eyes on the lookout for land­ back to New Guinea, to muggy black locked lovers with their derrieres aloft, nights where he'd be alone on guard blazing with passion and expectation, duty. He'd tell us how he'd sometimes and pulsing in an appropriate (but not nod off at the post, only to be woken necessarily the same as the male's) fre­ with lights flashing around the camp, his quency. hair standing on end, and his finger Then, when the throb of flashes from N HIS SOCK DRAWER, MY FATHER straining at the trigger. below signals a match, the male bails out used to keep a small box of seductive Those tense moments of flashing, cold and homes in on the female like a heat­ wartime trinkets that included two sweat, adrenalin and indecision proved sensing missile. The rest is splendour in smelly brass medals (one for lying his to be the stuff returned soldiers could the grass ... that is unless he has zeroed in under-aged way into the fracas, the other weave into nightmares. It wasn't always on the cheating lips of a particularly for getting out alive), some parachute simple to pick the foe from the firefly, nasty type of cannibalistic female firefly cords souvenired from the back of a pilot although a quick look at his two pickled (genus Photuris) that has specialised in his unit shot down, a tusk from a run­ flashers could easily leave you wonder­ impersonating the irresistible love-pulse away boar that almost escaped the spit ing what all the fuss was about. of the female of a different species, lur­ on Christmas Day, and a small vanilla The truth is, for all their spectacular ing not lovers but lunch (this clever trick bottle with two beetles and some metho pyrotechnics, fireflies in the flesh are is known as 'aggressive mimicry'). in it. about as unimpressive as hand-made Usually firefly species, while often look­ The two insects looked like hard­ fireworks before they explode. Most ing very similar from the outside, are winged flying termites that had dipped Australian and New Guinean fireflies are discouraged from interbreeding by innate courtship rituals that see males of different species flying at different heights, in different flight designs, and with light bursts differing in intensity and frequency. Fortunately for little Australian flash­ ers these odd-bods occur only in America, but the grub-like, carnivorous progeny of our fireflies are almost as gruesome in their love of fresh flesh and their bizarre modus operandi. These little light-producing larvae, with sharply pointed fangs and eyes only for escargots, crawl onto a passing snail and, while biting it, inject a secretion that paralyses the snail and digests the bitten part. The larvae then suck up the oupy liquid and eventually, when enough has been consumed, change into fully fledged fireflies. Sometimes here in south-eastern Queensland we wake up on steamy nights to the kitchen pulsating with light as a dozen male .fireflies succeed in drawing together their collective pulses

Despite such an unassuming appearance, fireflies are the subject of much human fascination. NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 ·�

few fireflies began pulsing out their pale A firefly turned over to expose its flashing AUSTRALIAN �ellow-�reen light. Suddenly, in a wave equipment. FIREFLIES like falling dominoes, the crown of the tree explode_d in a burst of silver span­ Indies ''.wh_o_are in t�e habit of fastening Classification gles that fell m a surge from the tip of the these big hvmg fireflies to their hair and Order Coleoptera (beetles), family tree down to its roots. frocks in the evening with fine chains get Lampyridae (fireflies), 1,700 spp. There was no repeat performance and the most brilliant light from them, worldwide, 25 Australian spp. in 3 the lights were on and off within four because as the beetles are struggling to genera, Lucio/a (most common seconds. Such astonishing displays of esca�e all the time their temperatures genus), Pteroptyx and Pyrophanes. synchronised male flashing from high are high from the excitement". vantage points may increase the chances !he close�t I ever came to imitating Identification of mate-finding in those tropical species th!s cosmetic subtlety was in quietly where adults might live for only a few tymg a blowfly to the end of a long hair Soft-bodied, cigar-shaped, 4-12 mm attached to the girl sitting in front of me long, very large eyes in males, short days. Production of a firefly's light (biolumin­ in Grade 6. It may have done little to antennae. In subfamily Lampyrinae escence) takes place in specialised fat enhance her desirability but there was a the head is hidden by the shoulders bodies that lie over masses of reflective perceptible rise in temperature that (prothorax) and the females are urate crystals in the last few transparent spread well beyond the flailing lasso as grub-like; in the Luciolinae, to which segments of the insect's abdomen. This the bloated bomber thrashed around her all Australian species belong, the is reminiscent of the process of light scarlet face in tight convex arcs. head is often visible and many amplification that goes on in the mirror It is incredible how much more females resemble males and have maze at the top of old-fashioned light­ appealing we find those insects that have wing covers. Bioluminescence in houses. In the insect's rump a luminous a flashbulb in their bottoms. Fireflies adults and more faintly in larvae, substance called luciferin (after Lucifer, become coveted beetles of adornment, pupae and sometimes in eggs. the 'bearer of light' ... in cooler days) com­ blowies are just party jokes. But perhaps (Australian 'glow-worms' are not bines with oxygen in the presence of the joke is on us .. .I have a sneaky feeling firefly larvae, but larvae of certain water and an enzyme, luciferase, to pro­ that fireflies only flash when humans are fungus gnats.) duce a pulse of cold light. It has been watching. And then they do it just to see Distribution estimated that in American fire beetles our eyeballs go reel like they do in most (Pyrophorus of my Instamatic colour prints taken Northern spp.) the heat generated in Territory, northern Australia such a reaction is less than 1/80,000th with the flash. I'm confident that one and along the eastern coast of night soon, if I strain my ears while Australia, that produced by a candle of equivalent mostly in northern rain­ brightness. The brilliance of the light watching them flashing away, I'm going forestand mangroves to as far south to catch them giggling between the as Kiama depends on how much oxygen is avail­ in New South Wales. able to the reaction. Stationary beetles signalling.• Food may emit a yellowish light whereas fly­ ing individuals whose muscles are Further Reading Larvae are predators of snails and Cheesman, E., 1932. Hunting insects in the South Seas. sl_ugs. pumping air in and out of the abdominal Adults probably do not feed. air tubes will produce the brightest dis­ Philip Allen & Co. Ltd: London. Little is known of their life cycle. play. Lawrence, J.F. & Britton, E.B., 1991. Coleoptera (bee­ Wherever the flight paths of fireflies tles). Pp. 543-683 in The insects of Australia. and children cross, catching and cram­ Melbourne University Press: Melbourne. into an eene· b ut perfect synchrony. ming the former into bottles for a good How er, imitation of Florence Nightingale has Matthews, R.W. & Matthews, J.R., 1978. Insect behav­ ' r by far the most spectacular dtsp ay I have seen involving fireflies always been irresistible sport. But adults iour. John Wiley & Sons: New York. curred on (apart from returned soldiers) take fire­ lli the banks of the Herbert Steve Van Dycli is a Curator of Vertebrates er near Ingham many years Not flies seriously too. In 1932 entomologist lo� ago. at the Queensland Museum where he has g aft�r sunset, while I was watching Evelyn Cheesman wrote that certain worked since 1975. some flying-foxes squabbling in a tree, a ladies of South America and the West NAT URE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 19 b RARE & ENDANGERED

Black-chinned Honeyeaters are sending a warning to ecologists about the dqnger of potential bird extinctions in South Australia. BLACK-CH INN ED HONEYEATER BY TAMRACHAPMAN

cally low numbers as a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. South Australian ornithologists have been documenting the decline of bird species in the Mount LoftyRanges since the early 1900s. In 1919, for example, well-known ornithologist Samuel A. White noted that only "a pair or two" of the Black-chinned Honeyeater (which he considered to be very common 30 LACK-CHINNED HONEY­ years earlier) remained in th� Ree_dbeds eaters (Melithreptus gularis) are small, district, which is now Adelaide Airport. olive-coloured birds that have some­ Alarm about the status of the Black­ thing in common with Canaries. Both chinned Honeyeater in the Mount Lofty have melodious calls and both can alert Ranges has been growing since the late humans to impending tragedy. While 1970s, so in 1994 I set out to establish its Canaries were used to warn miners distribution and status. about dangerous air quality in mine Historical records show that, since shafts, Black-chinned Honeyeaters are European settlement, the Black-chinned sending a warning to ecologists about Honeyeater had been recorded at 79 the danger of potential separate locations in bird extinctions in the Mount Lofty South Australia. Ranges, but this had There are two sub­ The Black-chinned reduced to 11 sites by species of Black­ the early 1990s. chinned Honeyeaters, Honeyeater's sensitivity Members of the South but their ranges do not Australian Ornitholog­ overlap. The northern ical Association had form, known as the to environmental been recording declin­ Golden-backed Honey­ ing numbers of Black­ eater (Melithreptus change may be an chinned Honeyeaters gularis laetior), occurs in each of these 11 in north- and mid-west­ locations over the past ern Australia, and its indication of the 20 to 50 years. I plumage differs from searched all potential that of the other sub­ health of bird habitats areas by listening for camaldulensis) for food, which consists species by having a the species' distinctive of a variety of arthropods, honeydew golden back and call and, from a likely (sugary plant secretions) and nectar. green-yellow skin in the Mount Lofty population of thou­ They also build a pendulous nest in the above the eye. The sands of birds at the eucalypt foliage made from grass and eastern subspecies Ranges and eastern time of settlement, I bark fibre and hair or fur. Only about (M. gularis gularis) is counted only 40 birds five per ce;1t of the original vegetation of characterised by a at six of the 11 sites. the Mount Lofty Ranges remains, in the black crown and chin, Australia. The principal reason form of small isolated 'islands' of vegeta­ white cheek and nape, for the decline is likely tion. These habitats have been dispro­ and pale blue skin to be loss of the tall portionately cleared because they oc ur above the eyes. These birds occur in � savanna woodlands and dry sclerophyll on soils with good agricultural poten�al._ Victoria, New South Wales and parts of forests, dominated by large mature Black-chinned Honeyeaters exh1b1t Queensland, and a small, remnant popu­ eucalypts. Black-chinned Honeyeaters many of the biological characteristics lation occurs in the Mount Lofty Ranges rely on eucalypts such as Pink Gum that make them vulnerable to inbreed­ and Adelaide plains. This South (Eucalyptus fasciculosa), Blue Gum (E. ing and extinction after habitat loss. For Australian population has fallen to criti- leucoxylon) and River Red Gum (E. example, they have small flock sizes 20 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 i(I

(6--14 birds) and low recruitment rates fore, declines in species such as the Lofty Ranges and eastern Australia. Any (producing only one clutch of two or Black-chinned Honeyeater and other management action implemented to �hree eggs per year). Other factors woodland birds may be more easily protect this species is therefore also like­ mclu e ly to benefit a variety of other avifauna.• � _the tendency of family groups to detected than in larger, more intact habi­ remam m the same small patch of habi­ tats and may indicate that similar tat, year after year. As a result, the declines are likely to be taking place Further Reading species has become one of the rarest throughout the species' range. Chapman, T.F., 1995. The ecology and management of and the Black-chinned Honeyeater in the Mount Lofty _most endangered in South Australia. Researchers predict that, if no effort is B(rd extinctions from fragmented made to protect habitat, 35 to 50 species Ranges. MSc thesis: University of Adelaide. habitats are common (including the Black-chinned Honey­ in many woodland Honeyeaters and their allies of areas across Australia, eater) will become extinct in the Mount Longmore, W., 1991. such as the New Australia. Angus and Robertson: Sydney. England area of New South Wales and Lofty Ranges before reaching equilibri­ the Western Australian wheatbelt. The um. While the prognosis for the Black­ Tamra Chapman is a PhD student at �ount Lofty Ranges is an isolated area chinned Honeyeater is not good, its sen­ Adelaide University and has a background - w � oodl�nd that supports many ?f the sitivity to environmental change may, in conservation, ecology and management. 1rd species that are also present m the like the Canary, be an indication of the She is now researching Glossy Black­ Woodlands of eastern Australia. There- health of bird habitats in the Mount Cockatoos on Kangaroo Island. NATU RE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 21 as deterrents, or for some other reason WILD THINGS such as climbing aids (on vines), de; collection (on American cacti), or seed dispersal (on prickly seed pods)? We I suspect that many of the spines se n on shrubs today are need to be sure the spines did not evolve � _ overseas, as defence against foreign ani­ ancient defences once deployed against these animals. mals, on plants that later spread to Australia, as in Cockspur Thorn (Maclura cochinchinensis), Prickly Moses (Acacia farnesiana) and Holly­ leaved Mangrove (Acanthus ilicifolius). We should also keep in mind that thorns THORNY are only one line of defence available to plants, and that many plants have HT evolved poisons or very tough tissues as THOUG S alternative, or additional, deterrents. / BYTIM LOW To gain a really good understanding of spines, Africa is the place to visit. More �I browsing animals live there than any- where else-the African Elephant, I Giraffe, Black Rhinoceros and various antelope-and the plants are amazingly thorny. The Nile Acacia (Acacia nilotica) bies (Lagorchestes species) and, to a less­ sprouts thorns as long as fingers-up to er extent, the Common Wallaroo nine centimetres long. Australia has (Macropus robustus) are specialised nothing like this. browsers, but there are many habitats A number of studies in Africa show where spiny plants are common and how thorns work. Susan Couper and these browsers don't occur. Norman Owen-Smith, from the Univer­ HAT CAN THORNS TELL Only 100,000 years ago, Australia was sity of the Witwatersrand in Johannes­ us about the extinct animals that once home to giant kangaroos and diproto­ burg, found that thorns did not prevent strutted the Australian stage? Many of dontoids (including Diprotodon, Palor­ browsing by antelope, but greatly Australia's shrubs are armed with chestes and Zygomaturus species), whose reduced the bite size, and therefore the thorns, presumably for defence against fossilised teeth tell us they lived mainly speed at which leaves were eaten. browsing animals, but what animals? upon leaves of shrubs and trees. I sus­ Thorns were also more effective if leaves Our kangaroos, wallabies and wombats pect that many of the spines seen on were small. Large antelope such as are grazers, living mainly upon grasses shrubs today are ancient defences once Greater Kudus (Tragelaphus strepsi­ and herbs; they do not tackle shrubs, deployed against these animals. ceros) were deterred by big straight spiny or otherwise. Only the Swamp We need to be careful when speculat­ thorns, while smaller Impala (Aepyceros Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor), hare-walla- ing about thorns. Are they really there melampus), for example, were more dis-

l J

The ferociously armed Gin's Whiskers (Solanum inaequilaterum) found presumably in wet r arnforeSts· '" New South Wales a food of now-extinct, rainforest-dwelling wallabies.' and southern Queensland was 22 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 Vicious Hairy Mary is the most savagely armed Australian plant. The spines provide strong evidence that it was a favoured food of giant herbivores, of which Zygomaturus is the most likely candidate.

couraged by small hooked spines, which mals sheltering near water. my thoughts about thorns so far. tore their lips and tongues. This size dif­ The prickliest habitats I have seen in Diprotodons and other giant browsers ference is important. Most of the thorny Australia are the dry rainforests (vine probably targeted the dry rainforests plants in Australia have fine straight thickets) of Queensland. Nearly all of and outback claypans and drainage spines only a centimetre or so long, and the shrubs in these forests are thorny, lines, where the vegetation, growing on we can reasonably assume they evolved for example the orange thorns relatively fertile soils, would have been to repel smaller animals, up to Common (Citriobatus species), Native Holly nutritious. Large mammals did inhabit Wallaroo size, not gigantic diprotodons (Alchornea ilicifolia), Prickly Alyxia the wetter rainforests of the east, but not or large browsing kangaroos. Plants like (Alyxia ruscifolia) and wild limes (in the recent past) the monsoon rain­ this, which also have small leaves (Microcitrus species). These shrubs forests of the Northern Territory, where include Australian Blackthorn (Bursari� either have small leaves produced along spiny plants are surprisingly scarce. spinosa), Prickly Currant-bush (Copros­ spiny stems, or larger leathery leaves Giant mammals did not occur in the ma quadrifi,da) and numbers seen today in Africa, where (Scaevola Spiny Fanflower with spiny margins or tips. Such shrubs spinescens). sometimes form a dense thicket border­ plants are much spinier. Apart from the To find Australian plants with larger ing a small patch of rainforest, and giant mammals, Australia supported a th orns, we must turn to the rainforests resernble the thorny fences used to pro­ range of smaller browsing wallabies (a in the east and the shrublands of the out­ tect African villages from big animals. point confirmed by fossil evidence), for b�ck. The northern Queensland lawyer Within these rainforests are b-ees such all of the smaller spines seen in eastern vmes, such (Scolopia braunii) Australia today, on bitter peas (Daviesia (Cala as Vicious Hairy Mary as Flintwood and mus radicalis), are striking exam­ Yellow Tulip (Drypetes deplanchei) that species), wattles (Acacia species) and ples of plants armed against something are spiny only as saplings, the only time hakeas (Hakea species) for example, much bigger than wallabies. they are low enough to be browsed from would not have evolved solely as In t�e outback, strongly defended the ground. Some of the plants, includ­ defences against the Swamp Wallaby. plants include (Eryngium ros­ (Capparis I hope these ideas encourage more tratum) Blue Devil ing the capers species) and , Desert Lime (Eremocitrus glau­ Scrub Guava (Siphonodon australis), thoughts about thorns. They are telling ca), Tang (Bassia divari­ us something about the past; we just have cata) led Copperburr produce fruits designed to appeal to and Cotton (Maireana aphyl­ large mammals, which presumably dis­ to work out what.• la). Bush _ There is very little in the outback persed the seeds in the past. These rain­ today that poses a threat to these plants forests, once very widespread, grow on Further Reading (apart from introduced stock) and I can fertile soils, and the foliage is presum­ Cooper, S.M. & Owen-Smith, N., 1986. Effects of plant , o Oecologia • nly conclude that the spines are evi­ ably nutritious, so it makes sense that spinescence on large mammalian herbivores. de �ce of animals now extinct. As in diprotodons and other browsers would 68: 446-455. '.'\fnca, many of these plants grow mainly have been attracted. Cattle today are 10 _claypans where water settles, and the very fond of this foliage. Tim Low is an environmental consultant, b�mes_ may be a deterrent both against I am only speculating, but let me offer natural historian, and author of four books 1 on wild foods and medicines. owsmg, and against trampling by ani- the following suggestions, based upon NATUR E AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 23 - I I Each time an excavation takes place , ', I I in Sydney, there is the potential for fossils to be unearthed.

SYDNEY BRICK PIT MIGHT seem an unlikely place to :findsome of AL�stralia's be�t preserved fossil fish speci­ mensA but indeed the inner suburbs of Austr�lia's largest city have yroducecl some of our most notable fos 1ls. � r Fossils of fish and other animals _f ?m the Triassic Period (250-210 i:11ll1on years ago) have been found m the Sydney Region since at least the _1860s. Initially fossils were only_ occas1on�lly uncovered during excavations for build­ ing stone, foundations, r_ailways etc. But when numerous brick pits were opened up around St Peters, fossils really be&'an to turn up in abundance. Thes� bnck pits occur in shale lenses m the Hawkesbury Sand­ stone or in the over­ lying Ashfield Shales. This shale, when baked, produces the SYDNEY'S ubiquitous bright reel bricks and roof tiles that Sydney is fam­ FOSSIL ous for. Over the next 40 years the St Peters brick pits turned up TREASURES nine species of fish and two specimens BY PAUL WILLIS of labyrinthoclonts (a group of extinct amphibians). One of these was a three-metre-long skeleton of Paracycloto­ saurus, among the most complete labyrinthoclont specimens known from anywhere in the world. This, along with many fish from St Peters and other sites around Sydney, was sent to England for study where it remains to this clay in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London. (A replica of this Paracyclotosaurus skeleton is on display in the Australian Museum's "More than Dinosaurs ..." gallery.) During the 1910s and 1920s another important brick pit on Beacon Hill near Brookvale produced many fine fossils. sandstone block from a quarry at Among these were several hundred fos­ Kincumber near Gosford, which was sil fish, a labyrinthoclont, insects, and being used' to build a retaining wall in a other arthropods, including a rare horse­ local garden. The skeleton is of a brachy­ shoe crab. opicl (short-headed) labyrinthodont Excavations for railway cuttings and amphibian . Whether or not it represents .. track ballast also produced fossils from a form new to science will not be known at least two localities: Gosford on the until the specimen is acquired _by _a central coast and Bowral in the Southern museum and the head region, which is Highlands. Gosforcl was to prove partic­ still buried, is uncovered for study. . ularly productive with over 400 fish and A particularly large fossil deposit three labyrinthodont specimens recov- The occurs right in the heart of Sydney and Australian Museum's Robert Jones ered in the years 1886 and 1887. ale inspects the is known as the Sydney Harbour Sh fossil of a large labyrinthodont The Gosford area's potential for excit­ r�s amphibian recovered Lens. This deposit, up to seven met from a garden retaining ing fossils was confirmed earlier this r in wall in early 1997. thick extends under Sydney Harbou Currently in private hands, year with the discovery of a well-pre­ ge. It negotiations are being conducted the �icinity of the Harbour Brid to secure served skeleton of a two-metre-long on the this specimen for a national collection. crops out at various localities Triassic amphibian. It was in a massive lower north shore as well as sites frotn 24 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 Rushcutters Bay to Balmain and fish from the quarry. Almost 600 of Fossil footprints also tell an important part of Cockatoo Island. these specimens represented a single the prehistory of the Sydney Region. These With the decline footprints, from a small dicynodont reptile, of hand-operated speciesPromecosomina of fish, a 25-centimetre-long fish quarries through the 20th century, called that looks some­ were found during coal mining operations reports of fossils also declined, with thing like a mullet. near Wollongong. some �otable exceptions. In 1974 the Australian Museum held excavations in an _abandoned quarry site in Hornsby ITH SUCH A LONG LIST OF SITES �eights, uncovering at least six species Wthroughout the Sydney Region, it � fish. In 1986, the Museum was given might seem they can be found every­ emporary access to part of a large sand­ where. In fact, fossils are only found in st0ne quarry near Somersby restricted deposits dot­ Nature Aust.*on the cen­ relatively small, rtl coast (see Autumn ted across the Sydney Basin but, where 87) - With the help of a small army of the conditions are right, the fossils can lunteers, Alex Ritchie Robert and of the highest quality. J°o and be abundant nes recovered over 700 specimens of So why is the Sydney Region such a for fossils, particularly fossil •Pre vio good place usly ANH fish? NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 25 Ranging up to the size of dinner plates, Cleithrolepis has been found in many fossil sites across Sydney.

waters for long periods of time, the oxy­ gen in the water would be used up and all life in the pond would die._ Carcasses would settle into the soft mud at the bot­ tom of these ponds and, because of the oxygen-poor environment, they wo�ld not be torn apart by other scavenging animals. Such pools were themselves eventually buried under sands from the ever-filling estuary. Today these muds form the shale lenses in the thick beds of sandstone that Sydneysiders know so well. The variety of life in this freshwater river estuary was astounding. Most com­ mon among the fishes were the mullet­ like Promecosomina and the dinner-plate­ sized Cleithrolepis. Rarer, predato:Y fish include the barracuda-like Saunchthys, which could grow to more than a metre Sandstone quarries like this one are scattered across the Greater Sydney Region and produce in length. Primitive freshwater sharks building stone. Occasionally these quarries intersect shale lenses that represent the bottoms of have been found as well as more than a z ancient lakes and may contain fossils of fish and other vertebrates. dozen other fish �pecies and at lea�t �our i a ph1b1ans To answer this we have to go back to species of labyrinthodont :n 5 The estuary slowly filled with sands ranging in size from 15 centimetres to i when the bedrock of Sydney was being that the river system had washed across around three meti-es. formed. For some 40 million years, from two continents. In the estuary, the sands about 250 to 210 million years ago, the formed a network of connected channels An excavation run by the Australian Museum Sydney Region was an enormous estu­ that changed with each flood. There in 1986 resulted in the collection of over ary for a river system that has its origins would occasionally be a cut-off bill­ 700 specimens of fossil fish from a sandstone deep in Antarctica (at that time Antarcti­ abong-a quiet pond temporarily isolat­ quarry at Somersby on the central coast. ca and Australia were still joined as a sin­ ed from the rest of the estuary. These Almost 600 of these were represented by the gle landmass). The mouth of this estu­ ponds were home to large populations of 25-centimetre-long Promecosomina, one of ary stretched from the central coast fish and other animals but, if the pond which is shown recently exposed in the south to Nowra and west to Lithgow. was too small or was isolated from other foreground. 26 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98

Fossil plants found in abundance t The oldest rocks belong to t� e � G roup, ·ncluding 1 sueh um ts some sites indicate �at the ponds w�i e Narrabeen lined with bamboo-hke plants (ho1 se­ as the Collaroy Claystone and . the tails) and a variety of Terrigal Formation. ferns. Seeds of conifers Overlying the Narrabeen indicate that stands of Group is the younger pine trees existed with­ Who knows Hawkesbury Sandstone, in the basin. There was which is best exposed also a variety of insects what rare along the Hawkesbury including a dragonfly­ River to the north of like creature whose 20- treasures of Sydney and in the val­ centimetre wings have leys to the south of been found at Sydney's distant Sydney around Suther­ Brookvale. land and Woronora. The The fossils of the past are being youngest rocks belong Sydney Basin offer to the Wianamatta more than a static look Group but fossils have at a single past environ­ wantonly only been found in the ment. Because the estu­ lowest part of this group, ary took 40 million destroyed. the AshfieldShale. years to fill, the fossi_ls Taken together, these illustrate the changes 111 three groups present a environment over an extended peno?. thickness of almost three kilometres of The rocks produced by th� ancient rock representing 40 million ye�rs of river are divided into three basic groups. river deposits. Although changes 111 the

A volunteer proudly displays a fine specimen of the barracuda-like fish Saurichthys in a quarry at Somersby.

fossils found through this sequence have been noted, the significance of these changes is not well u�de:stood. For example, fossil deposits 111 the Narrabeen Group, such as the Gosford Railway site, are dominated by t�e fish Cleithrolepis but, higher up 111 the sequence, sites such as Somersby near the top of the Hawkesbury Sandst?ne Promecosomina, Symbol Key are around 95 per cent with Cleithrolepis present in only small Fossil fish numbers. Why this pattern and other Amphibian fossil fauna! changes occurred remains a Footprints or trackways mystery.

ATE LAST CENTURY AND FOR THE EARLY Lpart of this century, quarrying ?f shales and excavations for roads, rail­ Fossil fish, amphibian and footprint localities from around the Sydney region: 1 Somersby, ways and buildings were mostly done by 2 Gosford, 3 Kincumber, 4 Bouddi National Park, 5 Berowra, 6 Cowan, 7 Whale hand. Men working close to the r�cks 8 Galston, 9 Hornsby Heights, 10 Asquith, Beach, 11 Duffys Forest, 12 Turimetta Head, were likely to spot any might 14 Brookvale, 15 Thornleigh, 16 13 Long Reef, fossils that Wahroonga, 17 Turramurra, 18 Epping, be revealed 20 Chapel Hill, 21 Homebush, 19 Katoomba, by their hammers. As �e 22 Tambourine Bay, 23 Cockatoo Rocks, 26 Woolloomooloo Island, 24 Gore Hill, 25 The 20th century proceeded and quarrying Bay, 27 St Peters, 28 Coogee, 29 31 Oatley, 32 Macquarie Fields, 30 Mortdale, became more mechanised, fossils we1:e Kogarah, 33 Parsonage Hill, 34 Woronora Spillway, 35 Bundeena, 36 Bowral. less likely to be seen and reported. This 28 trend is clearly evident from the record NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 of finds over the last 100 years. The rea- tonnes of rubbish and playing fields Further Reading on fewer fossils are turning up today is have been built over the top. Cosgriff, J.W., 1973. Notobrachyops picketti, a brachy­ not because the fossilsare not there, but We will never exhaust the fossilsin the opid from the Ashfield Shale, Wianamatta Group, New because they are not seen in the mecha­ Sydney Basin. Locked away in the deep South Wales. J. Paleont. 47: 1094-1101. nised operations that can remove in a sediment piles where they are Geological excursion guide to the single scoop what a man and a hammer entombed, most of these fossils are Retallack, G., 1976. would sea cliffs north of Sydney. University of New England: take a week to dig through last unlikely ever to see the light of day. But Armidale. century. And even when fossils are seen each time an excavation takes place in we have been told that some quarry Sydney, there is the potential for fossils Wade, R.T., 1935. The Triassic fishes of Brookvale, New workers promptly bulldoze them into to be unearthed. If measures are not South Wales. British Museum (Natural History): th� r�bble, rather than report them to taken to recover these fossils, they will London. scientists. This is done on orders from be destroyed and reburied; lost forever. management, afraid Wade, R.T., 1939. The Triassic fishes of Gosford, New that their project Currently environmental impact studies Roy. Soc. N.5.W. may be_ held up. If true, this is not only for proposed projects are not required to South Wales. J. 73: 206-217. short-sighted but immoral and who consider the identification and recovery ows Wade, R.T., 1941. Australian Triassic fishes. I. The � what rare treasures �f Sydney's of any fossils encountered during exca­ Triassic fishes of St. Peter's, Sydney, New South Wales. distant past are thus being wantonly vations. II. The relationships of the Australian Triassic fishes to destroyed. Perhaps our only measure against this each other and to other bony fishes. J. Proc. R. Soc. W� are also losing access to the origi­ loss is the vigilance and efforts of a few N.5. W. 74: 377-396. nal sites where fossils are known to have people interested in the fate of these fos­ occurred. Quarrie Watson, D.M.S., 1958. A new labyrinthodont s are large holes in the sils. Staff at the Australian Museum, (Paracyclotosaurus) ground that, when their working life has although not charged or funded for the from the Upper Trias of New South ome to an Wales. Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Geol. 3(7): � end, are unsightly, danger- task, regularly inspect new building sites 235-263. us and unwanted in urban environ­ and excavations in case fossils have rents. Their only subsequent use is for been encountered. Various amateurs are and fills. This is what has happened to also on the look-out for new fossil occur­ Dr Paul Willis received his PhDfor studies n:iany of Sydney's most important fossil rences across Sydney. Together, these on Australian fossil crocodilians and has sit es, been working as a freelance technical advi­ me· 1 � dmg· _ the St Peters pits and the efforts may uncover new species of ani­ B eacon t.I1ll bnck pit. mals that inhabited the Harbour City in a sor and author. He is now a Trainee Science ta Potentially impor- Broadcaster with the ABC. nt fossils have been reburied under time before the dinosaurs.• NATU RE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 29

lent prospect for investigating some HERE IS A TENDE CV AMONG _ biologists and naturalists to basic ecological questions about this concenb·ate research efforts species-information that would hope­ on the cute-and-cuddly animals fully also provide insights into the ecolo­ Trather than the less pretty ones. With gy of the more remote species of this fas­ this pervasive doctrine you would think cinating group. that we would know an awful lot about Like all tree-kangaroos, Lumholtz's our appealing mammals. Well this is ITue Tree-kangaroo can look ungainly in the for some species, but not for all. Tree­ forest canopy. With a long tail, they a specialised subgroup of resemble their close relatives the rock­ kangaroos are (Petrogale the macropod marsupials, and are sur­ wallabies spp.). This longdang­ prisingly more diverse in Papua New ling appendage is likely to be important Guinea than in Australia. But irrespec­ in aiding their balance on precarious tive of where they come from, our branches, and is often the only visible knowledge of even their most basic biol­ sign of an animal high in the canopy. ogy is still rudimentary. Since the tail is not prehensile and can­ Two species of tree-kangaroo are not grip, it helps them little when climb­ resb·icted to the rainforest areas of ing. For this task they rely instead on northern Queensland. Both considered their well-developed forelimbs and rare, f?ennett's Tree-kangaroo (Dendro­ claws. The similarities to rock-wallabies lagus bennettianus) is found in mostly extend to their amazing escape tech­ difficult terrain north of the Dainb·ee niques. When threatened they can easily River, while Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo jump ten metres or more to the ground (D. lumholtzt) is found south from the without injury, and bound off. The loud Daintree River to the Cardwell Range. crashing sound as they come down Although they mainly occur in rugged through the canopy is a distinctive fea- and inaccessible areas, Lumholtz's Tree­ kangaroos are also relatively abundant When animals are anaesthetised they can be in some forest fragments on the more easily handled and fitted with radio-collars. gently undulating parts of the Atherton After about two hours the tree-kangaroo will Tablelands. The easy access to these have recovered and can be released at the fragments presented me with an excel- site where ii was first captured.

LUMHOLTZ'S TREE-KANGAROO

Dendro/agus lumholtzi

Classification Order Diprotodonta, family Macropodidae.

Distribution and Habitat Endemic to the 'Wet Tropics' of northern Qld, from Daintree River south to the Cardwell Range. Found in rainforest and occasionally in associated wet sclerophyll forest.

Identification Populations are di_sjunct f�om Bennett's Tree-kangaroo (D. bennettianus), which is foun� north of Damtree River. Pelage highly variable in colour, even at one location ra�gmg from pale cream-brown to grey and rusty brown. Paler on ventral surface ' ture of their presence in the forest, Tail and face black. Mean wei�ht of adult females about 7 kg, where they feed on a wide variety of rain­ adult males regulariy o over 9 kg. Strong forearms with sharp claws, with no opposable digits. f rest foliage along with occasional flow­ ers and fruits. Behaviour From the little that is known about Cryptic and noc�ur�al behaviour creates difficulties in detection. Arboreal habits their distribution, it seems that Lum­ Usually found h�gh m the_ can_opy during the day, often in the sun. Generally low�r h?ltz's Tree-kangaroos are present in the canopy in at night, feed1_ng m the mid and understorey. Moves between trees higher densities in rainforests on fertile the ground on _generally a� night. Eats leaf material from a wide variety of rainforest basalt soils, rather than the forest types trees and vmes. Ingestion of flowers and fruits fess common . Will jumP f rom canopy associated with lower-nub·ient granite or to escape predators or avoid human disturbance. rhyolite soils. Unfortunately, the largest areas of fertile soil types are relatively Reproduction flat, and also sustained large stands of Very little data. Promiscuous mating system producing single young Pouch f'f Q�eensland Red Cedar (Toona ciliata), probably 300-350 days post partum, followed pnzed as a cabinet timber. Following the by an extended peri�d 'at he�I� w'1 th th e mother for perhaps another two years. 'cedar-getters' of the mid 1800s, the Atherton Tablelands area was opened to Status general farming, so that now only small u e listed as rare under Queensland's Nature Conservation blocks of remnant and regrowth rainfor­ f l�� ;ty (Wildlife) Act est of between one and 100 hectares remain on these rich basalt soils. This fertil� soil is still sought after today, and clearing continues for cropping and 32 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 A bulldozer at work, clearing the rainforest from the fertile basalt soil. The 'nudge' bar hanging over the top of the blade makes it much easier to push over large trees.

grazing land. Despite the level of clearing and long history of fragmen­ tation, Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos are still found in the area in isolated rem­ nants and in patches of regrowth rain­ forest. It was in one of these blocks of mixed remnant/regrowth forest near Yungaburra on the Tablelands, about 50 kilometres inland from Cairns and 760 metres above sea level, that I set out to investigate the habits of this shy �nd cryptic animal. Of all the sites I mspected, a 20-hectare block of pri­ vate land already well known to the locals for its tree-kangaroos seemed the most promising for studying these creatures. With the land-holder's 33 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos don't usually spend a lot of time at ground level, and especially not during the day. This animal sits among the devas­ tation of its former home range. Tree-kangaroos are moderately safe from canid predators within the tangle of branches, but not so on the edge of the felled area. permission I intended to find out how breeding systems in tree-kangaroos, a the resident animals used their habitat small tissue sample was taken for genet­ in this forest block, and whether they ic analysis to establish family links moved regularly to other fragments in between individuals and relationship to the immediate landscape. I reasoned other Lumholtz'sTree-kangaroos through­ that, if I knew how much space individ­ Tree-kangaroos out their disb-ibutional range. Each ani­ ual animals used, and how they moved mal was also fitted with a radio-transmit­ through the area over time, then it have a reputation ter, and marked with a small tattoo on would become easier to identify high­ the inner thigh to identify them if cap­ quality forest areas for their future con­ for being formidable tured later without the radio-collar. Male servation. If I could discover what tree b·ee-kangaroos of several species are pecies they liked to 'hang out' in and opponents of humans known to be very aggressive to ea_ch what other features of their environment other and can induce fatal wounds with they used, then this information could their powerful forearms and sharp be incorporated into local tree planting and dogs. claws. On several occasions I found two schemes to accommodate more tree­ collars at the same site where adult kangaroos in the future. males had obviously had a large brawl. From July 1996 onwards I managed to O LOCATE ANIMALS ON A REGULAR BASIS Monash University. This was usually collar one or two animals per week-a Tmeant that I had to capture and fit done at night when they were easier to surprising success rate given that radio-collars to them. But how? Tree­ find by their ruby red eyeshine in the Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo is such a � kangaroos have a reputation for being glare of a spotlight. With a willing assis­ secretive species. Within a matter of � formidable opponents of humans and tant I would then wait for the animal to weeks I was collecting information on � dogs, and have been both prized and nod off to sleep and then catch it, as it between seven and ten animals at least e: feared by Aboriginal and Papua New dropped off the branch, in a large fishing Guinean hunters alike. I didn't fancy net held out below. This description All tree-kangaroos have a long tail that helps tackling irate tree-kangaroos with their makes the process sound easy, but often them balance on branches. Unlike monkeys long, sharp claws. Therefore, to min­ it wasn't, as the animals would move and some other arboreal mammals, a tree­ imise the stress on the animals, as well away as I approached to dart them. kangaroo's tail is not prehensile. When as for my own sake, I decided to anaes­ When captured, each animal was mea­ hopping over open ground, Lumholtz's Tree­ thetise them first, using an impressive sured, weighed and its breeding statu kangaroos use their tail in a similar mode to dart gun made by Roger Martin from determined. Since little is known of their terrestrial cousins.

34 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98

A tree-kangaroo's perspective on what it is like to be radio-tracked. This adult male warily hides in a Grey Bollywood Tree and waits for the author to 'find' him (and then to go away and leave him alone).

ranges that covered an average of 1.8 hectares and these overlapped those of the fem�les. When collating the radio­ tracldng data with the other animals I knew to be in the area, I worked out that the density of tree-kangaroos was proba­ bly between 1.5 and two individuals per hectare-a very high density for such a large animal and in such a small patch of forest. It also became obvious that individual animals have a number of favourite trees within their home range, and that some of these animals were eating plants !mown to be toxic or at least unpalatable. While some people view a rainforest as Nature's pharmacy, the reality may be closer to Nature's poison cabinet. Many plants contain dangerous toxins in their leaves and fruits, thought to discourage folivorous animals from eating them. Other species are considered unpalat­ able because of their sticky sap, or con­ tain large amounts of fibre that make the absorption of the leaf nutrients difficult. Unfortunately, the cryptic nature of tree­ kangaroos makes it difficult to d�ter­ mine exactly what they were eating. Whether Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos only eat some spe ies spa ingly, or u e � � _ � different tree or vine species m certain sequences to avoid or counteract �ome of the toxic effects of the chemicals, remains unclear. Many local people have described how tree-kangaroos travel across paddoc�s and feast on cultivated trees and fruit. Radio-tracking, along with the collation of data from road-killed animals by a local wildlife carer, Margit Cianelli, sug­ gest that the animals roaming the coun­ tryside are almost always juvenile and subadult males. In common with other species, these young males are probably evicted by their mothers and prob�b!y have a difficult time from antagomstic males at their home site. The best prospects for these young animals seem to be findinga home some distance away in a different patch of forest. Unfor­ tunately for these young males on the once each day using a hand-held anten­ ble. Not a bad feat for such a large ani­ Atherton Tablelands, this means run­ na and telemetry receiver. With each mal in often quite sparse foliage! ning the gauntlet of bitumen roads and sighting I recorded the time of day, grid With data accumulating quickly, I fast vehicles, and many, perhaps a dozen position, and species of trees and vines began to get a pretty good picture of how or more, are killed in this manner each associated with the animal. In the course Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos used this year. of this monitoring I came to realise just patch of regrowth rainforest. They were how cryptic these animals were. regularly associated with trees such as Occasionally after searching from many FTER THREE TO POUR MO THS OF Blackbean or Moreton Bay Chestnut work, the land-holder informed me different angles they could be seen 'sun­ (Castanospermum A australe), Candlenut that he was about to clear half of the baking' at the top of a tree-a popular (Aleurites mollucana), Grey Bollywood at­ tree-kangaroo pastime. More often they (Neolitsea dealbata) study site to increase the number of � and Milky Pine tle he could run. Who said that knoclang would remain hidden in clumps of (Alstonia scholaris), and with the spiny down rainforest for cattle only occurred foliage even when only a few metres creeper known as Cockspur Thorn above my head. The radio-signal would (Madura in Brazil or in Asia? The bulldozing cochinchinensis). Most animals began immediately, and it posed an ago­ indicate where they were, and I could used surprisingly small areas, with often smell their peculiar musky odour, females using nising dilemma. Should I pack up and around 0.7 hectare of the find another site? Or should I accept it as but mostly the animal remained invisi- regrowth rainforest. Males had larger a valuable opportunity to assess the 36 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 A juvenile female Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo cautiously investigates a leaf before eating it. The bulk of their diet is composed of leaf material from a wide variety of plant species. ' In areas bordering rainforests animals will Occasionally after searching from many often enter paddocks, orchids and gardens to feast on cultivated crops such as maize, different angles they could be seen pumpkins and even mandarins! 'sunbaking' at the top of a tree-a popular effects of habitat loss on this rare species, being aware • that the process tree-kangaroo pastime. and the results were both likely to be dis­ tressing? During September and October 1996 approximately ten hectares of the forest maintaining 'normal' behaviour in the dogs. Animals that could escape preda­ were felled so b that the trees could be face of losing their home surprised tion had other dangers to contend with, urnt prior to the on-coming Wet locals and biologists alike. However, such as finding the right kind of food. Seaso�. Intuition might have suggested large arboreal animals become vulnera­ Some were probably forced to eat toxic ' that, if a tree-kangaroo's home is ble to predation when there are no trees plants not usually part of their diet rather destroyed, then it would leave the area to climb. Some animals became prey than starve. Several animals rapidly lost and look for another. Surprisingly, this within weeks for roaming dingoes and body condition, and one male animal lost wa_s not the case. None of the five tagged dogs, which can move easily around the more than 15 per cent of his body weight ani mals resident in the cleared area edge of the felled area but not into the in a week. This same animal was hloved out of its original range to other tangle of fallen trees. Two collared ani­ observed behaving strangely on the ocks of forest nearby. Some made mals met with this fate, and it is likely ground where he was feeding on Hoya sh ort f (Hoya australis), b orays of several hundred metres that several other uncollared animals liv­ vine a plant with an ut they always returned ing in the area did also. undescribed toxin that is known to be te to their flat� ned home territory. This response of Not all animals fell prey to the local poisonous to cattle. The following day I NATUR E AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 37 While Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos are good climbers, they do have their limitations, as this young animal is discovering on a Bumpy Satin Ash. Large tree trunks can make it difficult for the animal to get a claw hold on the often slippery and mossy surface. Perhaps for this reason, tree-kangaroos are often associated with vines that can be climbed more easily. found him semi-comatose, and he died soon after of an undetermined cause at a local veterinary surgery. Thankfully the 1997 Wet Season soon arrived and this had several benefits. Growth from the coppicing stumps and seedlings that germinated provided food for the animals within the cleared area. Several months after clearing, those tree-kangaroos whose ranges included both cleared and uncleared forest con­ tinued to regularly use both areas. Only one collared animal made the transition to an adjacent area of rainforest, but even so, she still returned every now and then to her original home and even­ tually she too succumbed to predation. Had the landowner burnt the area before the rain as planned, a very differ­ ent situation would have eventuated. The remaining animals may have per­ ished in the fire or been unable to find food or shelter in its aftermath. Alternatively, the fire may have eventual­ ly forced them to shift to another patch of forest, although the data collected so far suggest this would have been unlikely. Translocation has been considered by some to be a panacea for the constant problem of habitat loss and what to do with the resident wildlife-simply shift the 'beasties' to live somewhere else. Superficially, this seemed an easy solu­ tion for these tree-kangaroos. However, time and other circumstances didn't allow this. Only one day's warning was given prior to the bulldozer starting work, and capturing wary animals from tangled flattened forestwould have been almost impossible and very stressful on those animals. Translocation works well for some territorial species such as the Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), but for others like the Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) it is thought to be futile. Many translocated Brushtails die as a result of not being able to establish a territory among indi­ viduals already resident in the area. How Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo and other tree-kangaroo species would cope with a sudden relocation of their 'home' is not known. Translocation certainly needs to be fully investigated as a contingency for future loss of important habitat areas, but it should never be used as a cynical tool to cram more wildlife into smaller habitat areas while clearing continues unchecked.

ROM THIS RESEARCH WE KNOW THAT FLumholtz's Tree-kangaroos can sur­ vive in fragmented and regrowth forest, NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 p

exactly understand although w� don't why they do 111such abundance. Perh�ps to the plant spe_c1es their densityrelates present, or to the age of th� forest smce clearing. Regrovyth _forest. 1s !mown to provide foliage �1gh 111 nutnents, but co�­ relating that with tree-kangaroo densi­ ties may be a little simplistic. Whatever the case, the larger picture of the habits of Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos and how ct1ey behave in other forests will not be known until further research is under- taken. The research also suggests that, with ilie exception of young males, tree-kan­ garoos are real homebodies. Once a home is established they are very reluc­ tant to leave it, even when it is destroyed. Thus at an individual level, clearing of even small fragments will in most cases result in the death of resident animals, as they will not move to other habitat and are therefore vulnerable to attacks by dingoes or dogs. Unfort­ unately almost no data from studies on other species are available to either sup­ port or contradict these observations. The high concentrations of Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos inr fragments of rainfor­ est on private f eehold land on the Atherton Tablelands suggest that the long-term conservation of this species is intimately connected with the fate of these fragments. Queensland currently does not have legislation covering the clearing of freehold land, as in some other States, and in most shires where Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos are found ther� are no . local by-laws governing cleanng of native vegetation. On the positive side, however, it would appear that relatively small fragments including recently regenerated forest: ma� be able to provide some suitable �ab1tat for these animals. This informa­ tion provides a valuable incentive for not only preserving strategic blocks of the remnant and regrowth rainforest, but also for_revegetating suitable areas that �e unviable for awiculture. In the future e_s� could provide valuable corridors to . · JO. 111 existmg areas of tree-kangaroo h a_bitat and ensure the conservation of th1s rare species in the agricultural land­ I. scape of the Atherton Tablelands.• Further Reading Flann ery, T.F., Martin, R. & S alay rree kan- garoos . z , A ·, 1996 . , , · A cunous natural history. Reed Books· Melb ourne.

Procter-Gr- ay E 198 . Bru p ·, 4. Dietary ecology of the Coppery at Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos have a characteris­ sht 1 ossu , Green Dr Graeme Newell is a research fellow Lu , m Ringtail Possum and in tic black mask covering their face, as well as mhof�5. Tree-kangaroo CSIRO's Tropical Forest Research Centre 129_1 in North Queensland. Pp. described 3 in Possums and gliders, b Atherton Queensland. The project black fur on their front paws and hind feet I.D. Hu� ed. y A.P Smith and e· AuStrallan Mammal Society: Sydney. here wJs funded by the Co-operative that creates a 'mittens-and-socks' effect. The Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest colouration of the body coat can vary widely Procter to -Gray E & G an Ecology and Management. He wishes from pale cream through shades of grey to a behav �losser, U., 1986. The individual iours 0•1 L olt s tree acknowledge the valuable assistq,nceof Peter taxonom . um� z -kangaroo: repertoire and P_e�t� and deep, russety red. The underneath of the tail ic imp 1ications. /. Mamm. 67: 343-352. Trott, a journalist who worked in joining the CSIRO Division of is darkly coloured and, when viewed from high Pro Sydney before in the canopy, it can look like a slender cter-Gra E 1990. Ecology's Atherton team as 1/90 ·, Kangaroos up a tree. Nat. Hist. Wildlife and : 61_J6_ their communication officer. branch. NATURE 39 AUSTRALI A SUMMER 1997-98

jet propulsion by forcing octopuses is the fact that they have eight vide water WAl�FS, ARM-DROPPERS, POISONERS, through the funnel. spindly giants, sand-swim­ arms. These arms can be considered lips' as they are modified The mouth is made up of a parrot-like mers, smokers, camouflage 'super beak and a toothed ton ue, the radula. surrounding the _mo_uth. . � experts and mimics. This list appendages The radula 1s used _to clnll holes into the The inner surface of each arm 1s lined soundsD like a circus side-show or a plot shell of crabs, shnmp, even clams and with one to two rows of adhesive suck­ for a good science fiction movie. Instead n i s, through hich paralysing saliva it refers to the behaviours and lifestyles ers, which are used to seize prey and, for � � ) � bottom-dwelling species, to 'walk' along 1s 1nJected. For bivalve molluscs, the tox­ of Australia's extraordinary array of ins in the octopus' saliva relax the mus­ octopuses, which range from pygmies the substrate. The individual suckers and the muscles of the arms are very cles that hold the shells together and the size of a fingernailto muscular giants the octopus can then prize them �part. with arms spanning three metres. trong, capable of prizing apart bivalve Recent research suggests that our Octopuses may control more active prey waters contain at least 60 octopus like crabs by nicking one of the crab's species, of which more than two-thirds eye tips with the radula and injecting tox­ are new to science. This diversity is far Many studies have ins straight clown the optic nerve into greater than that so far reported for any the animal's brain. It is a quirk of evolu­ other region of the world. By contrast examined the intelligence tion that the brain of octopuses and the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas other cephalopods developed surround­ contain around 10 species each. ing the oesophagus. This means that to Little is known of Australian octopus­ of octopuses and avoid serious migraines, octopuses m�st es. The majority lack formal descriptions chew their food into a puree before swal­ and many are known only from a few demonstrated learning lowing it. photographs or poorly preserved muse­ The well-developed eyes of octopuses um specimens. Recent advances in div­ and problem-solving are similar to the eyes of humans with an ing and underwater photography tech­ image-forming lens and large retina, niques are now providing our first skills. which enable excellent vision, although glimpses of the incredible diversity in not in colour. The brain is very large for form and behaviour of these poorly an invertebrate. Many studies have known animals. shells or pushing weighted lids off examined the intelligence of octopuses One of the best known features of all aquariums. In some species, an individ­ and demonstrated learning and prob­ ual sucker can hold weights in excess of lem-solving skills. For example, octopus­ The iridescent blue false eye-spots of the two kilograms. All the body organs and es soon learn to screw the lids off glass Poison Ocellate Octopus are used to startle gills are stored in a muscular bag (the jars in order to capture prawns or crabs would-be predators and may advertise a mantle). Expansion and contraction of placed inside. There are even reports venomous nature. The ancestors of the the mantle pumps water in and out of a from the last century of tool use by an venomous blue-ringed octopuses (which are cavity in the mantle, allowing oxygen to octopus, which used small stones to covered in such rings) may have been similar be absorbed through the gills. The wedge open clams before squeezing to this octopus. exhaled water can be harnessed to pro- inside to devour the shellfish.

"'I 0 z :i

42 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 E! G OFT-BODIED (LACKING AN Bexternal shell or internalskeleton), octopuses mak� a perfect me�l for predators, particularly larger fishes, sharks or seals. Many octopuses take advantage of their lack of skeleton . by squeezing th�mselves through tmy holes into crevices or burrows. An octo­ pus with a 30-centimeti-e ari:n span can squeeze through a hole the size of a five­ cent piece. Still octopuses have had to develop a wide range of other defences to escape predators. The greatest array of defence strate­ aies occurs in shallow-water, bottom-liv­ ing (benthic) octopuses in the family Octopodidae. Diurnaloctopuses such as the common Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea), which emerge and forage dur­ ing daylight hours �n coral reefs, have developed except10nal camouflage capacities. They produce elaborate colour patterns and highly complex skin textures capable of matching a wide range of backgrounds from sand and reef rubble, through to spiked corals and seaweeds. Their skin changes almost instantaneously as they move over different substi-ates on the sea floor. Colour changes are carried out by small, elastic, pigment-filled sacs, known as chromatophores. A square centimet­ re of skin may contain hundreds of chro­ matophores, in up to five colours in cer­ tain species. Each chromatophore is sur­ rounded by a ring of muscle fibres, all of which are under the rapid and coordi­ nated control of the large optic lobes of the brain. As a backup defence, most octopuses also have an ink sac that pro­ duces highly concentrated black, red or brown pigment. Small amounts of ink are squirted out the funnel to produce either a dummy decoy or, in some species, a full smoke screen that can mask a volume of water up to several cubic metres, leaving predators chasing their own tails. The ink is also thought to dull the senses of the predator. When threatened, many octopuses try to bluff the predator by appearing larger or more robust than their real size. They do this by flaring or flattening the body, arms and web of skin between the arms. At the same time they darken the edge of the web and also the area around the eyes. A number of octopuses have fur­ �her developed this strategy of appear­ t�g big by adding false eye-spots or ocel­ li to their patterns. As in many insects, t�ese 'false eyes' make the octopus look ltke the head of a much larger animal deterring would-be attackers. Such octo� puses are known as 'ocellate' or 'two­ spot octopuses'. Certain species, when s�rtled, can display an iridescent blue nng within each ocellus, making these false eyes even more obvious The Poison Ocellate Octopus (O�topus motot£), for example, is normally a dull orange-brown, but when disturbed it pr�duces a dazzling display of maroon The Southern Sand Octopus quickly draws itself under the sand to flee from predators. It can stnpes and flashes brilliant blue rings in form 'chimneys' in the sand by coiling two arms over its body to form pipes through which the ocelli. This species was described water can be pumped to the mantle and gills. NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 43 The Greater Blue-ringed Octopus occurs in northern Australia and has been responsible for at least one human fatality. from Rapa Island in the South Pacific, Ocean. Other species are recognised by convinced of their demise. where it is known locally as fe'e mototi different patterns of blue on the body. A number of long-armed octopuses (= poison octopus), hence the scientific The Blue-lined Octopus (H. fasciata) have developed the ability to drop arms name. The nature of its poison, however, from New South Wales has blue lines as a decoy to attackers. This defensive has not yet been examined. instead of rings on the body, but blue strategy is known as autotomy. It is per­ Octopuses similar to the Poison rings elsewhere on the arms. haps best known in certain lizards that Ocellate Octopus may have given rise to Blue-ringed octopuses are thought to drop their tails when threatened. The the poisonous 'blue-ringed' octopuses of harness bacteria in their salivary glands arm of the octopus, severed at the base, Australia and Asia. It is possible that to produce tetrodotoxin-the same continues to writhe, in some cases for up they replicated the iridescent rings of paralysing neurotoxin found in the poi­ to four or five hours, distracting (and the false eye-spots all over the body and sonous puffer fishes. Several human feeding!) the attacker while the octopus arms to produce this brilliant colour pat- fatalities in Australia have been attrib- makes its getaway. Occasionally an octo­ pus is found in the wild with only two intact arms. The lost arms, however, do grow back. In some species they can The powerful venom paralyses the muscles fully regenerate within six to eight weeks. The Banded Drop-arm Octopus required for body movement and breathing. (Ameloctopus litoralis) of northern Australia has arms up to ten times its When bitten, the victim's heart continues to beat body length. Autotomy in this octopus must be a very effective deterrent as it is and he/she remains conscious. one of the few shallow-water species in the world that has dispensed with an ink sac. Perhaps ink decoys or 'smoke tern advertising their poisonous nature. uted to bites from these small octopuses. screens' don't hide such long arms. We know very little about the blue­ The powerful venom acts on the victim's Many octopuses restrict their activity ringed octopus group. A number of voluntary muscle, paralysing the mus­ to the cover of night. Members of one species are reported to occur from Japan cles required for body movement and group of nocturnal octopuses are recog­ to southern Australia, including at least breathing. When bitten, the victim's nised by red-and-white colour patterns three species in Australian waters. heart continues to beat and he/she and longer front arms (those in front of The Southern Blue-ringed Octopus remains conscious. Mouth-to-mouth wn � (Hapalochlaena maculosa) the eyes). They forage for prey do occurs in resuscitation can keep the victim alive crevices rocks or � southern Australia and is recognised by and lairs, and under and the poison gradually wears off after coral heads. Some species, such as the i small blue rings covering the upper 24 hours, apparently leaving no long­ body and arms. The Greater Blue-ringed term side_ effects. Some patients that Octopus (H. lunulata) has larger rings The Day Octopus, which forages during have survived such an experience talk of daylight hours on coral reefs, reaches weights and occurs in northern Australia and far­ the terror of lying immobile and con­ ther north in the tropical western Pacific of six kilograms and has arm spans over two scious while people around them are metres wide. 44 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98

Bunurong Octopus (Octopus bunurong) tidal rocky reefs or sand flats. Such ani­ be holes in corals or rocks, empty mol­ of Southern Australia, are generalist mals emerge to feed during the short lusc shells or coconuts, excavations int? feeders, eating a wide range of prey. One periods of low tide, when these habitats rubble, sand or mud made by other am­ tropical octopus in this group was are uncovered and big predatory fish mals, or tailor-made dens prepare� by encountered carrying the night's catch: are forced into deeper water. These octo­ the octopus. Lairs are often recognised several crabs, two bivalve shells, a puses feed in and between the shallow by the 'kitchen scraps' (midden shells shrimp, a polychaete worm and a freshly pools exposed at low tide, even dragging and other food debris) scattered around decapitated octopus. Other members of themselves over dry, exposed ground the mouth of a hole. The Commo� this group are more specialist in their when moving between pools. Certain Sydney Octopus (Octopus tetricus) typi­ diets, one-the White-striped Octopus intertidal species feed only at night, cally sits in the mouth of its lair, often (Octopus ornatus)-having developed a while others, such as an undescribed closing the entrance by holding rocks or taste for other octopuses. species from the Great Barrier Reef, shells on the suckers. . A different defensive strategy is to only emerge during low tides during the Other octopuses seek refuge within avoid most predators by living intertidal­ day. the sand. The Southern Sand Octopus ly. Tropical Australia has many octopus­ Lairs or dens are used by many (Octopus kaurna) inserts its fine arm es that are only known to live on inter- species of octopus as refuges. These can tips deep into the sand and uses these as 8 46 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-9 In certain octopuses, the male develops a few very large suckers that may be flashed at females during courtship displays to advertise his maturity.

gernail. Pygmy octopuses are rarely the female produces a delicate white encountered live. The majority have brood shell or egg case in which to live been collected during scientific surveys and lay her eggs. Males are very differ­ when chemical immobilisers are used to ent, being a tenth (or less) the size of the flush these animals from their refuges. female and lacking the delicate brood The little-known Pygmy Club Octopus shell. Southern Argonauts (Argonauta (Octopus warringa) is one such species nodosa) periodically wash ashore in that lives among seaweed and rubble in southern Australian waters, possibly southern Ausb·alia. The modified arm blown in from the open ocean by wind­ tip in the males of this species is swollen driven surface currents. like a club, hence the name. Other tropi­ The Blanket Octopus (Tremoctopus cal species spend their entire life cycles violaceus) is an open-ocean creature within the safety of small coral heads. related to the argonauts but is bizarre Evolutionary pressures may have acted enough to warrant its own family on the ancestors of these dwarf species, (Tremoctopodidae). On the front arms it selecting octopuses that mature at small­ has long veil-like webs, the tips of which er and smaller sizes so that they do not can be shed in segments, like sheets of outgrow either their refuge or the food toilet paper. The function of these webs supply living within their haven. is unknown but they may be used as lures to attract prey. Females may be up THER VERY DIFFERENT OCTOPUSES to two metres long but the males are O spend their entire life in the open dwarfed and lack the veil-like webs of ocean, never touching the sea floor. the female. The Blanket Octopus has no These are the argonauts (family shell like the paper nautiluses; instead Argonautidae) and their relatives. the eggs are attached to small rods Argonauts (also known as paper nau­ made by the female and carried in her tiluses) are a type of octopus in which arms. For defence, the Blanket Octopus

OCTOPUS SEX

Male octopuses are distinguished from females by the presence of a modified third arm, the third right arm in most species. This arm has a groove running along the edge and a leaf-shaped grasping structure at the tip. When octopuses mate, the male moves elongate sperm packages, called spermatophores, along the groove to the arm tip. The male places the copulatory arm into the mantle cavity of the female where the tip of the arm inserts spermatophores into the female's oviducts. a long In some long-armed rock-pool octopuses, the male remains hidden, snaking modified arm across the rock pool to transfer spermatophores to the hidden female. During courtship males of some species use complex postures and skin patterns patterns are only to put on spectacular displays of colour and texture. Oft�n t�ese _ of the animal displayed on the side facing the female, while the opposite side passing males to the remains camouflaged, presumably as a means of not alerting The Pygmy Club Octopus, which weighs less the male develops presence of a receptive female in the area. In certain octopuses, than five grams, is one of many pygmy species courtship displays a few very large suckers that may be flashed at females during recently discovered in Australia. Some species to advertise his maturity, or at males in territorial disputes. . are mature at under one gram. for periods of up Females of some octopuses can store sperm in special glands until the eggs are mature and ready to b� fertilised an� la!d. an anchor to pull itself to three months, quickly below the their eggs, continually dea ing th�m and Jetting surface. Such species Females of all octopuses tend � have no true lair with the eggs until hatching, and then die and hide in the sand during the day. them with dean water. Females remain Some can even 'swim' soon aftet · · _ through the sand, Octopu , the miniature oc�as1onally surfacing for a 'breath' or In the argonauts (paper nautiluses) and the Blanket � _ , breaks off 1 s1de the female s using a single periscopic eye to see if the male's entire copulatory arm with its store of sperm � _ coast arms from up to six past suitors, is clear. body cavity. Females have been observed with One of the least studied groups is the each tip still holding packages of live sperm. PYgmy octopuses, some of which are fully mature at weights less than one gram and with a body the size of a fin- NATU 47 RE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 ---

has been reported to hold the stinging tentacles of bluebottles in its arms. Virtually nothing else is known about the behaviour, feeding, or life span of this octopus. It has been collected in open ocean around Australia, with one unusual record of a female that was caught in a crayfish pot of f Victoria. Other sb·ange jelly-like octopuses live in very deep waters (below 1,000 metres). Unlike typical octopuses, these forms have fins on the body and small sensory filaments (cirri) along the arms between the uckers, presumably used to find prey along the dark, muddy sea floor. These 'cirrate' or 'finned octopus· es' have webs that extend to the arm

The White-striped Octopus is a large tropical species with arms up to one metre long. This aggressive nocturnal species is found from Hawaii to east Africa and has a taste for other octopuses. NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 specimens. One such species from muddy waters of northern Australia r is known only f om two museum speci­ mens. These animals, although r shriv­ elled f om the preservation fluid have delicate spindle-shaped bodies and thin �long�te a1:ms each over a metre long. In life this arnmal must be very impressive foraging like a giant daddy-longlegs spi'. der over the soft sediments of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Researchers have nick­ named it 'Spaghetti-pus'! Other remark­ able reports, particularly from tropical waters, are trickling in of spectacular mimics: new species of octopuses imper­ sonating hermit crabs (complete with BROAD HORIZON shell!), and even flatfishes, lionfishes and NATURE TOURS FOR 1998 sea horses. NATIONAL PARKS AND DINOSAURS OF THE USA. 16 day tour with a geologist/palaeontologist through When they spread their spectacular scenery, explaining arms they look like a scenery and dinsaur sites. April l 0-25 and· Sept 26-Oct 11. rubbish bin lid as they P.O.A. in motels. Plus air fare.

drift or glide through the THE DINOSAURS THAT ROAMED r QUEENSLAND. dark depths. Some species 17 day coach tour with US and local enthusiasts to dinosaur siles in NSW are known to have and Qld. June 22-July 8. Dr Paul arm spans that reach Willis, Dr. Jeanette Muirhead leading. $3995. three metres. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND. Roam Lord Howe Island with Ian Hutton and Dr David Roots. Full tutorial tours. June, 1ov. of the most For the scientist, some Prices vary with season. exciting information is coming from divers, particularly underwater photogra­ phers, who are witne�sing �he COf1;1plex LISTEN TO OUR LAND. behaviours of these arnmals 111 the wild. If Dr Mary White on the state of anyone has such information on octopus­ surface and plant or from Australian land The es from the Australian Region Common Sydney Octopus is found along the P cific and evolution. A 17 day tour from the coast of New anywhere throughout � * South Wales and southern Oceans, please send it to me_ . coast to desert centre. Queensland. It is frequently Indian seen by divers at and anecdotal mfor­ summary of her latest the mouth Images, specimens Practical of its lair during the day or out us to expand our kn_owl­ hunting at mation all help three books. May 14-30. night. appreciation of these fascmat­ edge and $3668, accomodated, coach. ing and alien creatures.• tips. When they spread their arms they look like a rubbish bin lid as they drift or Further Reading Ask for a complete brochure. glide_ through the dark depths. Some spec Hanlon, R.T. & Messenger, J.B., 1996. Cephalopod ies are known to have arm spans Roots that behaviour. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Contact Dr David reach three metres. Cirrate octo­ Tours P/L puse Australian Academic s are generally only encountered in Kingdom of the octopus. Jarrolds 006 673 489 dee Lane, F.W., 1957. A.C.N. p-sea research trawls, or observed 2ta004092 from Publishers: London. Lie. No: underwater submersibles. 02 9290 3734 We Phone: still know very little about many of Fellow at the Freecall: I 800 810 921 e octo *Dr Mark Norman is a Research � puses from Australasian waters. of Melbourne, co-sponsore� y t�e Fax: 02 9290 3702 an� University . ��res s species are collected both by com­ of Victoria. H�s research in [email protected]. au erc1 Museum and evolution of � al and recreational fishers for the include the biology: behaviour ,¥ww.academ ictours.con1.au mn r t ranging from pygmy o opus ; � �ble and/ or as bait, but �irtually cephalopods, ck an d/ � FI 3, l 00 Clarence St. Sydney .0 oth g iant squids. Specimens, photogra p s m 1s known of their biology behav- of octo uses j_ PO Box 4850, SYDNEY SW 1044 iour, early nformation on the behaviour � · life stages or stock sizes. f be sent to the p,u (!r c s om e species ' the wild can of f are known to science only Department of Zoology, University rom Photog Vic. 3052. raphs or individual museum Melbourne, Parkville, 49 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98

The Honey Possum is the world's only non­ HEN WE THI K OF not until the mid 1970s that research flying mammal with a diet consisting solely began on the possible role of non-flying pollination we think of nectar and pollen. Detailed studies are mostly of birds and mammals in pollination. This work yet to be done to determine the actual occurred almost simultaneously in bees. Some of us may r importance of this species in pollination. recognise that many insects visit South Af ica and Australia, where the W r flowers, and a few may be aware that large flower spikes of Af ican proteas bats, particularly the large fruit bats, and Australian banksias were found to attract the attention of non-flying HERE ARE PROBABLY TWO REASONS WHY are also involved in pollination. mammals have However, it appears we have sold some mammals. More detailed studies in the Tnon-flying been early 1980s concluded that several small undervalued as pollinators. The first is of our native fauna short in the species are pollination stakes. The animals we rodents in South Africa were very that most of these nocturnal commonly overlook are the small effective pollinators but the Australian which makes it very difficult to observ� ground- and tree-dwelling mammals, species fared rather poorly, particularly their raids on flowers. The second is that collectively referred to as 'non-flying when compared to their avian mammals are generally perceived as mammals'. counterparts, the honeyeaters. Thus, being less careful when they feed at The first suggestion that Australian the Ausb·alian non-flying mammals flowers; some may appear to be destruc­ non-flying mammals were likely to be were relegated to second-class tive as they feed, and they groom regu­ involved in pollination was published pollinators and once again largely larly, which would remove any pollen over half a century ago. However, it was forgotten. sticking to their fur. With colleagues at the University of Wollongong, we have spent over ten

e could tell that the animals had actually visited the flowers from the pollen on their heads or in their faeces.

years studying several species of non-fly­ ing mammals in order to understand their role in pollination. We felt from the outset that there was strong anecdotal evidence for these mammals being important pollinators, but to convince others of their effectiveness, we had to �how that they were, in fact, regular vis­ itors to flowers and fed non-destructive­ ly; that they actually carried more than trivial amounts of pollen on their fur; and, perhaps most importantly, that their visits led to the production of seed. The first part of our study was con· ducted along the New South Wales coast at five sites from Wollongong, just south of Sydney, down to Batemans Bay. We set live traps near the flower spikes of six different Banksia species (both sum· mer- and winter-flowering varieties) as well as near the spectacular crimson inflorescences of the Waratah (Tetopea speciosissima). These plants were cho· sen because they grow as shrubs (as ?PPOSed to tall trees) and were thus eas· 1er to access. We devised a simple stand for the traps that enabled us to place them right beside flowers dripping with nectar. � We mam· "'z were surprised to capture g mals visiting all seven plant species sur· "'0 V, veyed. We could tell tlrnt the animals had V, "'0 actually visited the flowers from the � honey-baited pollen on their heads or in their faeces. � The placement of mammal traps alongside banksia flowers pr0 d uce d h'19 h capture rates. The pollen loads sampled from mammals shortly after capture Also surprising was that the Brown 3 were very high. Antechinus (Antechinus stuartii) was � 52 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98

A photographic device with an infra-red trip was used to quantify flower visitation by non-flying mammals. Here an Eastern Pygmy-possum tucks into the nectar of the Waratah, a supposedly bird-pollinated plant.

the most common visitor, followed by forests near Batemans Bay revealed that ow POR THE SECO D LI E OF the Sugar Glider (Petaurus breviceps) flowering eucalypts were targeted for N evidence. Just how much pollen do and the Eastern Pygmy-possum food (pollen and nectar) by Yellow-bel­ Australian non-flying mammals carry? Is (Cercartetus nanus) and then the native lied Gliders (Petaurus australis), it really trivial as earlier studies had Bush Rat (Rattus fuscipes). The Brown Feathertail Gliders (Acrobates pygmaeus) impEed? We decided to study the pollen Antechinus has long been regarded as and Sugar Gliders whenever such trees loads carried by Sugar Gliders and an insectivore, so to witness its penchant were present. When hundreds of flower­ Brown Antechinuses that were visiting fornectar shows there is still much to be ing trees were present, gliders regularly banksias in the Barren Grounds Nature disc�vered about this common marsupial. Reserve, near Wollongong. From the With much-needed assistance from earlier trapping studies it was clear that Ederic Slater (a retired CSIRO wildlife sampling the fur for pollen the morning photographer), we also set up cameras after capture would not provide an accu­ �n the field that would be activated by an rate assessment of the amount of pollen mfra-red trip when the flowers were Photos showed carried, simply because mammals sit­ b�ing visited. This photographic tech­ ting in traps have little to do other than nique provided compelling evidence mammals feeding non­ groom. So, over a period of several that _these small mammals were impor­ months we stayed out at night, checking tant m pollination. Photos showed mam­ destructively with their traps and sampling pollen at one-to­ ma \s feeding non-destructively with three-hour intervals. We also hand-cap­ their heads buried among flowers. Visits tured any Sugar Gliders we saw in plants occurr d heads buried among as we patrolled the traps. � _ � - throughout the night and indi­ � Vldual visits lasted from twoto six minutes. There are various techniques avail­ flowers. r � Another way we tried to assess the fre­ able for sampling pollen f om animals. � quency of visits was by direct observa­ We settled on perhaps the simplest, � t10n, using a spotlight. This proved which involved dabbing a piece of sticky � rather tricky when the animals were in tape onto the animal's head and snout i small shrubs, but a detailed study in the moved among trees to feed. When few and then sticking the tape on a micro­ - tall Spotted Gum (Eucalyptus maculata) such trees were present, several of each scope slide for counting. These pollen counts provide an index of the total size The glider species would often feed in the Sugar Glider behaves true to its name and of the pollen load present on an animal, see one tree and for hours at a time. An ks out natural sources of sugar in its and are useful when comparing relative hab important observation was that Yellow­ "t1 a t. Nectar from the flowers of eucalypts pollen loads carried by different and bellied Gliders did not groom when they bank s1as· 1s· h "1ghly favoured, resulting in animals. Sug moved from one tree to another, sug­ ar Gliders being important pollinators of Earlier studies on honeyeaters using the gesting they could carry significant se plants. pollen loads. similar techniques reported counts of NATU RE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 55 A Brown Antechinus caught in the act of nectar-feeding on the summer-flowering Old-man (or Saw) Banksia (Banksia serrata). This mammal was found to be the most regular banksia visitor in our trapping survey. thousands of pollen grains. We obtained mals moved among the flowering losa). For this 'exclusion experiment' we counts of over 2,000 pollen grains for banksias; it wascommon, for example, to constructed special bags to go over the Sugar Gliders and over 400 for Brown follow the thread from a Sugar Glider flower spikes to keep out the visitors we Antechinuses. However, sampling of along its gliding path from tree to shrub, didn't want. Bags were made from pollen from Eastern Spinebills (Acan­ and to find it encircling flower spikes shade-cloth and had a protective mesh of thorhynchus tenuirostris), the most abun­ wire or hard plastic. The mesh was nec­ dant honeyeater in our study area, essary because in earlier studies we revealed counts of less than 40 grains. found mammals would chew straight This was a curious reversal of the earlier through the shade-cloth to get to t�e studies but the spinebill data were not The mesh was necessary nectar. The experiment, which we ran m surprising given the bird's long bill, two different years, consisted of rem_ov­ which often doesn't touch the pollen as because in earlier studies ing bags from one set of plants dunng the bird feeds. Our pollen counts demon­ the day and replacing them at night, and strated that at least some of the non-fly­ we found mammals would removing bags from another set of ing mammals associated with banksias plants at night and replacing them dur­ had the potential to be effective ing the day. The first set of plants thus pollinators. chew straight through the excluded visits from all nocturnal non­ In addition to the pollen counts, we flying mammals (no bats were present in examined the movements of these mam­ shade-cloth to get to the this study), while the second set only mals as they foraged among banksias. allowed visits from these animals. The For this we used a spool-and-line track­ nectar. results were conclusive: not only did we ing technique, whereby a spool of thread prove that nocturnal visits by non-flying is attached to the back of the mammal. mammals led to the production of s�ed, One end of the thread is held when the near the ground. Distances moved but the plants that were visited at night animal is released so that the thread between flowering banksias ranged up produced about three times as many unwinds passively as the animal moves to 59 metres for Sugar Gliders, 31 seeds as those that were visited only by through its habitat. A spool contains metres for Brown Antechinuses and 23 diurnal pollinators (birds and insects)· 100-250 metres of thread, which can be metres for Eastern Pygmy-possums. T followed the day after the animal has The final part of our study was O A I.AST WE HAD DEFINITIVE EVTDE CE been out foraging. Even though the designed to assess the relative contribu­ S that non-flying mammals were spool could be used up in a very short tion to pollination of the different ani­ important pollinators of at least �ne period of time, we found it revealed mals by regulating their visits to flowers native plant, the Hairpin Banksia. A sim- important insights into how these mam- of the Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinu- ilar result was obtained by Sau 1 56 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 -

Cunningham (Monash University) in another exclusion experiment involving the Coast Banksia (Banksia integrifolia) at Wilson's Promontory. Given the fre­ quency of visi_ts by non-flying �ammal species to a wide range of banksias and eucalypts, it is likely that these mam­ mals are pollinators of considerable importance in most Australian forest, woodland and heathland communities. The tide has certainly turned in the recognition of the importance of non-fly­ ing mammals in pollination. Over the last ten years, studies in other countries (Central and South America, Africa and Madagascar) have revealed that over 40 species of non-flying mammals are involved in the pollination of about 25 plant species but many more plants are likely to be identified as studies contin­ ue. Australia has 12 species of non-flying mammal pollinators presently docu­ mented as regular flower visitors. In what appears to be an evolutionary coup, however, Australia is endowed with the only non-flying mammal species to have a diet consisting solely of nectar and pollen. This is the Honey Possum (Tarsipes rostratus) and it has evolved several adaptations for nectar feeding, including an extremely pointed snout, reduced dentition and a brush-tipped tongue. All other non-flying mammals (in Australia and elsewhere) derive a sub­ stantial part of their nutrition from sources other than flowers.These 'com­ peting interests' have apparently pre­ vent�d _the_se mammals fromdeveloping specialisations for nectar feeding. On the other hand, the plants upon which these mammals feed have traits that are t�ought to specifically promote pollina­ tion by non-flying mammals. Many of these plants, for example, have dull-coloured flowers with pungent nectar, traits thought to attract nocturnal mammals which lack colour vision but which rely heavily on smell. Production of nectar and pollen is often also greater a� night. Some plants produce flowers hidden within a dense canopy and close to !he ground, which suggests speciali­ sat10n for ground-dwelling non-flying mam�als. However, caution is required when interpreting these traits because Studies have shown that Feathertail Gliders target flowering euclypts as a food source. too few studies have been conducted to know whether such traits are indeed more attractive LaPine, T.R., Peterson, C.J. & Channing, A., 1983. Non­ to non-flying mammals Further Reading flying mammal pollination of southern African proteas: than_ ot�er Carthew, S.M., 1993. An assessment of pollinator visi­ animals. In addition, recent a non-coevolved system. Ann. Mo. Bot. Gard. 70: studi tation to Banksiaspinulosa. Aust. J. £col. 18: 257-268. �s m Africa, Madagascar and South 1-31. Arnencahave revealed that a number of Carthew, S.M. & Goldingay, R.L., 1997. Non-flying lem�rs and monkeys may be important ll mammals as pollinators. Trends £col. £vol. 12: Dr Ross Goldingay lectures in wildlife biol­ �? mators of particular plants and such 104--108. iurnaI ogy at Southern Cross University in mammals appear to respond to a Lismore, New South Wales. His interests are ve? different s�t of plant traits. Cunningham, S.A., 1991. Experimental evidence for in the behavio11;ral ecology of marsupials, urther studies are required before pollination of Banksia spp. by non-flying mammals. conservation biology, forest management ;e fully understand the interaction Oecologia 87: 86-90. and pollination ecology. Dr Sue Carthew lec­ etw_een plants and non-flying tures in population ecology at the mammal Goldingay, R.L., Carthew, S.M. & Whelan, R.J., 1991. s ecie�. We cannot be allowed to forget Roseworthy Campus of the University of t�ese The importance of non-flying mammals in pollination. important pollinators if we are to Oikos 61: 79-87. Adelaide, South Australia. Her interests are ad �quately conserve the ecosystems in pollination ecology, population genetics w to hich they belong.• Wiens, D., Rourke, J.P., Casper, B.B., Rickart, E.A., conservation biology and vertebrate ecology_' NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 57 Given that the skin of the snout inelastic, is reasonably tough and therefore relatively unless, of course, this kind of sensitivity is unexpected, it is achieved through a special mechanism. ECHIDNAS ON THE NOSE BY UWE PROSKE

HAT JS so special about an echidna's nose? Well, I was lucky enough to be a member of the team that discovered that the Short-beaked Echidna W(Tachyglossus aculeatus)' like the Platypus, has specialised nerve e�dings at the tip of its snout that are selectively sensitive to mmute ele�tric currents. Remember, humans have nothing like that. We might get a mild shock from touching the terminal of a tore� battery with the tip of our tongue, but the Platypus and Ech1d�a can detect with their rioses sources of electricity a thou­ �and times weaker, such as the electric signals produced by mov­ mg prey. But the story of electroreception has already been told (Nature Aust. * Autumn 1990). Here I want to talk about another structure that is unique to the noses of the Platyp us and E ch"d 1 na,

The enigmatic Short-beaked Echidna Photos by Reg Morrsion (a ove) and Dave Watts/Na;ure Focus (right). � _ Previously ANH

58 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98

but one that is thought to be selectively nerve endings in the skin of our fingers. ous sensitive to mechanical stimuli. A colleague recently did an ingeni_ Before I begin, though, I need to say experiment on this topic. He asked blmd­ some general things about our own sen­ folded subjects to compare the coarse­ sitivity to mechanical stimuli. We have in ness of surfaces embossed with plastic our skin the senses of touch, pressure dots, which he presented to each hand. and vibration (as well as other non­ By rubbing their fingers across the sur­ mechanical senses such as warmth, cold faces, subjects were able, with �reat and pain). It has been possible to associ­ accuracy, to match roughness. A differ­ ate certain specialised nerve endings in ence in grain spacing of about 0.2 of a the skin with particular sensations. millimetre was readily detected. Then Stimulating a structure called a Merkel one arm was cooled over about ten cen­ cell complex, for example, produces a timetres at the elbow by wrapping sense of pressure. Stimulating another around it the inner tube of a bicycle tyre, flow­ structure that looks like a miniature through which ice-cold water was_ everythmg felt Top: When foraging, the Short-beaked Echidna onion, called a Pacinian corpuscle, ing. With the cooled arm evokes a sense of vibration. We all know much smoother and only relatively large periodically probes the soil with its snout. (0.4-0.7 fa Bottom: Here it feeds on termites by poking the sense of vibration-what we feel differences in grain spacing � through our legs when we stand at an millimetre) could be detected. Cooling its snout and long sticky tongue into a termite ction of mound. intersection and a tram rattles across it. the arm slows the speed of condu However, Pacinian corpuscles and nervous impulses as they travel up the Merkel cell complexes are thought to do arm on their way to the brain, leadmg to more than just signal vibration and pres­ a reduction in the ability to judge texture. sure. They are also involved in our per­ Rece(1t Now returning to monotremes. _ ception of texture. When we feel a piece anatomical studies of nerve endings 111 of fabric, for example, the intermittent skin of the Echidna snout have revealed mechanical stimulus provided by the that it too contains Pacinian corpuscles ribbing of the material is signalled by and Merkel cell complexes. But there these and other mechanically sensitive are two additional structures that are

60 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 snout and f und only in the Echidna liatypus bill. These are the push rods nd the sensory mucous glands. In our :arlier experiments we were able to show that the sensory mucous gla�d was the electroreceptor, the stru_c�u_re 111 the skin responsible for the sens1t1v1ty to weak electric currents. �o_re recently we have studied the sens1tiv1ty of nerve endings in the Echidna snout t? mechan­ ical stimuli in an attempt to assign a func- ' tion to the push rods.

PUSH ROD CO ISTS OF' A TINY, TIGHTLY A packed column of cells. lying in the uppermost layer� of the skm. Un_der _a good light the �P of the r�d, �h1ch 1s only about 20 micrometres 111 diameter, ' can be seen as a rounded dome pushing ' up from below the skin surface. There are many push rods in the skin of the Echidna snout, particularly around the lips where there can be as many as 30-40 per square millimetre. An important aspect of the structure of push rods is ' that at the base of each column is a num­ ber of Merkel cell complexes as well as 1 two to three Pacinian corpuscles. It is the as sociation of the push rods with these nerve endings that has led to the pro­ posal that they are concerned with trans­ mitting mechanical stimuli. As the dis­ coverer of the push rod, E.B. Poulton, ' wrote in 1885: 'The obvious use of the rods is to supply special moveable areas yielding to surface pressure which is thus communicated to the terminal organs below''. It is this hypothesis that we wanted to put to the test. We therefore listened to the impulse ' traffic in the nerve that supplies the skin of the upper jaw in the Echidna, while we applied weak mechanical stimuli to the skin surface. We observed activity quite similar to that seen in skin of other ani­ mals, activity that was typical of Merkel cell complexes and of Pacinian corpus­ cles. On one occasion, when we were l recording from what was probably a Merkel nerve ending, we marked with dye the spot on the skin surface from which the activity could be elicited most re�dily. Subsequently we saw under the microscope that there were two push rods within a few hundredths of a mil- ' lim�tre of the marked spot. But that, while suggestive, does not represent

o T p: A close-up illustration of the head of an Echidna showing as stippling the distribution of push rods across the skin of the snout. Bottom: _ This diagram illustrates a high-power , ; view of a longitudinal section of a single push rod. The skin surface is at the top. At the base of a column of compact epidermal cells (y ellow) lies a number of encapsulated nerve endin gs-the Merkel cells (green) and Pa · "" cinian corpuscles (mauve)-each supplied "' by a "'0 myelinated nerve fibre c.. (black). Other "" nerve fibres 3: ascend into the epidermal column ::, 10 term >- inate in what are called vesicle chain lD receptors. Ii: The width of the field of view is ::, a 0 pproximately 100 micrometres. u NAT URE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 61 positive proof that our stimulus was (Condylura cristata), whose nose has a reaching the Merkel ending by depress­ star-shaped appendage used to probe mud and soil for prey items such as bee­ SHORT-BEAKED ing a push rod. Another piece of circum­ stantial evidence was that sensitive tles and worms. The surface of the skin ECHIDNA of each ray of the star consists Tachyg/ossus aculeatus Merkel endings could respond to skin of a indentations as small as four thou­ densely packed array of Eimer's organs and, importantly, very few other kinds of Classification sandths of a millimetre. Given that the Order Monotremata, family skin of the snout is reasonably tough nerve endings. Recordings made from Tachyglossidae. The only other living and therefore relatively inelastic, this the brains of Star-nosed Moles during echidna is New Guinea's Long-beaked kind of sensitivity is unexpected, unless, tactile stimulation of the skin of the star Echidna (laglossus bruijni,). of course, it is achieved through a spe­ revealed responses resembling those of cial mechanism such as a push rod. Pacinian corpuscles and Merkel cell Identification Much of the problem of working with complexes. So for moles, a mechanosen­ Back covered in spines; long, tubular monotremes derives from the fact that sory function of Eimer's organ has been snout; 30-45 cm long; 2-7 kg. Male there is nothing similar to compare with established. Given the similarity in struc­ has spur on ankle of hind leg. in other animals. Push rods as such have ture between Eimer's organ and push only ever been described in mono­ rods, this is the best evidence yet in sup­ Habitat and Distribution tremes. However, there are structures in port of a tactile function of the push rods. Sparse but ubiquitous in dry to cool moles that resemble the push rods in Incidentally, it has been suggested that temperate to tropical wet sderophyll several respects. These are called Star-nosed Moles, like monotremes forest, rainforests and deserts, Eimer's organs and are found in the skin have electroreceptors (see Natur; throughout most of Australia and of their snout. They consist of a column Aust.* Spring 1994). However, it now Tasmania. Also occurs in lowlands of of cells at the base of which lies a cluster appears that the skin of the star contains New Guinea. of specialised nerve endings, much as in only Eimer's organs and no nerve end­ push rods. But there are some differ­ ings suggestive of electroreceptors. In Reproduction ences between push rods and Eimer's addition, work on the Pyrenean Desman Mating occurs in July/ August; one organs. Push rods have cell columns (Galemys pyrenaicus), a type of aquatic soft-shelled egg laid about 2 weeks that appear to be able to move more mole not unlike the Platypus in its habits later into temporary pouch; hatches independently of adjacent regions of has shown no evidence of electrosenso'. about 10 days later. Young initially skin than appears to be the case for ry behaviour. suckle from pouch, but are later left in moles, and they are associated with larg­ A fascinating feature of mole snouts, as the burrow. Juveniles emerge from er numbers of encapsulated nerve end­ well as the Platypus bill and Echidna burrow when approx. 1 year old. ings. It seems as though push rods are snout, is that they have an extensive sys­ more specialised, more highly evolved tem of blood vessels just below the sur­ Behaviour structures than Eimer's organs. face of the skin. The only vaguely com­ Solitary with overlapping home ranges. Eimer's organs, which appear to be parable structure in humans is the penis. Eats ants, termites but also other present in the snout of all moles (we And it has been speculated that, like the invertebrates such as worms and don't know about Australia's Marsupial penis, the Echidna snout can become beetle larvae. Mole, Notoryctes typhtops), have recently engorged with venous blood producing a been described in detail in the skin of swelling and outward bulging of the the North American Star-nosed Mole skin. Perhaps the swelling leads to pro­ trusion of the tips of the push rods like a series of tactile fingers. That, of course, would greatly improve contact between an external object and the skin surface. In addition the accompanying local rise in temperature produced by the circulat­ ing blood would have the opposite effect to that of cooling the skin. It would speed up impulse transmission in skin nerves and therefore lead to greater sensor y acuity. In fact, measurements carried out on flaccid and erect cat penises suggest that erection is accompanied by a sever­ al-fold increase in sensitivity of the skin to mechanical stimuli. But who would have thought otherwise?

T HENEVER I AM IN ECHIDNA TERRJ ORY Wdown here in southern Victoria, the first tell-tale signs of their where­ abouts are the numerous nose pokes in the soil. A foraging Echidna ambles r �long, f om time to time making probes 111 the soil with its snout. Occasionally, presumably when it encounters some-

An Echidna's snout has an extensive system of blood vessels just below the surface that enables the snout to be engorged with blood. Could the resultant swelling increase the snout's sensitivity to mechanical stimuli?

*Previously ANH

NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 Although the skin on an Echidna's snout is tough and relatively inelastic, it is still highly sensitive to both electrical and mechanical stimuli.

0ing of interest, it begins digging with ical stimulation associated with digging, a its front claws, eventually excavating the structure like the push rod has evolved. Gregory, J.E., lggo, A., McIntyre, A.K. & Proske, U., 1989. source Responses of electroreceptors in the snout of the echidna. of interest-a beetle larva, or But we need to know a lot more about J. Physiol. 414: 521-538. w?rm. The prey item is then squashed both Echidnas and moles before we can with the snout and finally licked up with draw that kind of conclusion. In a wider lggo, A., Gregory, J.E. & Proske, U., 1996. Studies of the long, rough mechanoreceptors in skin of the snout of the echidna . tongue. Similarly context, the evolution of the push rod Tachyglossus aculeatus. Somatosensory and Motor Ech1dnas will dig into a termite mound or emphasises how little we know about the Research 13:129-138. ant's nest and lick up the ants as they pour general principles involved in the conver­ fromthe nest. It is conceivable that, when­ sion of a mechanical stimulus into a sen­ Manger, P.R. & Hughes, R.L., 1992. Ultrastructure and �ver the Echidna's distribution of epidermal sensory receptors in the beak of interest is aroused dur­ sation. If push rods are so good at trans­ the echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus. Brain Behav. Evol. m¥ a nose poke, it is able to finetune its mitting stimuli from the skin surface to 40: 287-296. s½in sense organs by engorging the snout deeper structures, why don't more ani­ with bloo_d. It would be fascinatingto try mals have them?• Phillips, J.R. & Matthews, P.B.C., 1993. Texture percep­ to test this hypothesis tion and afferent coding distorted by cooling the human _ by recording from ulnar nerve. i. Neurosci. 73: 2332-2341. skin sense organs in an Echidna while ontrolling the Further Reading i _ blood flow to the snout. Poulton, E.B., 1885. On the Tactile terminal organs and er�aps that will be our next experiment. Andres, K.H. & von During, M., 1984. The Platypus bill. other structures in the Bill of Omithorynchus. J. Physiol. 5: i A 15-16. ' F nally, I think it is worth reflecting on structural and functional model of a pattern-like I e f arrangement of different cutaneous sensory receptors. In � �ct that the skin of two sorts of animal Sensory receptor mechanisms, ed. by W. Hamann and A. Schlegel, P.A. & Richard, P.B., 1992. Behavioural evi­ s_ diverse as moles and Echidnas con­ lggo. World Scientific Publishing Co.: Singapore. dence against possible subaquatic electrosensitivity in the �m� structures that are astonishingly Pyrenean Desman Galemys pyrenaicus (Talpidae, similar. ls it just another example Andres, K.H., von During, M., lggo, A. & Proske, U., Mammalia). Mammalia56: 527-532. ve of con­ 1991. The anatomy and fine structure of the echidna :gent evolution, given that both types �ni of Tachyglossus aculeatus snout with respect to its different Uwe Proske is a Professor of Physiology at m�l �e likely to be sticking their noses trigeminal sensory receptors including the electrorecep­ mto i Monash University. He has been working for sim lar places? It is tempting to sug­ tors. Anat. Embryo/. 184: 371-393. many years on the properties of sensory geSt that, under conditions acu where an Catania, K.C., 1995. Structure and innervationof the sen­ receptors in skin and muscle in humans and �e sensitivity of the skin is required other animals including the Platypus and agamst sory organs on the snout of the star-nosed mole. J. Comp. a background of massive mechan- Neural. 351: 536-548. Short-beaked Echidna. NATU RE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 63 b P H O T O A R T

SEASHOTS BY BECCA SAUNDERS AUSCAPE PHOTO LIBRARY

Jellyfish (Phyl/orhiza punctata).

Gorgonian fan.

64 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 Detail of a yellow-tipped, blue-and-white featherstar.

NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 65 -- Close-up of sea star (Asterodiscides truncatus).

66 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 (i

P H O T O A R T

Coral polyps ( Tubastraea fau/kneri).

Ascidian.

NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 67 .,, Leafy Seadragon (Phycodurus eques).

8 68 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-9 ...... P H O T O A R T

Ascidian.

Bigeye Trevally (Caranx sexfasciatus).

NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 69 - tists' want taught as science in schools throughout the world. VIEWS FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION Fortunately, there are more testable sources of understanding about the or i­ What do Creation 'science'and Koalas have gin of Koalas: the sciences of molecular to do with one another? biology, anatomy and palaeontology. Molecular biology and anatomy both demonstrate that, of living marsupial groups Koalas are most closely related to wo�bats. Although koala fossils are rare one of the first Tertiary mammals KOALAS: fou�d in Australia was Perikoala palankarinnica. Teeth and jaw fragments APOSTLES VS of this leaf-eating cousin of the living Koala were found in 1953 in 24-million­ year-old deposits in central Australia. In FOSSILS the years that followed, tonnes of central Australian fossil 'dirt' were processed BY MICHAEL ARCHER and the number of kinds of fossil koalas grew to six. Karen Black did her Honours research on the fossil koalas of Riversleigh. One of them appears to be the most 'primitive' koala yet known. Another, named worse God declared that all except two of Nimiokoala greystanesi, is so strange that every living thing would be drowned by it took Karen months to convince herself zillions of tonnes of floodwater from that it was a koala rather than a member somewhere. The lucky two of every­ of some new bizarre group. Unlike all thing, including two of all their parasites other koalas, its molar teeth had enor­ and disease organisms, were shoe­ mously high, sheep-like cutting blades. horned into the Ark to bob about on the Although this 'Koaleep' clearly ate plants, EOLOG!ST lAN PLIMER floodwaters for a year. Presumably on the it is most unlikely that these were gum (University of Mel­ passenger list were at least two very pro­ leaves. Homing in on the origins of the bourne)G is the latest in a long line of sci­ lific gum trees to provide the half tonne living Koala, Riversleigh also hosted the entists who have had a go at publicly of leaves a healthy pair of Koalas would hip-pocket-size Litokoala kanunkaensis, exposing the frontal-lobotomising brain need to survive. At the end of the cruise, previously only known from South virus that lurks below the crust of the floodwaters, which had been deep Australia. Of all early Miocene (23-16- Creation 'science'. All of us hoped that enough to cover Mount Everest, went million-year-old) koalas, this one is prob­ the pseudoscience used by this religion away to somewhere and the Ark settled ably most closely related to to mislead people into parting with their on top of Mount Ararat in Turkey. (As Phascolarctos, the genus that contains money would be held up to public exam­ support for the truth of this legend, the living Koala (P.cinereus). Even closer ination in the trial of Australian 'Arkeologist' historian Allen Roberts to modernity is a single, larger tooth 'Arkeologist' Allen Roberts. Unfor­ claims to have identified the remains of from Riversleigh's late Miocene (ten-to­ tunately, the trial devolved instead the Ark on the slopes of Mount Ararat­ :five-million-year-old) Encore Site that around relatively mundane matters such in the form of what geologist Ian Plimer may represent the first appearance of a as breach of copyright-of which has shown to be a very large pile of dried species of Phascolarctos. Cundokoala Roberts was convicted. Call me naive, but I cannot see why a minister of reli­ gion who uses deceit to solicit money to fund an expedition to find Noah's Ark should be any less liable to legal action If accounts of soggy modern Koalas falling out than a con man who solicits money to get his Budgie's teeth capped. Failure of the Federal Court to accept responsibil­ of trees after days of soaking rain are true, no animal ity for protecting a gullible public from parasites of this kind has cost Ian Plimer in its right mind would have camped in the wet under a heaps including his house and now court costs. Worse, it sends a signal to gum tree laden with 'drop bears' this size. all snake oil merchants waiting in the wings, from fork-benders to faith-heal­ ers, that deceit has the Federal Court's seal of approval as a legitimate method mud.) After the Ark landed, everything yorkensis, a giant koala more than twice for soliciting money. from dinosaurs to Dodos disembarked Wh the size of the living species, was first at do Creation 'science' and Koalas onto the flood-devastated Earth and have to do with one another? In reality, found in a Pliocene (five-to-two-million­ slipped, flopped, flapped or swam unerr­ year-old) deposit in southern Australia. If nothing rational, but in the eyes of ingl to appropriate parts Creation r of the globe, accounts of soggy modern Koalas falling 'scientists', plenty. They tell us leavmg no trace of their passage along that God popped Koalas out of trees afterdays of soaking rain are into being along the way. The two Koalas with their prolif­ ld with everything else in one divinely cre­ true, no animal in its right mind wou ic gum trees then crossed the barren have camped in the wet under a gum tree ative week, some 10,000 years ago. After lands and oceans (all 'flesh' a brief not in the laden with 'drop bears' this size. period of benevolence, Adam and Ark had been destroyed by the flood) Eve's disappearing apple to Looked at overall, the fossil record trick led to a re-establish in Australia where they have in corrupted creation and an infuriated suggests koalas have steadily declined live� happily ever after. Charming story, diversity, known Creator. As things went from bad to but _ _ with at least six species 1t 1s this story that Creation 'scien- from the late Oligocene, four from the 70 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 ...... Yookamurra Sanctuary

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Spend an evening with Bilbies, Boodies and Woyties. Before breakfast, radio track Tumbats and experience the bird life of the semi-arid interior.

For only $85 all walks, meals and accommodation are included with � I our warm country hospitality. 0 a, Special interest groups are catered for example (bird watching, bush­ @ >' :,: ' Q. walking ere). Also, educational z :, C >- tours for schools and tertia1y groups are available when 0 C >­ a, booking. Camping available with z 0 prices on request.

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One of Riversleigh's ancient rainforest koalas, already hooked on gums. bookings contact us on Tel 08 8562 5011 early Miocene, two from the middle forests opened up and the gums began a Miocene, one fromthe late Miocene, two spectacular rise to dominance. And Fax 08 8562 5023 from the Pliocene and one from the lounging on those branches, grinning Pleistocene/Holocene. This trend is like lucky lottery winners, were the Yookamurra Sanctuary is an uncomfortably similar to that of the ill­ koalas whose fortunate ancestors had bet fated thylacines and as such it does not on gums. Earth Sanctuaries project where auger well for the long-term future of Lucky they may be, but there also may your support directly helps save Koalas. have been a cerebral down side to However, this worry is to some extent munching toxin-laden gum leaves for mil­ Australia's wildlife. This 0!fs�t by the fact that the modern Koala is lions of years. Odd as it sounds, neuro­ sanctuary is now completely a11d significantly more common in its pre­ biologists have found that the Koala's ferred habitat than any of the fossil koalas brain fails to fill more than 60 per cent of permanently protected from feral appear to have been. How could this have the space available in its skull. Perhaps happened? We have speculated that at Koalas and the Creation 'scientists' who animals with 14 kilometres of lea t one � of the rare koalas in Australia's would pull Koalas out of an Ark in Turkey electrijted fencing. ancient rainforests began to specialise on do have something in common after all.• the equally rare gum trees which in turn Yookamurra is Australia's most were s�ecialists, as most g�ms are today, Professor Michael Archer lectures in biology on nutnent-deficient soils within the rain­ and geology at the University of New South ambitious private �ores�. After Australia's climates began to Wales. Most of his non-teaching hours are conservation project. etenorate, from about 12 million years devoted to the study of the fossil faunas of ago, nutrient-deficient soils increased' Riversleigh, north-western Queensland. - NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 71 REVIEWS

three book of Australian mammals. Resources. The text covers of Mineral . questions of The book received great The book does great credit broad topics: . and has become ts basic bat biology, evolution acclaim a to all involved and repre�e!1 text. Only prov1dmg and diversity of the 900-odd standard reference a great first step in _ ?f recently has he allowed the regional geologies. world species, and issues popular Th s general public a glimpse of Hopefully other titles will bat-human interactions. ! is followed by an appendix his impressive poetic talents. follow. In The incomplete book of Osborne listing ostensibly all _kno:"'.n -Armstrong Australian mammals amus of Sydney bat species by sc1entif1c ­ University ing poetical whimsy is spiked name, common name . and conservation status. Quite a with quirky scientific fact, few Australian species are tempting us to explore some omitted and the list is dated, unusual facets of our unique but this does not detract from mammalian heritage. the book's value as a great The colour paintings and introductory text. sketches accompanying the -Harry Parnaby poems were drawn by Australian Museum Pamela Conder, a well-known and respected wildlife artist. Her eye for detail and use of Layers of Time: innovative techniques have The Blue enabled her to catch the Mountains and their Geology essence of the animal. When By J. W. Pickett and J.D. Alder. New you look at the illustrations, South Wales Departmentof you feel as if the animal is Mineral Resources, NSW, 1997, truly alive, sniffing the air or bounding through the bush. 34pp. $9.95rrp. The incomplete book of This little book, with Australian mammals is an almost as many authors and attractive and informative logos as pages, is a beautiful­ Bats in Question book. The hilarious descrip­ ly illustrated and well­ Published by CS/RO Publishing, tion of the planigale is worth designed field guide to the Vic., 1997, 184pp. $29.95rrp. the reasonable purchase geology of the BlueMountains. price alone. All in all the book '"' worthwhile and a rec­ Following a brief introduc­ There has been an explo­ Pamela Conder is well tion to the geology of the sion of bat books during the ommended addition to your area, the book takes us on a past decade but this one is library. 36-stop journey from the certainly worth a look if you The Incomplete -Cheryl Hook Nepean River along the Great want a good introduction at a Book of Australian Museum Western Highway to Hartley, reasonable price. This is the Australian and then back via Bells Line latest in 'The Smithsonian Mammals of Road to view the city in the Answer Book' series, which By Ronald Strahan and Pamela far distance from Bellbird has a question-and-answer Conder. Kangaroo Press, NSW, Hill Lookout. All the well­ format. It addresses many of 1997, 56pp. $19.95. known features-Wentworth the big questions about bats, Falls, the Three Sisters, such as why bats fly into peo­ It's not often that you come Govetts Leap, Mount Banks ples' hair, why bats hang across a book with such uni­ and Mount Tomah-and upside down, and what good versal appeal. However, the many lesser-known are they are. There are some 60 combined talents of Ronald described in clear language. interesting questions ably Strahan and Pamela Conder The key features at each stop tackled by a highly readable have done just that by pro­ are illustrated by superb text aimed at a wide audi­ ducing a book that engages colour photographs and dia­ ence. Over 120 colour pho­ the interest of people of all grams, and a glossary of tographs superbly enhance ages and inclinations. The technical terms is provided the text, by both their clarity incomplete book of Australian on the last page. and interesting composition, mammals is a delightful artis­ Wilsons Particularly excellent are and illustrate the amazing tic and poetic celebration of Promontory the sections covering the sci­ diversity of bat species our well-known (and not-so­ Coastal entific and mining history of throughout the world. The well-known) mammalian fauna. Wilderness the Blue Mountains, such as North American bias does The writer Ronald Strahan By David Press, coal mining at Neilson. Snowgum Katoomba and not hinder its relevance to a is a well-regarded academic Vic., 1997, 72pp. $32.95rrp. oil shale mining at Hartley much wider audience be­ who has spent a lifetime Vale, featuring historic pho­ cause most of the informa­ researching and writing Wilson's Promontory is a tos and diagrams from the tion may be applied to bats about Australian wildlife. In that archives of the Department high granite peninsula worldwide. 1983 he edited The complete juts out into the wild waters

72 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 sou ­ explains the of Bass Strait on the. � various human s�ecies are set out in system­ rn-most tip of V1ctona. enterprises that have atic order, following the order e occurred David Neilson's photography there, like the once set out in The flora of New vers the magnificent c�ast­ vast pastoral leases and the South Wales. Under each co many line of the Promontory 111 a mining operations. He species there is a detailed diverse range of lighting and also gives some technical description of the plant, flow­ information weather. . on the film and ering times, distribution and He outlines the natura_l �1s­ equipment used. habitat notes, distinguishing RANGE OF PREHISTORIC ANIMALS tor y of the region, descnbmg Pippos also gives a person­ features for field identifica­ FROM $6.95 its geology, fauna and flora, al account of his experiences tion, and notes on similar Check our web site for further details and human inhabitancy. He while photographing particu­ species and how they can be on dinosauria. also gives an account of the lar scenes. He explains how separated, as well as com­ struggle to declare the land he was concentrating on cap­ ments on observed variation. LISTEN ... as a National Park. Only turing a trickle of water just The plant descriptions are recently t11e Victorian Gov­ entering a dry river bed after detailed and adequate. I ernment released a new draft rain, when to his surprise he found the notes on distin­ management plan for this was almost swept away by a guishing characters for field park, which includes contro­ flash flood. It is this consum­ identification most useful versial proposals for develop­ mate ability to capture the when identifying unknown ment. moment no matter how long specimens, and the notes on The powerful and moody it takes, that sets him apart. similar species has proven pictures give us an idea of the This is an exquisite collec­ invaluable when a specimen vastness of this largely tion of images, by a master has been narrowed down to untouched wilderness and photographer. two or three possible taxa. to protect it. -Kate Lowe The second section com­ the need LISTE Through its stunning pic­ Australian Museum prises keys to genera and OUR LAND'S CRY! G this book reveals the species. The keys use vegeta­ The spectre of desertification lurks tures, behind power and fragility of the tive and gross floral charac­ current land use practices in Australian landscape. ters, and none requires the arid lands including Australia. -Kate Lowe use of a microscope, al­ $59.95 Australian Museum though a hand lens would be useful when matching an unknown specimen with the species description. The keys are excellent and easy to use, and unlike some other orchids keys I have used in the past, I get an 80-90 per cent success rate, even in the more difficult orchid genera. Bishop has kept the botanical EUPHOLUS BEETLE terminology t9 .a minimum (WEEVIL) KEYRING and supplies a· concise glos­ Actual specimen in resin sary to assist those people -A greaT gift! still coming to terms with $6.95 botanical jargon. Field Guide to the The added bonus is the Orchids of New excellent photography. All An Australian South Wales and but two of the 550 taxa Landscape: The Victoria described have a colour plate Flinders Ranges By TonyBishop. University of New (the two exceptions are quite By Stavros Pippos. Endeavour South Wales Press, NSW, 1996, rare and are instead repre­ Publishing, SA, 1996, 104pp. 257pp. $27.95rrp. sented by colour drawings). $44.95rrp. The bulk of the plates are I was thrilled when I close-ups of individual flow­ _Stavros Pippos' affinity encountered Tony Bishop's ers highlighting the main fea­ with the beautiful and hostile Field guide to the orchids of tures of each taxon. The plate environment of the Flinders New South Wales and numbers correspond with the Ranges has led to this, his Victoria. It contains keys to species numbers in the first second book on the subject. species, illustrations of all the section, so by merely flicking The pictures illustrate the species described and is ideal through the plates, one can WILD RELATIONS mcredible colour and diversi­ for slipping into the daypack. easily refer back to the An amazing and thought tyof this particular region of This is an advantage over species descriptions without South provoking series exploring the Australia. It includes other orchid books currently having to work through the themes of conflict and places like Port Augusta in which are either keys. the available, cooperation amongst south and Arkaroola in too expensive, unwieldily, To all orchid enthusiasts, the Australian animals. north. don't have all the species whether they be botanists or $29.95 The production quality is illustrated, or are restricted simply people who appreciate �xcellent and enhances our orchid flora, I heartily i the to just one State. mpact of the images. The The book is set out in two recommend this book. Get them all from: text th�t accompanies the pic­ first section -Peter Jobsonf tur sections. The �s gives an interesting his­ comprises the species de­ National Herbarium of NSW AUST!u\l.lAN torical background Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney MUSEUM SIIOP and scriptions. The genera and 6 COLLEGEST S\'DNE\' NSW NATURE 2000 AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 FAX: (02) 9320 6066 Pt10NE: (02) 9320 6150 WEBSITE: WWW.AUST�IUS,GOV,AU SOCIETY PAGE Get involved! Across 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. Whether your special interest is conservation, birds, science, national parks, bushwalking or a particular group of animals, there's a society for you.

REPTILES Victorian National Parks Field Naturalists Club ANIMAL WELFARE of SA Inc. Cape York Herpetological Fauna Rescue of South Association PO Box 1594, Society Australia 10 Parliament Pl, Melbourne, Vic. 3002 Adelaide, SA 5001 PO Box 848M, 7 Ormsby Ave, Ph: (08) 8272 9015 Manunda, Qld 4870 Modbury Nth, SA 5092 Ph: (03) 9650 8296 Contact: Mr D. Kraehenbuel Ph: (08) 8264 4958 Fax: (03) 9654 6843 Ph: (0418) 984 092 • Contact: Luke Telford Contact:•• Sheila Burbidge Contact: Doug Humann Membership Fee: $20.00 • ••••• Membership Fee: $30.00 family; Membership••• •fee:• $40.00•• single Membership Fee: $53.00 (includ- $20.00 single; $10.00 Wildlife Information & ing Nature Australia); $25.00 pensioner/student Rescue Service (WIRES) (standard rate); $35.00 (includ­ PO Box 260, ing subscription to EDUCATION Forestville, NSW 2087 Tasmanian Conservation SA Science Teachers Herpetofauna) Trust Ph: (02) 9975 5567 Association Inc. Contact: Reg Woodleigh 102 Bathurst t, c/- Plympton High School, Hobart, Tas. 7000 Errington St, Membership• Fee: $30.00 SCIENTIFIC Ph: (002) 34 3552 RESEARCH Contact: Suzi Manigian Plympton, SA 5038 Ph: (08) 8293 2733 ANGFA (Australian and New The Australian Entomological Membership• Fee: $25.00 per Contact: Judy Morton Guinea Fish Association) Society a11nun1 22 James Watt Drive, Dept of Entomology, Membership• fee: $76.00 Chittaway, SW 2261 The University of Queensland ' secondary; $65. 00 primary; Ph: (043) 882 276 St Lucia, Qld 4072 ANTHROPOLOGY $105.00 institutions and schools Contact: Lorraine and Derek Ph: (07) 3365 1564 Anthropological Society of Girkin Fax: (07) 3369 1922 WA Melbourne University •••• Contact: Dr David Evans Walter University of WA, Zoology and Botany Students Membership Fee: $35.00 Crawley, WA 6009 Society Membership Fee: $55.00 Ph: (09) 380 2853 3/22 Hunt St, Independent Landcare Contact: Jane Mulcock Donvale, Vic. 3111 (private) •• Ph: (03) 9841 0825 PO Box 116, ZOO INDUSTRY Membership Fee: $40.00 Contact: Angela Cheung Port Sorell, Tas. 7307 Australian Society of professional membership;$25. 00 ••• Ph: 019 978 541 Zoo Keeping (ASZK) full membership; $10.00 students Membership fee: none Contact: Mr David J Lane PO Box 248, pensioners, unwaged; $15.00 ' corresponding membership Membership•••• Fee: $5.00 Healesville, Vic. 3777 (outside Perth metro area only) CSIRO's Double Helix Ph: (059) 624 022 Science Club Contact: Michael Taylor PO Box 225, INSECTS •• BIRDS Dickson, ACT 2602 The Societyfor Insect Membership Fee: $45.00 NSW Field Ornithologists Ph: (06) 276 6643 Studies Club Contact: Lynn Pulford 1 Oak St, PO Box Q277, •• Gordon Bay, Newsletter/Journal, • Monthly meeting, QVB Post Shop, NSW 1230 Membership Fee: $25.00 Clovelly, NSW 2031 • Bi-monthly meeting, Annual Ph: (02) 9698 7263 Ph: (02) 9315 7998 meeting/conference, • Weekly meeting, Contact: Penny Drake-Brockman Science Teachers' Contact: Bert Brunet • Quarterly meeting, • Field outings/Tours, Association ofVic. •••• • Conservation/Working programs, MembershipFee: $35.00 PO Box 190, Membership• •• fee: $15.00 Richmond, Vic. 3121 • Discounted Goods, • Magazine, Ph: (03) 9428 2633 • Social/Education Activities, • Nature CONSERVATION Contact: Julie Mills MUSEUM Australia magazine, • Seminars National Parks Association TAMS, The Australian ofNSW Membership•••• fee: $70.00 Museum Society Level 4, 83-87 Castlereagh St ' individual primary; $90.00 6 College St, Imperial Arcade individual secondary; $90. 00 Sydney, NSW 2000 Sydney, NSW 2000 primary schools; $180.00 Ph: (02) 9320 6225 Are you a Club Ph: (02) 9233 4670 secondary schools Contact: Sandra Harrison Contact: Kristi MacDonald Secretary? Membership••• •Fee:• $55.00 Membership••• fee: $48.00 NATURE AUSTRALIA'sAssociate ENVIRONMENTAL (single); $70.00 (household); household; $43. 00 adult; $23. 00 $40. 00 (student/pensioner) concession (unwaged, pensioner, Qld Conservation Council Society Scheme is designed to student) PO Box 12046, Elizabeth St help your club or society with free ORGANIC GROWING Australian Trust for Brisbane, Qid 4002 Hunter Organic Growers publicity, funds and member Conservation Volunteers Ph: (07) 3221 0188 Society PO Box 423, Fax: (07) 3229 7992 PO Box 822 benefits. Contact Rebecai Ballarat, Vic. 3353 Contact: Rose Kulak Hamilton, N'sw 2303 Ph: 1800 032 501 •• Membership Fee: $20.00 low Ph: (049) 964 455 Kinsela on (02) 9320 6119 Contact: Madeline Townsend Contact: Eveline Walter income; $30. 00 medium income­ Membership•••• fee: $30.00 ' for more details. $45. 00 high income Membership•• Fee: $20.00

74 8 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-9 Free the Bears.

REE THE BEARS ING work to stop Bears from Cambodia to Taronga Zoo F cruelty to bears worldwide, raising in Sydney. These cubs were literally money and petitioning to stop bear saved from having their paws hacked baiting, bear farming and also to end off while alive (for soup), then being the restaurant trade. boiled or roasted alive themselves.

We are also helping to build a We have recently had a Sun Bear· soft sanctuaryin Cambodia for rescued toy made to sell to be part of a series Sun Bears and to improve the of 8 - one of each bear species. He is conditions at LopBuri Zoo in Thailand. Australian designed, safety tested, and We help IFAW by supporting their made to scale form the original. Note , '• sanctuary in China and their research the "sun" design on his chest just like .l- �£::, .. herbal alternatives to the use of the real bear. He is approximately D into "Please nore the bear you purchase will not have a gold fflng on its ears as shOwn above q bear file. We also support a Professor 30 cm high, very good uality and sells r------in Russia who raises bear cubs for $32.95 + $6.50 postage per bear. Please send me ( ) Sun Bear soft toy(s). I have enclosed ( orphaned when their mothers are Members pay only $25 + postage. $32.95 $25 as I am a member)+ $6.50 postage per bear. shot by hunters. All proceeds go straight to helping Name ______the real bears! We are non-profit Address ______Free the bears fund is the group who and voluntary. ______Postcode ____ recently brought the three rescued Sun Telephone ______Please send this coupon and your payment to: Free the Bears Inc 5 Laga Court Stirling WA 6021 or ring (08) 9244 1096; Fax: (08) 9244 4649

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Random Feast I was recently watching Q •. two bulldog ants moving on the bare ground of a fire-trail in the bush. They travelled aim­ Q lessly over an area of about 20 square metres for at least three­ quarters of an hour, never stop­ ping, and without appearing to & eat or do anything but walk. Can you theorise as to what this expenditure of energy was all about? A -E. Griffin Tumut, NSW Fish Balls or Beach Balls? A• These ants are look­ I saw some strange • ing for food. Bull ants Q • fibrous balls on a beach (Myrmecia spp.) are mem­ at Robe, South Australia, last bers of a primitive group of August. There were a number of ants. They have less devel­ them and they were all different oped social systems than sizes. If they aren't fur balls from many other ants and work as a cat fish, what are. they? individuals. They wander -Jean Goldberg about foraging for food at ran­ Hawthorn East, Vic. dom. When they find food they take it back to the nest. • These fibre balls are Ants with more highly A• often found on the evolved social systems work shoreline of beaches and may in groups and when an indi­ reach 30 centimetres or more vidual finds food the informa­ in diameter. They originate tion is passed on from it to from the leaves and stems of others via pheromones seagrasses. Seagrasses are (chemical messages or scent flowering plants adapted for trails). life under water in shallow -Max Moulds marine or estuarine areas. Australian Museum Some seagrasses have long narrow leaves and are com­ Would this be the usual prey for a Lace Monitors can take prey rep­ monly known as strap weed. Eating On the Run goanna of this size? resenting half their body weight. When the leaves and stems of I took this photograph of -John Crew these seagrasses decay they Q .• a goanna with a possum Bermagui, NSW form deposits of fibrous mat­ in its mouth on a bush block four Tiny Hitch-hiker erial. Wave action can roll kilometres south of Bermagui. I • Goannas are largely During a field trip our these fibres into the balls or think the goanna caught the pos­ A • carnivorous and op­ Q •. attention was drawn to oval masses found washed up sum asleep in a hollow log in the portunistic feeders and larger one particular wasp that was on the beach. middle of the day. On sighting me species like this Lace walking rapidly across the forest -Stephen Keable the goanna climbed to the top of Monitor (Varanus varius), floor. Normally elusive, the agi­ & Elizabeth Cameron the ironbark and presumably had tend to take larger prey, on tated wasp did not fly away as Australian Museum his lunch while enjoying the view. occasions representing near­ was expected. Closer inspection of ly half the body weight of the the wasp revealed what looked lizard. However, the prize for like a tick firmly attached to one of gluttony goes to a two-metre the wasp's rear legs. The tick was individual that was reported holding on with one crab-like fore­ to have eaten four fox cubs leg, while questing with the other. three young rabbits and thre� Was the tick specific to wasps (or large Blue-tongues. Even insects), was the wasp an interme­ smaller Lace Monitors eat diate host (and potential vector), or rabbits, so swallowing an was the tick simply using the wasp average size ring-tail possum, as a convenient means of trans­ as your photo shows is well portation to a new host? �thin th!s lizard's �apabili­ -K. Foley & P. Branwhite ttes. Bemg opportunistic Albury, NSW feeders, Lace Monitors will eat both live prey and carrion • The small creature from the road. A look at the A • attached to the hind ffia:, 9 photo shows what appears to leg of this wasp is not a tick "'0 be damage to the possum (ticks only parasitise verti; � being swallowed, and I sus­ brates), but a pseudoscorp1- pect that it was possibly a on. Pseudoscorpions are gen­ � ::, recent roadkill the goanna erally fairly small Oess than 8 had come across. one centimetre in total Could this be a fur ball from a cat fish? -Ross Sadlier length) and are included in Australian Museum their own order (Pseudoscor- 78 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER !997-98 I )

I ) "' t:: :r

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pionida) within the Arachnida upon other small arthropods Answers to Quiz in Nature (a vast group that includes such as mites and fleas, the spiders, mites and ticks, thereby ridding their host of Strips (page 16) and scorpions, among oth­ parasites. Pseudoscorpions ers). They can be easily dis­ are often found in leaf litter, 1. Fungi and algae r under stones, or under the tinguished from other arach­ nids by the presence of pin­ bark of trees, and they usual­ 2. Platypus :., cer-like pedipalps at the front ly lead a sedentary life. of the body. These pincers However, very occasionally, 3. China also occur in scorpions, but some species attach them­ pseudoscorpions lack the selves to the legs of a flying 4. Otzi long tail and sting found in insect, which apparently their larger cousins. serves to transport them 5. Brown Pseudoscorpions occur in from one habitat to another. .!) virtually all terrestrial habi­ Although most pseudoscorpi­ tats around the world, even ons possess venom that dis­ 6. Sea anemones on the slopes of the highest charges through a small mountains and the edges of sharp tooth on the end of 7. Cook the sea, where some species their 'pincers', they rarely kill live in the intertidal zone. their flying host during this 8. Witchetty grubs Incredibly, some pseudoscor­ hitch-hiking phase, and the pions reside in the fur and insect lives to fly another day! 9. Northern Territory nests of small mammals -Mark S. Harvey where they appear to feed Western Australian Museum 10. Two

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 for­ get to include your name and address. The first cor­ rect entry will win a $20 gift voucher for the Museum Shop Catalogue. Spring's Pie Teaser was a Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera I carunculata) at a banksia I flower.

NATUR E AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-98 in North America. Subsequent studies THE LAST WORD attempted to detect and culture spirochaetes from ticks and EM lesions. There was only one positive isolate­ It took a full century to discover the cause of Lyme Disease. from a skin lesion of a patient who acquired LD in Europe. They did detect 'pseudo-spirochaetes' but these were thought to be artefacts of the culturing process. Attempts by other workers to DOES LYME infect the Australian Paralysis Tick (Jxodes holocyclus) with a North American strain of B. burgdorferi were DISEASE OCCUR successful, however the ticks were unable to maintain and thus transmit the IN AUSTRALIA? infection. So, 12 years after the first report of EM acquired in Australia, the researchers concluded there was no BY BERNIE HUDSON definitive evidence for the existence of B. burgdorferi or any other tickborne spirochaete that might cause LD in detect the causative bacteria. This was Australia. fortuitously discovered in 1982 by Willy As mentioned, several Borrelia Burgdorfer, while conducting tick species are found in ticks worldwide. research nearby. Spirochaetes, later Some are proven to cause LD. Others called Borrelia burgdorferi, were cul­ are not; but this may be related to the tured and, after some experimentation, fact that the optimal detection methods a special culture medium was developed for some of these species are unknown. to grow them. Subsequently, the same The inability of B. burgdorferi to set up spirochaetes were grown from EM persistent infection in the Australian lesions. Thereafter, European research­ Paralysis Tick is not surprising. It is well DISEASE, A TICKBORNE ers demonstrated similar spirochaetes known that ticks of certain species are illnessL causedYME by a spiral bacterium in ticks, and in skin and body fluids of quite particular about which Borrelia (spirochaete), has attracted controversy European patients. It thus took a full they can carry, just as they are about ever since it came to prominence in century to discover the cause of LD. which animals they bite. Australian ticks Connecticut, USA, in the 1970s. To We now know that LD occurs across may carry an indigenous Borrelia that understand the controversy, a brief the northern hemisphere. It can be causes LD, but may not be able to carry review of its history is helpful. caused by a diverse range of B. burgdorferi. The EM lesion, from data The first published description of spirochaetes, all in the genus Borrelia outside North America, may occur in as what we refer to today as Lyme Disease (family Spirochaetaceae), with an in­ few as 20-50 per cent of LD cases. (LD) was from Germany in 1883-a creasing number of species being Patients can have LD without ever report of an unusual skin lesion. In ret­ described. recalling either an EM lesion, or a tick rospect, the first North American case So what relevance is this to Australia? bite. They may just develop arthritis, was described from Spooner, Wiscon­ Decades before the causative spiroch­ neurological disorders or a non-specific sin, in 1969. However, the disease was aete was isolated, everybody in Europe syndrome of tiredness and aches and first described (and named) in the 1970s and North America agreed on the exis­ pains. Not all clinical cases, including after the town of Lyme, Connecticut, tence of LD. In most areas the typical those with the classic EM skin lesion, are reliably diagnosed by blood tests. From all of this, I believe there is clin­ ical evidence of an indigenous form of Lyme Disease has attracted controversy ever since it came LD in Australia, probably due to infec­ tion with a tickborne spirochaete(s) to prominence in Connecticut, USA, in the 1970s. (unlikely to be B. burgdorfen), and that current laboratory methods require modification as they are inadequate to culture the causative organism (s) either from ticks or humans. Until this is done, where children thought to be suffering rash (EM) was used as an indicator of from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis were controversy about the existence of an its existence. In Australia, the first indigenous form of LD will continue.• subsequently diagnosed by Allen Steere report of EM was in 1982. Three more (Yale University) with LD. cases were reported in 1986 from the Further Reading In Steere's initial studies, a clinical def­ New South Wales south and central Hudson, B.J., Barry, R.D., Shafren, D.R. et al., 1994. inition of LD was based upon the pres­ coasts. The original researchers from ence of the classic skin lesion, erythema Does lyme borreliosis exist in Australia? 1. Spirochetal Westmead Hospital in Sydney collected Tickborne Diseases 1(2): 46-52. !Includes clinical case migrans (EM), often at the site of a tick some clinical data on suspected LD studies.I bite. In addition, some cases had arthri­ cases, noting on their initial survey that tis, meningitis, facial paralysis, or even a at least 13 patients (nine from New Dr Bernie Hudson is an infectious diseases heart condition (heart block). Not all South Wales) fitted the North American Physician and microbiologist in the Depart­ patients recalled a tick bite. In other LD case definition. Some cases may ment of Microbiology at Royal North Shore words, Lyme Disease was a clinical have acquired LD outside Australia and Hospital, Sydney. diagnosis describing a constellation of the possible Australian cases all t�sted signs and symptoms. negative in LD blood tests. These used a 17zeLast Word is an opinion piece Despite extensive research over a and does not necessarily reflect the views metho� called western blotting, based of the Australian Museum. number of years, Steere was unable to on an interpretative criterion developed

80 8 NATURE AUSTRALIA SUMMER 1997-9 >

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