DECEMBER 15, 1965

Rea,.tered at the General Post Office. Sydnev. for transmimon by post as a periodical VoL. 15, No. 4

PRICE, 3 -, 30c This special issue is devoted to the natural histor) of the desert!> and other arid area" of Australia's interior. It contains ci�ht cxtra pages.

CONTENTS

T11E ATURAL HisToRY 01- AusTRAI.IA·s ARID I TERioR 97

TilE DESERT AREAS OF AUSTRALIA-//. 0. /·fetcher CE TRAL AUSTRALIAN MOUNTAI S 104

LANDSCAPES OF ARID A 0 SEMI-ARID AUSTRALIA-}. A. Ma1Jb111t 105

APPOINTME T OF DR F. H. TALI:lOT AS DIRECTOR OF I"JJE MliSEll\1 110 ATURE TJJ E A1 o ORIGI 1 01- MoDER DESER 1 s-Reg. Sprigg Ill AVERS ROCK 114

DESERT PLA 1 s AND T11 EIR Ust:.-George M. Chippendale 115

MAMMALS 1 ARID REGIO s 01- AusTRALIA-13. J. Mar!OH' 119

DESERT BIRDS-I-I. J. deS. Disney .. 124

REPTILES A D FROGS OF AUSTRALIA's ARID REGIO s-1/. G. Cogger 128 BooK REVIEW 131

CRUSTACEA 01' I Ill: ARID LA o-Jo/111 C Yaldwyn 132

• FRONT COVE I{: The Rabbit-cared llandicoot ( Thy/acollt_\'.1 lagoti.l). a I) pica I member of the mammal fauna of Australian deserts. lt excm•atc" deep burro"s "ith the powerful cla"s on its forefeet. The photo is by Ho"ard 1-fughcs. An article on mamnwls in the arid regions of Au tralia appear" on page 119.

VoL. 15, No. 4 DECEMBER 15, 1965 AUS IAN NATUR ISTORY

Published Quarterly by the Australian Museum College Street. Sydney

Editor: J. W. Evans, Sc.D. Annual Subscription, Posted, 14/-, $1.40

==�-===���====�===== �====

VoL. 15, No. 4 DECEMBER 15, 1965

The Natural History of Australia's Arid Interior

TH LS issue of Australian Natural History Nevertheless, the arid interior of Australia is devoted to the arid interior of Aus­ is relatively richly endowed with animals tralia. This is an area of increasing acces­ and plants, and many of these have evolved sibility and tourist interest. but the num­ complex physiological and behavioural erous photographs and paintings which adaptations to life in arid regions. Many adorn postcards, calendars and travel others have been enabled to survive not by posters tend, not unnaturally, to stress its becoming adapted to these conditions, but more imposing but less typical features. by actually avoiding them, for example by occupying habitats such as rock crevices. True deserts are rare in Australia. but waterholes or burrows, or by their nocturnal arid and semi-arid areas occupy about 70 habits. per cent of the continent. By virtue of its size alone this region is important to Aus­ Because of its vast are:>. and apparent tralia and Australians, but it is important uselessness, little thought has been given to al o for many other reasons. in particular the need to conserve large samples of thi for the scientific interest of its fauna, flora interesting environment. Ln an area of such and geology. climatic extremes. where prolonged droughts arc of relatively frequent occurrence. the Many of our desert and semi-desert areas need for careful and studied use of avail­ receive an average annual rainfall of more able resources should be clearly apparent. than 10 inches-enough by most standards The ravages of land misuse-including over­ to support not only a rich fauna and flora grazing and over tacking-may be long in but also moderate agricultural and grazing manifesting themselves, but they are all too activities. The rainfall, however, i unreli­ evident in many areas today. and hence able. and many areas may lack appreciable before very long the "Dead Heart" of rainfall for periods of several years. Australia may come to live up to its name.

December, 1965 Page 97 The Desert Areas of Australia

By H. 0. FLETCHER AN eminent climatologi t, after a detailed study of the desert areas of the world, came to the conclu ion that Australia has the econd largest area of extremely arid land in any continent. It was e timated at 1,100.000 square mile in cornpari on with the Sahara region which has the greatest area with approximately 2.600.000 square miles of desert country. This figure for Au tralia very closely agrees to that which the late Profes or Griffith Taylor had adopted as the combined area of what he .. termed ··desert" and sparseland'', the former being practically uscle land and the latter inferior pa toral land. The geographical methods of defining de ert and near-de ert areas u e vegetation, amount of average rainfall and the ratio of precipitation to evaporation. Many defi­ nitions. however, have been put forward to Thi map �hows the limit of Australian limit the features of what might be con­ deserts. Spar">eland . surrounding the true sidered a true de ert but the e �ary to such dc">ert areas. are ruled. [From A mtralia, by an extent that area classed a de crts in Griffith Taylor.] one part of the world would not nccc arily be the ea c in other parts. Very few of Taylor did not agree that merely rainfall these would possibly not be very near to determined a de en, as in parts of Aus­ the popular idea of a de crt which is formed tralia large area with a rainfall of about in the mind of the average layman. 5 inches have long been occupied by pas­ torali ts while other regions with a rainfall One author state that ·'a de crt has be­ ranging from 5 to 15 inche are unoccupied come by definition not naked rock or and. ri and arc Jikely to remain unoccupied. The but a lacc of small rainfall with a parse northern half of the Great Sandy Desert in and specialized animal life". Another is We tern Australia has a rainfall of 8 to 20 that "a desert is a country with an arid cli­ inches while the outhern half, although it mate and such a scanty water upply that receives far le rain. ha much le s evap­ agriculture is impracticable and occupation oration and there i little to di tinguish be­ is found po sible only for a sparse popula­ tween the feature of the two areas. tion of pa toralists''. One chool of thought Very little of the Au tralian desert accepts average rainfall a a mean of deter­ country has a rainfall less than 5 inches a mination as thi involves the main factors, year. lt frequently happen however, that such a growth of vegetation and occupa­ . over a period of successive years the rain­ tion. Thi is probably a very good test. a fall may not exceed an inch. or even lcs , average rainfall a a criterion overcomes and then be followed by heavy rains of up change brought about by erratic rainfall. to I 0 or more inches for cveral seasons. Desert and near-desert area arc some­ On these occa. ions the desert areas arc what of variable types in different parts of tran formed into ones of triking beauty as the world and in different latitude . This the ephemeral hrubs and wildflowcr i the rea on why there appears to be no quickly. almo t miraculously. appear and complete a�reement among scicnti t as to cover the country with a carpet of colour. what actually con titute the e area . Griffith The transformation is. however, a very tern-

Page 98 A ustra/ian Natural History porary one as the country soon reverts tration. They cover the greater parts of back to its arid condition of parched and Western Australia, the Northern Territory, barren plains. and South Australia and extend into the The author, in 1939, as a member of the western fringes of Queensland and New Simpson Desert Expedition, crossed that South Wales. area by camel during a time when the The arid lands of Australia have very country had never looked better in its much in common with the Sahara Desert known history. During the latter part of and there is little to choose between them the crossing the expedition experienced and certain parts of it. The eastern half almost 3 inches of rain within six days. On of the great Sahara Desert, now generally the other hand, about eight months ago, he known as the Libyan Desert, consists passed through country lying between Ayers mainly of large, ftat expanses of sand or Rock and the We tern Australian border stone and areas of varying sizes where sand­ which had had only a few points of rain ridges occur. The Jargt-st area of these during the past ten years. It was a country dunes or sand-ridges is the Great Libyan of dead and dying spinifex and mulga with Erg, which i also known as the Great a very marked ab ence of any animal life. Sand Sea. It lie against the western border The late Professor Griffith Taylor, in an of Egypt, forming an area about 300 miles attempt to define a desert which would long by I 00 miles wide and ha been said cover conditions in Australia. combined to be "probably the most imposing mass of both climatic and economic factors. Hi dunes on the whole surface of the earth". definition was that "A desert is a region The Great Sand Sea is quite uninhabited. of mall rainfall (sometimes. however. i scarcely visited and the very high and long parallel and-ridges are bare of vege­ amounting to J 5 inches in hot regions) with a parse and specialized plant and animal tation. About one-seventh of the Sahara life. lt is not found capable of utilization Desert is covered with Ergs or living dunes. by stationary pa torali ts. even after the In Australia. the Simpson De ert and borders have been occupied by thi cla perhaps the Great Sandy Desert are the for fifty years··. only regions which can be compared to the Ergs or worst sandy wastes of Africa. Most Australian Deserts of the other Australian deserts, descriptions If the criteria in the above definition of of which follow, also have many features a de ert are adopted then obviously many of the Sahara and other great de erts of large areas of country in Australia must the world. The sparselands will not be fall into that category. The limits of the dealt with as they consist of area of arid Au tralian de erts. including the sparse­ or semi-arid land with a scattered pasture, lands, are shown in an accompanying illu - a very limited population of pa toralists,

The Simp on Desen Ex­ pedition. 1939. descend­ ing a sand-ridge near the Queensland border. [Photo: Simpson De ert Expedition. 1939.]

December, 1965 Page 99 from a well-known tribe of Aborigines who previously had lived in the area. The original extent of the Arunta Desert was 700 miles long by 200 mile wide. but in 1929 the central part, comprising an area of about 56,000 square miles, was named the Simoson Desert. The south­ eastern part of the Arunta De ert is known as Stun's Stony Desert and thi area, which i thinly covered with rock debris or "gibbers", has been compared with the Serir country of the Sahara. The Tirari Desert, lying to the east of Lake Eyre, is composed of low and firmly fixed sand­ ridges with a parse vegetation and ha been said to be very like the northern part of the Sahara. The northern part of the Arunta Desert. that is the country north of the Simpson De ert, consist of flat sandy wa tes and rocky country and in this re pect closely approaches the Hamada areas of the Sahara. The Arunta De crt, including the Simpson De crt. forms one of the dric t parts of the Au tralian continent as it receive less than 5 inches average annual rainfall. Evapo­ ration is also very high.

The Simpson Desert The Simpson Desert is a large and dis­ tinct physiographical unit, it main feature consisting of long parallel sand-ridges which Arunta Desert. hawing it elongated vary in height from 25 to 120 feet and area of uninhabited country. [From A us­ extend unbroken for distance up to 200 tra/la, by Griffith Taylor.) miles. It lies approximately between lati­ but with a possibility of future development. tude 23° and 27° south and longitude The sparselands comprise about 700,000 135° and J 39° cast, extending some 300 square miles and they lie immediately out­ miles north of Lake Eyre. and at its greatest side the limits of the uninhabited true de ert width is about 250 mile . The desert wa area . These cover about 600.000 square named in honour of the late Mr A. A. miles and consi t of two main regions, Simpson, C.M.G., of Adelaide. lt is recog­ which are shown on the accompanying map nized as one of the great sand-ridge deserts arc in close illustrating the limits of Australian deserts. of the world and its feature approximation to the worst de crt areas of The Arunta Desert Africa. The smaller of these two regions, but an The Simp on Desert is uninhabited. al­ extremely arid one. is the Arunta Desert. though a few pa toralists occupy its border which is situated approximately ea t of a and the only recorded crossing of its centre. line drawn between Tcnnant Creek in the from west to cast. is that by the Simpson Northern Territory and Marree in South De crt Exoedition in 1939 under the leader- Australia. To the cast it extend into hip of the late Dr C. T. Madigan. During Queensland almost to Birdsville. The name that expedition many chipped flints and Arunta was given to the desert by the late other artifact were collected and from this Professor Griffith Taylor, being derived it is evident that in the pa t Aborigine

Page 100 Australia11 Natural History penetrated into the centre of the desert. Makan (Central Asia), Rub' al Khali These occasions were possibly during per­ (Southern Arabia) and the Western Sahara iods of good rainfall when they followed ( orth Africa). the rivers down from the north. The directional trend of the sand-ridges The Western Desert in the Simp on Desert is north-west to An enormous area of desert country, south-east, which is parallel to the direction generally referred to as the Western De ert, of the prevailing winds. The average spac­ is almost continuous over the major part of ing of the and-ridges is four to each mile inland We tern Australia, between the and during the crossing of the desert 626 Kimberleys and the ullabor Plain, and sand-ridge were traver ed over a di tance extends eastwards to the borders, and of 204 miles. The western slope of each beyond. of the Northern Territory and sand-ridge is much gentler than the eastern South Australia. Lt is composed mainly slope which at times is very steep. The of sandhills, sand-plain and a central part upper slope of the ridge consi t of fine, of stony desert. The famou Canning red sand, which form a fairly harp. steep Stock Route. extending between Wiluna crest. and Hall's Creek, now almost entirely un­ The Simp on Desert in compari on with used, traverses most of the de ert area. other important deserts of the world is fairly Over the whole of this area rivers are vir­ well covered with vegetation and a number tually absent or flow only after periods of of plant species, many of them ephemeral, heavy rainfall for short period of time. have been recorded. The most con picuous The Western Desert consists of three and consistent are the tussocks of Cane­ main regions and of these the northernmost grass (Spinifex paradoxus), an excellent one ha been named the Great Sandy sand binder and one which serves to a great Desert : the central area is known as the extent to keep the ridges compact and fixed Gibson Desert and south of it, extending in position. Spinifex or Porcupine Grass to the Nullabor Plain, is a vast area of (Triodia basedowii) also grows in profusion desert originally named the Great Victoria as dense tussocks on the lower sand-ridge Desert. These three regions to a great ex­ slopes and inter-ridge areas and also serves tent lack unity, the limits are not well a similar purpose. Both of these plants are defined and the names are very seldom drought-resistant. used. A brief description of these three A recent writer, following a comparison deserts is as follows:- of the features of the Simpson Desert. par­ ticularly in regard to the vegetation. placed The Great Victoria Desert it fifth in order of aridity out of eight of The Great Victoria Desert is a large, the great sand-ridge de erts of the world. practically waterlc s area of sandy waste The deserts in order of greater aridity are and fixed and-ridge country which extends the Libyan Desert ( orth Africa ). Takla from Lake Barlee in Western Australia well

A high un table sand­ ridge in the imp on Desert. Vegetation in the inter-ridge area con­ si ts mainly of gidgee (Acacia cambagei) and spinifex or porcupine grass (Triodia basedoll'ii). [Photo: Simp on Desert Expedition. 1939.]

December, 1965 Page 101 A big and-ridge near the western edge of the Simp on De en. [Photo: Simpson Desert Expedi­ tion. 1939.]

into South Australia to the east. Lts south­ The Gibson Desert ern limit is the ullabor Plain and its northern limit the Gibson Desert, but this The Gibson De en is a large area of border has never been accurately defined. sandy waste and tony country, with many The de ert was first cro sed by Erncst Giles ranges of low hills. which stretches acros in 1875, who, after travelling more than the interior of Western Australia south of 300 miles without finding any trace of the Tropic of Capricorn. It adjoins the water. found a spring which he named the Great Sandy Desert to the north and in Great Victoria Spring. He named the the south its limit Great Victoria desert the Great Victoria Desert. i the Desert. Its east and west borders may be ln J 896, the Hon. David W. Carnegie con idered as the orthern Territory and was the leader of an expedition which crossed the Western Desert from Coolgar­ the limit of settlement in We tern Aus­ die to Hall's Creek. a journey of 1,413 tralia. The de ert was first penetrated by miles counting all deviations. Following Ernest Giles in 1876 and wa named after the information gained during thi expedi­ Alfred Gibson, a young South Australian tion in regard to waterholes and prings the member of the party who disappeared when Canning Stock Route came into existence. searching for water near the Alfred and Many hazardous cattle drives were made Marie Range. in the past along this route. Carnegie 's expedition entered the Great Carnegie referred to the Gib on Desert Victoria De ert at its north-western corner, as '·a great undulating desert of gravel'', east of Lake Darlot, and immediately found a very apt description as it con ists largely flat sandy country with fixed sand-ridges of rocky or gravelly plains with only occa­ and covered almost entirely with spinifex. sional sand-ridges. Practically the whole of Most of the desert consists of belts of the country extending between latitude 26° sand-ridges from 30 to 50 feet in height and 22° south i a vast sandy waste almost and 8 to I 0 miles in width. The sand­ completely covered with pebble and stone. ridges. more or less parallel to one another, vary in their general direction and in some Many ranges occur in the Gib on Desert cases are heaped up without any regularity. and these, although they look imposing In between the belt of sand-ridges are ranges from a distance, become dwarfed broad sandy plains covered with pinifex, into series of low-lying, flat-topped hill . alternating with thickets of mulga and desert composed mainly of sandstone. as they are gums, the usual type of vegetation found approached. Many are weathered into a over the whole of the Western De crt. variety of fantastic shapes.

Page 102 Austra/ia11 Natural History Giles in his journal mentioned the exces­ sive changes of temperature during night and day in the desert. This is the exper­ ience of all visitors to the desert areas of Australian Museum Australia during winter months. Temper­ atures of 32° to 36°F, and even lower, are Publications not unusual at night while during the day temperatures soar to 90° to 1 00°F. The following Australian Museum publi­ cations are available at the Museum:-

The Great Sandy Desert A STRALIAN M SE �I HANDBOOK: A comprehensive natural hi tory handbook. The Great Sandy Desert is the northern­ as well as a guide to the Museum; J41 most region of the Western De ert. lt is pages: 4/-, 40c; posted 4/6, 4Sc. a large area of fixed, parallel and-ridges. THE NAT RAL HISTORY OF SYDNEY: and extends approximately from latitude An account of much of the land and marine fauna. topography, geology. fo sils. native 19° south to ab:>ut the Tropic of Capricorn. plant . and Aboriginal relic of the Sydn�y latitude 23!0 south, or slightly to the north area: contains articles already published in of it. this magazine. with two others added: sixty· four pages; S/-, SOc; posted S/6, SSc.

In this desert the sand-ridges run para­ EXPLORING BETWEEN TIDEMARKS: llel to one another with great regularity and An introduction to seaGhore ecology: forty­ with a general trend of east by north and eight pages: 4/·, 40c; posted 4/6, 4Sc. west by south. They are practically con­ THE FROGS OF N.S.W.: Thirty-eight tinuous to the border of the Northern Ter­ pages: 3/6, 3Sc; posted 4/-, 40c. ritory, a distance of 400 miles to the east. A STRALIAN ABOlUGINAL DECORA­ and maintain their regularity for at least TIVE ART: Sixty pages: 6/-, 60c; posted 200 miles to the south. The average height 6/6, 6Sc. of the sand-ridges is from 50 to 60 feet, A STRALIAN ABORIGINAL ROCK while some reach a height of considerably ART: Describes engravings and paintings on rock faces and in caves: seventy-two page : more than I 00 feet. They are usually 6/6, 6Sc; posted 7/-, 70c. about a quarter of a mile apart but at times N.S.W. ABORIGINAL PLACE NAMES they become closer together and quickly AND EUJ>HONIOUS WORDS, WITH succeed one another with only slight troughs THEIR MEANINGS: thirty-two pages: between them. The desert is largely devoid l/6, ISc; posted 2/-, 20c. of vegetation with the exception of pini­ AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES: An illuG· fex, which serves to bind the sand and keep trated booklet of special interest to school the ridges compact and fixed in position. children: 6d., Se; posted 1/-, lOc. Scattered thickets of mulga are also found THESE ARE INVERTEBRATES: A folder. and towards the northern border of the illustratd in colour. explaining how to use desert occasional desert oaks. the Museum's unique exhibit 'These Are Invertebrates": 1/6, ISc; posted 2/-, 20c. An interesting feature of the Australian LIFE THRO GH THE AGES: A coloured. illustrated chart (3 4in dee!) and 24in wide). desert areas is the almost uniform type of showing the progress of life from the prim­ vegetation and the fact that there are no itive invertebrates of more than 500 million living sand-ridges which can be compared years ago to the present. The duration of the geological periods are shown and with the Ergs of the Sahara. Geographers, examples of the forms of life that existed however, agree that there is a great similar­ in each are illustrated. Designed for hang· ity between the northern Sahara and the ing in schools: 6/-, 60c; posted 6/9, 68c. Australian deserts in that to some extent LEAFLETS on natural-history and Abo­ both possess a fairly good covering of vege­ riginal topics: Free of charge. tation and can support a sparse population.

December, 1965 Page 103 Central Australian Mountains

Above : Mt Olga. one of the strangest looking mountain in the world. seen from the east. lt covers an area of about 15 square miles and its highest points are 1.500 feet above the surrounding plain. lt was originally a single ma , but water erosion later carved out deep clefts and chasms. eparating it into a series of gigantic blocks or monoliths with domed tops. In the foreground is the road running east to Ayers Rock. 20 miles away. Below: Mt Conner, 60 miles east of Ayers Rock. is a flat-topped mesa. 3 mile long. about a mile wide and reaching a height of 1.000 feet. [Photos: Ho"ard Hughes]

Page 104 A ustra/ian Natural History Mountain desert scenery. All details of rock structure are etched out by arid weathering and left exposed in the detail of relief. The Amphitheatre. Palm Valley. James Range. central Australia. [Photo: M. Lazarides.]

LANDSCAPES OF ARID AND SEMI-ARID AUSTRALIA

By J. A. MABUUIT Division of Land Research, C.S.I.R.O., Canberra

NO single rainfall figure crves to desig- cast, and into areas with between 20 and nate dryness, and most climatic classi­ 25 inches annual rainfall in the north. It fications define an arid or semi-arid area coincides with the subtropical high pressure as one in which evaporation exceeds precip­ belt separating the tropical zone of summer itation. Some 70 per cent of Australia. rains from the temperate zone of winter about 2.2 million square miles, falls into rainfall and to this effect of latitude is this category. The Australian semi-arid added that of isolation from oceanic rain­ and arid zone as shown in the accompany­ bringing winds. Most of it is "moderate ing map includes the core of the continent desert". with sand dunes mainly fixed by but also reaches the coast in the west: it vegetation and with even larger areas in extend to the I 0-inch rainfall line in the which the chief land-shaping agent is run­ south, the 1 5-inch isohyet in the south- ning water, as in the humid zones. Only

December, 1965 Page 105 E.:-5:.:.\JMOUNTAIN DESERT p:: /' ��H SHIELD DESERT SAND DESERT � R AL � STON Y DESERT � �J�� l�J2� � The Australian arid and semi-arid zone. showing the main type of de en and the regional trends of sand-ridge . Clay plain and river flood-plains are also distinguished. [Map by the author.) a small area near Lake Eyre, with less than museums rather than scenes of rapid des­ 5 inches of rain a year, can be claimed as truction. Another view, that wind is every­ very arid. where an important sculpting agent, has also had to be modified, for sand bla t acts With low rainfall go other characteristics only near the ground, and on hard rocks which are important for the fashioning of its effects are confined to the pitting and the land surface, namely thin loo e soils, polishing of surfaces. deficient in organic matter, and sparse de ert vegetation which cannot protect or However, although it is now seen that hold together the soil surface. desert processes have much in common with those of humid areas, there is a recog­ Some older and still popular ideas about nized "desert system" of land-form evolu­ the development of desert land forms have tion. This is dominated by carcity of not withstood closer investigation. One water, with drainage largely ephemeral and was that rocks break down rapidly through disorganized. occupying interior basins strong daily heating and cooling under rather than leading to the sea. Wind has clear desert skies. This is no longer fuller play on unprotected surfaces, and regarded as generally effective. and rock may erode severely on loose, light soils, weathering is now seen to be controlled by whilst wind action dominates in areas of available moisture; hence it is slow, and hot loose sand supply, as near salt lakes and deserts are now regarded as land-form dry river beds.

Page 106 Australian Natural History Although the main systems of land-form­ time this typical ephemeral river is a dry ing processes tend to be climate-controlled, sandy trench lined with gum trees. we find no imple correlation between rain­ River floods dwindle rapidly across the fall and land form acro s the Au tralian plains, as there are few tributaries to re­ arid zone. This is because the broader plenish the water as it sinks into the river landscape traits-including those inherited beds. Desert plains yield few treams, for from past climatic periods as well as those slow run-off on gentle slopes tends to be formed in the present desert setting-are lost by evaporation before finding its way controlled by geology. Hence. we may into a channel. Hence each mountain area conveniently distinguish between the moun­ tend to be a centre of dispersal of drainage, tainou deserts, the desert plains of the but these fail to link into general systems. ancient Precambrian hield. the stony deserts of the younger edimentary basins, Smaller stream channels, on reaching the and the and de erts. These classes are plains, tend to spread their load as alluvial hown in the accompanying map. and their fans at the mountain front. ln other place . description will serve to illu trate ome particularly on granite, smooth erosional general characteristic of the Australian surfaces called pediments abut directly desert landscapes. against the hill, and water entering them from the hill slopes may pread out as Mountain Deserts sheet flow, a form of run-off particularly Under this head are included plateaux associated with de ert plain , where hard and ranges of rcsi tant sand tone beds. rock and shallow loo e soil do not favour such as the Hammer ley Ranges and the the excavation of channels. The juxtaposi­ MacDonnclls, les regular uplands of more tion of such smooth plains of low gradient ancient rocks such as the I sa Highlands, and straight steep hill slope i a feature and large granite hill complexes such as of many desert landscapes. the Musgrave Ranges. None of them is very high. Mount Zcil ( 4.955 feet) in the The Shield Deserts western MacDonnell being the highest The shield de crts form exten ive plain summit in the arid zone. This means that lands. These stable, ancient land surface the mountains cause no significant local are in many areas still being stripped of increase in rainfall, and also that arid Aus­ mantles of weathered rock formed in wetter tralia lacks snow-fed perennial trcams for climates of the past. and the ironstone­ irrigation. capped breakaways of the interior of We t­ evertheless the stark beauty of many ern Australia have formed in this way. of the mountain desert make them an Younger plains of fresh rock are laid bare important tourist re ource. Rock forma­ as the escarpments retreat. There is little tions how through remarkably clearly, for relief in these areas-mainly groups of there i little depth of rock waste, and small granite hills, and drainage lines are smoothing proces e are ineffective on wide shallow valleys separated by broad desert hill slope . Re istance to erosion featureless divides. is a matter of physical trength rather than Under the stre s of increasing aridity of chemical stability. a factor which empha- the e ancient valley were partly filled with izes lithological contrasts and which causes alluvium, and drainage was further disrup­ them to be etched faithfully in the details ted by wind-scouring and dune movement. of relief. Hence disconnected drainage ystem arose, Rainfall on steep rocky slopes produces each draining into a salt lake. Ancient rapid run-off unchecked by soil or vegeta­ valley systems on the Western Australian tion, but flow tends to cease with the rain. shield may be reconstructed from the linear .. Only heavy falls, say 1 or 2 inche . f111 the arrangement of "river lake , and flooding larger channels and cause them to flow may still occur along these lines at rare beyond the hills; the Todd River at Alice intervals. The bare lake floors are the Spring , for in tance, flows about three cene of strong wind erosion. which form times a year, each flow being generally of and and silt into dune on Ice shores. 24-48 hours duration. For the remaining Prominent among these wind-formed

December, 1965 Page 107 features arc lunettes, crescentic silt barriers deposition of iron oxides from capillary trapping hallow circular lakes. rise of alt-bearing olutions under strong Disorganization of drainage through wind evaporation. The land surfaces of the stony action i characteristic of dry areas, and de en everywhere show lack of leaching. accounts for the apparent anomaly of the with the formation of surface crusts of large number of "lakes·· on the map of limestone or gypsum, soluble salts which arid Australia. are removed from the landscape in more humid environments. nlike the hield Stony Deserts desert . drainage here is remarkably inte­ The c landscape typify much of the grated. an cxprc ion of centripetal lopes Great Artesian Ba in. In this geologically maintained in respon e to the basin di.po­ youthful setting. owing to succes ivc earth sition of the underlying rocks. The foci movements, the oft rocks have been planed of the drainage systems arc large salt lakes ofT at variou level along the margins of such a Lake Eyre and Lake Torren . the basin. giving rise to tony tablelands. These larger lakes owe their general cm­ The main ourcc of the ·'gibbers" which placement to tectonic events, and an ance - mantle the tablelands is an ancient siliceou tral Lake Eyre existed millions of years weathering crust known as "billv'·. still ago ; however, the present lake ba in wa found capping the oldest level in the land- excavated in older lacu trine bed by wind cape. Chemically very resi tant, it breaks cro ion. apparently 20.000 to 40.000 years down into cobbles which are washed over ago. The river y terns rarely breach the adjacent lope where they become concen­ dune barriers to reach Lake Eyre, but the trated a a urface pavement through a ba in was completely filled in the great removal of finer material by wind and flooding of 1949-50. water, and so form an armour, protecting the oft rock beneath from further erosion. Clay Plains The gibbers arc wind-smoothed and have a The monotonous grasslands or "down ·• brown coating of de ert varni h from the of the Barkly Tableland and western

tony de;ert near Lilla Creek. in Territory. shm' ing the gibber pa' ement on the tableland [Photo: R. A. Perry.!

Pa[:e 108 Australian Natural History Queensland have characteri tic black or desert surface . The two mo t character­ dark-grey clay soil which are in part de­ istic forms arc sand-ridge deserts and sand rived from underlying limestones and assoc­ plain . iated fine-orainedb rocks and in part depo­ Sand-ridge de erts are found nowhe e sited from flooding rivers of low gradient. : else in the world on such a scale as m Their great extent indicates that the co�nt­ Australia. where they cover more than half less anastomosing river channels and btlla­ a million sauarc miles. They consist of bono which characterize riverine tracts of parallel, ridge about a quarter of a mile the Channel Country. and which flood b apart and generally not more than 50 �eet enormous areas, were even more wide­ high, continuou over scores of mtles spread in Pleistocene time . Feat�res of though locally converging as Y-forms. these clay plains are the surface ptts and Dun� trend and elongation follow pre­ mound known as gilgais. which result fr?m valent winds in a great anticlockwise swirl alternate wetting and swelling and drymg ( around the continental anticyclone, and and cracking o the clays. there i a consistent asymmetry. with the Sand Deserts steeper dune flank toward the outer ma:gin of the swirl. Now the dune are mamly Aeolian sands cover about per cent 40 fixed bv veoetation and only the loose crests of the arid zone. mainly where rivers laid arc subjec to blowing. but dun.es are till down andy deposits in earlier tim�s or t � being formed where loose sand ts suppl.ted. where deep sandy oils forme:Jy ext ted. as on lee sides of salt lakes and nver They are riverles areas, and smce under . channels. normal conditions, they are protected by vegetation, they are among the most stable Sand plain is characteristic of the shield

December, 1965 Page 109 areas, and may be ftat or broadly undulat­ virtue of its higher content of binding clay, ing with ri es following the regional dune as in sands derived from granitic rocks or trend. lt is typical of areas where sand in area more recently subject to river ha resisted deep aeolian re-working by action.

Appointment of Dr. F. H. Talhot as Director of the Museum

Or Frank Hamilton Talbot has been ap­ pointed Director of the Australian Museum to succeed Or J. W. Evans, who retires on 16th January. 1966. After graduating from the niversity of the Witwater rand, Johannesburg, in 1948, Or Talbot obtained his Master' degree at the University of Cape Town, where he tudicd marine ecology under Professor J. H. Day. Later he was granted the degree of Ph.D. by the niversity of Cape Town. During 1952 and 1953, he worked in the Zoology Department of King's College, Uni­ ver ity of Durham, first as Demonstrator in Zoology, and later on a Colonial Office grant. Sub equently, after five years as a scientific officer in the Ea t African Marine Fi hcries Re earch Organization in Zanzi­ bar, where he did research on coral reef ecology and tropical fishes, he held the post of Marine Biologist at the South African Museum. Cape Town.

1n 1960 he wa appointed Assistant Or F. H. Ta1bot. [Photo: Howard Hughes.] Director of that in titution, and he left South Africa to join the taff of the Australian He has published ome twenty-five papers Museum a· Curator of Fishes in 1964. on fish ecology and systematics, and on During 1962 to 1963, as a recipient of mu eum administration, and has been act­ South African C.S.LR. and Carnegie Cor­ ively involved in various scientific bodic . poration grants, Or Talbot travelled in orth having served on the South Africa National America and England, studying Mu cum Co-Ordinating Committee for Oceanography administration and education, and in con­ and on the Councils of the South African nection with hi work on the sy tematic As ocation for the Advancement of Science, and ecology of tuna fishes he attended the Zoological Society of Southern Africa, United Nation Food and Agricultural the South African Wild Life Protection Soc­ Organization meetings in North Africa and iety, and the Royal Zoological Society of the nited States. ew South Wales.

Page 110 Australian Natural History THE NA TURE AND ORIGIN OF MODERN DESER TS

By REG. SPRIGG Gwsurveys of Australia, Ltd

ODER deserts occupy narrow belts residual sand is concentrated into dune M which straddle the Tropics of Cancer ridges and wind-rows. Most dunes are and Capricorn. They lie particularly in the elongated in the direction of the dominat­ lee of mountain ranges, or deep in the ing winds, but some may be boomerang­ interior of continents. Prevailing winds are shaped across wind. Some Australian very dry, usually having precipitated mois­ deserts, however, are stony, formed of gib­ ture before they reach these parched areas. bers and other varieties of "Jag" gravels. Deserts tend to be stretches of desolate Sturt's Stony Desert about north-eastern sand dunes, sprinkled with dry lakes and South Australia is a particularly good stunted vegetation. Mesa "flat tops". tent example of this. hills, and resistent inselbergs usually inhabit Australia's enormous deserts are now these places like lone sentinels. fixed, or in a delicate balance. Sand tends Despite forbidding appearances, these to "move" predominantly along the "live" large desert areas (some 8 million square dune crests. lt is now believed that these miles in all) represent the world's largest dune systems are largely sub-fossil. They land banks. One day this potential will be are relics of the Pleistocene lee Age. At turned green by irrigation as exploding that time Australia was much windier. due human populations force man to purify sea to more intense cyclonic winds then imping­ and saline waters for this purpose. ing on the continent. These gave an over­ all subcircular dune pattern about central A characteristic of most deserts is high Australia, one that is actually "anticyclonic'' summer day heat. The deserts of southern in circulatory direction. Prevailing winds Patagonia, however, are more the result of blowing in excess of 15 to 20 miles per high winds and low rainfall. By compari­ hour for long periods were largely respons­ son, in typical tropical belt deserts low ible. Westerly wind influence dominated humidity and clear skies let the sun's rays across South Australia (from Perth to Tas­ penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently. mania), becoming south-westerlies then Daytime air temperature may range above southerlies swinging to south-easterlies in J 30° F, and surface ground temperatures central New South Wales, and easterlies may be considerably more. At night, heat back across central-northern Australia. dissipates quickly and temperatures may Recent studies have shown that this wind drop 50° or more. Winter temperatures may be freezing. system was much more intense than modern winds, and that modern dominating winds Desert soils are usually impregnated with are at variance, particularly in the south, sodium and potassium salts and other sol­ where cross winds are actually destroying uble minerals that cannot be efficiently the earlier impressed patterns. leached out by infrequent rain. Plants tend to be specialized, and are mostly hard and That drought is not an essential feature thorny. Animals tend to burrow by day. of longitudinal sand dune formation is readily appreciable in northern Tasmania Australian Deserts and on Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. Australian deserts tend to be alluvial Here enormous dunes are extending away types. That is, they have been formed pri­ from the coast in wet climates, and forcibly marily as a result of prevailing high-windi­ enough to overwhelm even dense "jungle". ness which erodes and works the dry soil Another feature of Australia is the pre­ of the great plains. Dust is deflated, and dominant red colour away from the washing

December, 1965 Page 11[ action of our few internal '·rivers". Iron lakes. Lake Eyre alone is notable for salt oxide accumulates a microscopic layers deposits but its accumulations rarely exceed around each quartz grain. This is the amc about I foot in thickness and then only in ba ic ingredient as in rouge. the southern limits. Salt lakes to the south Lunette , the peculiar subcircular lakes owe their accumulation more to persistent spread widely across Australia. are also a supply from coastal surf and windborne fossil de en phenomena. They are charac­ dust, or to the cutting-off of arms of the terized by lunar shape and lunar-shaped sea. sediment mounds on one side-and this The Simp on is probably the mo t for­ lies on the downwind direction of the deserts midable of the Au tralian deserts. I ndivi­ even though these directions may not co­ dual dunes may persist practically unbroken incide with modern prevailing winds. It for hundreds of mile . These may be 50 seem that lakes in the Ice Age may have to I 00 feet high and generally they arc dried out periodically even despite the asymmetrical in cross section. Gentle slopes higher rainfall than today. and gypseus and occur on the west, whereas the east lopes clayey dusts blown from the dry lake bed are generally live-sand avalanche face . In were entrapped downwind by vegetation. consequence of this, desert operators find westward travel far more difficult than As further evidence of the erosive power easterly. of the "subfo sil" glacial phase winds, pro­ longed du t torms were the order of the Minor sand tructure include b::autiful day� Where these dusts settled out. layers sand rippling and coarsely avalanched cro s­ of locs -like (extremely fine-grained) bedding. Sand surfaces are u ually cros ed . . parna" accumulated. Successive new with mazes of animal tracks left during fo sil oil became interleaved between quic cent wind periods. Lizards choo c to alluvial oil of the less windy intervals a burrow into the soil on the downwind side the plains were built up. of vegetation clumps where their hole are more protected from drift. Semi-deserts surround the central core of Au tralian deserts, and, in the e. con­ The ands of the dunes are remarkably centric pattern of Jag gravels reveal local even grained, and grain size averages about oil in !ability. Usually these patterns three-fifths of a millimetre in diameter. develop on very low slopes and the secon­ Sands in the intcrdune or corridor "flats". dary ubcircular and concentric low ridges however, arc mixed in nature. Frequently, become cparatcd by swampy depres ions two dominating sand grain izc inter­ and crab holes left as the stony soil creeps mingle. the grain size of the coarser and by gravity. approximating ten times that of the finer. This re ults in a grain locking that tends Although deserts are u ually con picu­ to tabilize the interdune floors. ously andy. ridges of crystal seed gypsum. and particularly of flour gypsum, may al o Desert Oddities appear prominently. These are mostly lt wa by coincidence that a great hower . a ociatcd with ephemeral dry . lakes" of of meteoric black glass fell during the latest terminal internal drainage systems. The de ert pha e. This material from outer lighter aline rcsiduals (salt and pota h space constituted australites. which have mineral ) arc mostly deflated (blown away) charactcri tic dumb-bell. tear-drop. pudding­ by persi tent windiness, concentrating the stone and flanged-button type shapes coar er gypsum into mounds and eventually developed in their fiery pa age through spilling over into downwind dunes. It is the upper atmosphere. Erosion of alluvial not an unfamiliar sight even now to exper­ oils down to their clay-subsoil horizons ience "whitc-outs" during windy days due produced the familiar clay-pan scalds on to salt dust deflation from dry lake surface . which these au tralites became concentrated Most of thi alt eventually gets blown out in considerable numbers. Aborigines fre­ to sea via north-eastern Australia. Thi i quently aided the process of concentration why central Au tralia. despite- its almost by collecting them and leavino them in complete internal drainage of saline urface favourite pots where they camped or pat­ water . is not the repository of great salt iently chipped their spearheads.

Page 112 Australian Natural History An oddity of desert prevailing wind air. Plant growth can only occur in sun­ action are the angular pebbles called "drie­ light, and given the other favourable con­ kantcr" pebbles. These triangular or other ditions it is true that the more sunlight the polygonally facetted tones are believed to more plant growth. This, then. raises the have been eroded by sand blast as they earlier quoted trui m that de erts harbour rolled over, enabling new faces to be pre­ the greatest world land bank now remaining sented to wind erosion. to be tapped-almost 8 million square miles of it. Certainly, the problems that go Still another feature of deserts is the with them are formidable, but the challenge phenomenon of desert polish. Silica or for man remains. Science and engineering oxidized iron and manganese impregnate will increasingly work miracles in these surfaces of rocks and present a thin skin vastnes cs. of high polish. This is so-called desert varnish. Irrigation will continue to divert tropical run-off waters into these parched areas. Desert Riches Artesian water basins will be used more efficiently, but it is to the purification of The hot arid areas of the world mostly lie at low elevation in relation to sea-level. seawater and other saline water sources that man looks with greatest hope. Energy For thi reason they are the land areas requirements will come eventually mostly most likely to be invaded by the sea down through geological history. Inland seas in from atomic sources, but solar energy will it part-and there is plenty of sun turn are favourable places for oil and gas play generation and eventual accumulation if energy about de crts. enough sediments arc deposited. Much of Australia, for its part, is particularly the world's petroleum, in consequence, is fortunate in that most of its deserts cover found in these areas. widespread artesian basins. These include the Great Artesian Basin, the Canning High summer evaporation and low Basin, the Gibson and Victoria Desert annual rainfall also bring their own har­ Basins, and, "marginally", also the Mur­ vest. Salt, potash, gypsum, borax and ravian and Georgina "semi-desert'' Basins. lithia are particularly valuable "evaporite" Even at this time salt, gypsum and anhy­ deposits, and most of the world's commer­ cial resources of these minerals are locked dritc in sedimentary deposits from past up in deserts or their fossil deposits. eras are being cut by oil drilling rigs in desert places. The e are being found as Sunshine is, of cour e, the greatest of all far away as the Canning Desert. Geologists desert resources. Travellers may curse it, have great hopes that potash and sulphur and the old prospector frequently died by will also be found. Truly, desert will yet it. But sunshine is the basic element of all be found to harbour some of Australia's life as we know it-along with water and greatest resources.

NOTES AND NEWS

INTERTIDAL FAUNA occur subtidally. however. and dredging should The Curator of the Department of Worm and yield rich hauls in these groups. Ophiuroid briule stars flourished and several species were notable Echinoderms at the Australian Museum. Miss because of their unusually long arms-several Elizabeth Pope. spent three weeks in the field in feet in length at least-although their bodies were the Darwin area of the Northern Territory last October. She made general collections of inter­ of normal size. tidal animals on reefs near Darwin and at Cape Don on the Coburg Peninsula. ln spite of the VISIT ED CATION OFFICER presence of much silt on the shores, the intertidal BY fauna is extremely rich and interesting. Brain Mr R. L. Jensz, Education Officer at the corals. leathery Alcyonarians and oysters domin­ ational Museum of Victoria. recently spent a ate the intertidal scene. while starfish. sea urchins week at the Australian Museum examining the and molluscs are notably rare in the area. They educational facilities available to schools.

December, 1965 Page 113 Ayers Rock

Above: Ayer� Rock. one of Australia's greate�t natural monuments. seen silhouetted against the skyline from the lope of Mt Olga. 20 miles to the west. A}ers Rock is a single rock mass with steeply sloping to almo" vertical �ides. It is 2 miles long and about I] miles "ide. and reaches a height of 1.143 feet. The distance around its base is more than 5 miles. Below: The summit of Ayers Rock. showing deep grooves formed b} active water ero ion. Grooves and gullies of this kind cut across the \\hole too of the rock. The road at left runs 10 Mt Olga. [Photos : Ho,,ard Hughes]

Page ll� A ustra/ian Natural History A stand of the rarely seen Grass Tree (Xa11tlwrrhoea thom1011ii ) near Gosse's Bluff, about 100 miles we t of Alice Springs. in desert �and-plain.

Desert Plants and Their Use

By GEORGE M. CHII'PENDALE Botanist, Animal Industry Branch, Northern Territory Administration, Alicc Springs y AST areas of inland Australia arc loo cly sibly uneconomic, the pastoral industry termed ·'deserts'', but are more correctly will be relying on native species for omc known as " cmi-arid area ". Approximately considerable time. With this premise. most one-third of the continent has an average botanical work in central Australia has of less than 10 inches of rain per annum, been aimed at gaining a better knowledge whilst about another one-third has an aver­ of the native plants and their usage. Col­ age of between I 0 inches and 20 inche . lection of specimens took place. and con­ The natural vegetation of this huge area tinues. over wide areas, and an herbarium ha evolved over thou ands of years, and is was established. otes were made of the well adapted to the extremely unreliable effects of grazing on the vegetation. and rainfall. on particular plHnt species. and examina­ As an example of this type of country. tions were made of several hundred stom­ central Australia has slightly less than ach samples of cattle to ascertain the pecies grazed. 1.200 native plant pccies. but of these less than 200 are useful to the pastoral industry. Grasses And Topfeed Far less than 100 pecies are of great im­ Drought-re istant grasses such a the var­ portance as pa ture . ious species of pinifex (Triodia pp. and As establi hmcnt of introduced pecies Plectrachne pp. ) are of moderate use to appears to be extremely difficult and po - grazing animals, and at least provide

December, 1965 Page 115 country for relief in dry periods. Drought­ Other plants more or less restricted to evading perennial grasses such as Mitchell these relic areas in the MacDonnell Ranges Grass (Astrebla pectinata ), Woollybutt include Eriostemon argyreus on Mt. Sander, (Eragrostis eriopoda ), Neverfail (Eragros­ Hakea multilineata var. grammatophyl/a at tis setifolia) and Windmill Grass (Chloris higher altitudes in places like Standley acicularis ) are the basis of the grazing Chasm, and a Flannel Flower (Actinotus industry, and even as a standing dry feed schwarzii) at Standley Chasm. Other in drought times these appear to sustain attractive species in the various gorges and animals. Species of annual grasses and ranges are Rulingia magniflora, Hibbertia herbage such as Button Grass (Dactyloc­ glaberrima, Baeckea polystemonea, Dodo­ tenium radulans ), Small Burr Grass (Tra­ naea viscosa var. spathulatum, and the gus australianus ), Pigweed or Munyeroo wattle Acacia strongylophylla. Ferns other (Portulaca oleracea ). and Tah Vine (Boer­ than the Rock Ferns (Cheilamhes spp.) havia diffusa) add to the diet, and together are rarities in central Australia, but at a with a number of Bassia species and Salt­ number of rock holes in the George Gill bushes (Atrip/ex spp. ) are capable of pro­ Ranges there are still surviving some Giant ducing fat cattle. Maiden Hair Fern (Adiantum hispidulum) In addition, one great advantage of our and Cyclosorus gongylodes. arid zone pastures is the presence of a Importance Of Rainfall range of edible trees and shrubs, known as topfeed. The most popular of these are A reasonable rainfall during the winter the drought-resistant species, M ulga ( Aca­ initiates the growth of many annual grasses cia aneura ), Iron wood (Acacia estrophio­ and other plants. By August or early Sep­ lata), Witchety Bush (Acacia kempeana) tember, there can be areas of great colour, and Whitewood (Atalaya hemiglauca ). provided by masses of yellow with Senecio There is an indication that even in dry gregorii, Senecio magnificus, f-1elipterum stipitatum, and H elichrysum ayersii, purple times, per cent or more of the plants 75 by various species of Swainsona, pink by eaten are grasses, but in times of good Helichrysum cassinianum and Helichrysum rains this can be almost JOO per cent. roseum var. davenportii, and white by Herbage other than grasses is important, but Helipterum floribundum. rarely comprises more than 15 per cent of the diet, and is more usually less than 10 per cent. Topfeed mostly comprises less than I 0 per cent of the diet, but can rise to 20 per cent or more, as a dry period stretches into a drought. The relatively small amounts of herbage and topfeed, nevertheless, are extremely valuable, for these quite likely provide nutrient deficien­ cies which may occur in the grasses.

Relic Species ln another way, the arid zone plants are providing the basis for another thriving industry-the tourist influx. The tourist areas of central Australia are mostly in places where plant species of a more or less relic nature provide great interest. As has been mentioned in a previous issue of this journal, unique plants such as the rare palm Livistona mariae and the robust cycad Macrozamia macdonnellii are striking features in Palm Valley. The cycad is also Portion of a gilgai contammg the everfail seen at King's Canyon, Simpson's Gap, Grass (Eragrostis setifolia ) which is grazed Serpentine, and some other places. by the Red Kangaroo (Mega/eia rufa).

Page 116 Australian Natural History The erratic rainfall can cause a great in everal parts of Australia. Stomach diminution in the seed supply of arid zone samples of these animals so far examined plants. For instance. during the drought in central Australia have hown an over­ up to the time of writing there have been whelming preference for the Neverfail a number of small falls of up to half an Grass (Eragrostis setifolia ), with minor inch of rain. Such fall have eau cd germi­ amounts of herbaceous plant species which nation and a minimum of growth. With no occur in and around gilgais. The moisture further follow-up rain, these plants may content of both grazed and ungrazed flower and seed at a height of 2 inches or samples of this grass have been determined, 3 inches, or may perish before flowering, and at mo t times the grazed amples con­ but with this proces repeated over a tained more moisture than the ungrazed number of years, the ced supply is gradu­ samples. This may have some significance ally reduced. Undoubtedly, too. ome seed in the kangaroo's ability to survive in the desiccates. and insects destroy much seed. arid environment, but will only be properly With grazing effects impo ed in a drought evaluated when other phy iological aspects period, even though with greatly reduced arc considered. cattle numbers, the minimum of seed pro­ duced has been less effective. Con equently. Unpopulated Areas good rains of at least I inch with follow-up In the unpopulated desert areas. such as rains within 3 or 4 weeks would be needed the Simpson Desert, Gibson's Desert. and over a period of 3 to 5 years to aid recov­ the Great Sandy De ert, there is fringe use ery. The capacity for rapid growth by arid of the vegetation by the pa toral industry. zone plants. given the right conditions. Again. a feature of these areas. particularly often leads to undue optimism about their the latter two, is the presence of trees and ability to recover from droughts. large shrubs. Species of Acacia, as well as The relationship of the Red Kangaroo Bloodwood (Eucalyptus terminalis ) and (Megaleia rufa ) to the arid zone flora is Coolabah (Eucalyptus microtheca ). are being investigated by a number of people scattered throughout the Simpson Desert,

(Eucalyptus go11gylocarpa ) in desert north of Lake Amadeus.

Page 117 December, J 965 colonizing plant uch as the amphirc (Pachycornia tenuis) on the edge of the lake surface, leading back to plants of Bassia luehmannii and B. birchii with Perennial Saltbu h (Atrip/ex vesicaria ) on the shore of the lake in gyp cous sands. Further back again, at the edge of the c sands. is u ually a ring of the Tea Tree (Me/aleuca glomerata ). Sand-ridges approach to le than 50 yards from the lake surface. lt is perhaps surpnsmg to tourists to find so many trees in our desert areas, and this has also caused rem:uks by over cas visitors. In recent years· we have had visits from fore tcrs from Sudan, India. and Paki­ stan, each of whom has admired our de ert pecies. Their oroblem is to provide timber for fuel in their more densely populated arid zones, and Australian desert trees have Desert Oak (Casuarina decaisneana) in been of great interest in this matter. As Desert Spinifex ( Triodia pun�ens) sand-plain numbers of Australian species such as 21 miles outh of Alice Springs. Acacia and Atrip/ex are being introduced in oversea arid zones, surely thi must impress on us that we should learn more and near the cattle station of Andado on about our own desert vegetation and its the fringe of the de en i one of the two uses. occurrence of the rare Waddy Wood trees (Acacia peuce ). The other occurrence of [Photos in this article are by t!te author.] this species is north of Birdsvillc on the western fringe of the Simpson Desert, on similar gravelly downs near dune fields. In sand plains and sand dunes of the NOTES AJVD NE WS western desert area are more specie of Acacia. Eucalyptus and the ame species of ARCHAEOLOGICAL S RVEY plus several more. Marble Gum (F.uca­ The Australian Mu'>Cum·s Curator of Anthro­ lyptus gongylocarpa) is a notable addition, pology. M r D. R. Moore. i surveying the upper outstanding for it light-brown bark shed­ Hunter and Goulburn River valleys for Abo­ ding in small section and revealing a grey riginal occupation sites suitable for e�cavation. smooth trunk beneath. The Desert Oak He would welcome information from residents of that area. or other persons with local know­ (Camarina decaisneana ) i a tall graceful ledge. The type'> of sites likely to be of archaeo­ tree which dominate IMge areas of this logical interest arc caves and rock shelters with desert. More uncommon arc the Gra s deep occupation deposits or old Aboriginal camp. Trees ant!torrlwea thomtonii). and these ing areas with middens (i.e.. low hummocks of (X food waste. shell . etc.) along the ri�er 'alleys have not been seen by many people. The or permanent creeks. Desert K urrajong ( Brachychiton gregorii) i a smaller tree scattered throughout VISITOR TO ;\IUSE 1 western sandy desert , but also extending Mr Lai hung. Librarian of the lnstitut Ocean- ographique. hatrang. South Viet- am. who is onto sandy areas in the eastern part of studying libraric in Australia, visited the central Australia. Museum Library on 16th July.

Plants Around Salt Lakes DONATION TO LIBRARY Another group of desert plants in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.. through the kind offices of Mr J. J. Salmon Jr. Managing we tern areas arc tho e around the variou Director. has presented the Museum with a set of alt lakes, and it i interesting to sec the the current edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Pa�e J 18 A usrralian Narura/ Hisrory The Fat-tailed Marsupial Mouse (A ntechinus 111acdonneflensis ) lives in rocky areas in arid region of the orthern Territory and Western Australia. Like many other desert mammals, it has a tail swollen with fat. the true significance of which is not fully understood. [Photo: Howard Hughes.]

MA MMA LS IN ARID REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA

By U. J. MARLOW

SI CE it is extremely difficult to give a individual animal are considerably maller. completely adequate definition of a Among those mammals which arc confined de ert, the term "arid region" has been to the arid regions, however. there exist selected for the title of this article. A ome remarkable adaptation in structure, general account of the deserts of Au tralia physiology and behaviour which arc similar has been given el ewhere in this issue, and to those of mammals in other arid areas in their distribution has been discussed at the the world. same time. Although a large proportion of the continent is arid. relatively few species The Problems Of Life In An Arid of mammals are specifically adapted for life Environment in this rigorous inland environment, and in Two major factors are involved m the comparison with the more temperate coas­ life of mammal in desert condition . These tal regions. the number of both species and are the ability to withstand extremely high

Dece111ber, 1965 Page l 19 temperatures during the day and the neces­ A delicate balance between water loss sity to conserve water which is in extremely and water gain must be maintained at all short supply. time by mammal in arid regions. and the The problem of temperature control is mechanism whereby this is achieved by solved in two very different way in desert Australian mammals will now be considered. mammals, depending upon the size of the Monotremes animal. The Spiny Ant-cater (Tachyglossus acu­ Since the surface area of a large mammal leatus) is widely di tributed throughout the is fairly small in relation to its volume, the continent and occupies both de ert and larger mammals can u c the evaporation of temperate regions. In contra t. the platy­ water from the surface of the skin in the pu ( Ornirhorhynclws anarinus) is con­ form of sweat or saliva as a cooling mech­ fined to the eastern part of Australia and anism. Small mammals. on the other hand. does not enter desert areas. Monotremes have a very large surface area in compari­ arc characterized by their variable body son with their volume. and in con cqucnce temperature which fluctuates with that of they arc unable to endure the everc water the environment. and this may confer a loss that would result from a cooling mech­ considerable advantage to the animal in anism of this type. Their solution of the high temperatures. In the early morning, problem of temperature control is behav­ when it is cool, the temperature of the ioural rather than physiological, since they Spiny Ant-eater would be considerably are nocturnal and pcnd the hottc t part of depre sed and thi would increase the range the day in burrow where the temperature through which its temperature would have is con idcrably lower and the humidity to rise before it experienced heat stress. higher. They thus avoid the heat stress Although Spiny Ant-eaters are well adapted which larger mammals experience. for digging. they do not occupy burrows, The problems of water conservation are but retire into crevices in rock outcrops solved in a similar manner in both groups. during the day, where the humidity i Water may be gained by drinking or be higher and where they are protected from contained in food. At the same time it intense solar radiation. Their food, which may also be produced in the body by the consi ts of true ants and termites, contains oxidation of certain foods such as fat. and rea onablc quantities of water. this so-called "metabolic water" is of con iderable importance to many desert Mar upials mammals. Marsupial are well repre cnted in the Water i lost from respiratory surfaces, Australian desert fauna; thi i particularly in urine and faeces. in milk and a sweat, true of the flesh-eating dasyurid and kan­ and the majority of desert mammals have garoo-like macropods which contain several highly efficient kidneys which can produce genera that arc confined to arid regions. an extremely concentrated urine, while The arboreal phalangers or po urns on the much water is resorbed from the faeces in other hand arc virtually absent becau e of the rectum. A certain amount of unavoid­ the lack of tree , although the common able water lo s occur in all mammals from Brush-tailed Po urn ( Trichosurus vulpec­ the re piratory urfaccs and this may be ula) occurs along the tree-lined dry water­ reduced considerably during the aestivation course of inland Australia. or summer sleep of certain small desert Among the wombats. one genus. Lasior­ mammals. himts. which contain the hairy-nosed It has been sugge ted that the production species. is distributed in the arid centre of of concentrated milk of high fat content in Queensland and on the ullarbor Plain. certain mammals. such as whale , is a These animals pcnd the day in deep bur­ mechanism for water conservation rather rows and ememc� at night� to feed on succu­ than for the manufacture of highly nutri­ lent vegetation in the form of roots and tious milk. The composition of milk in gra c . desert mammals ha unfortunately not been Bandicoots are generally adapted to the studied in great detail and this ubject forcstcd areas of Australia. but three forms would be a most profitable line of rcs�arch. are found in arid regions. These are the

Australian Natural History Desert Bandicoot ( Perameles eremiana) , urea, produced by its diet of high protein the rare Pig-footed Bandicoot ( Chaeropus content, with a minimum of water loss. ecaudatus) and the Rabbit-cared Bandi­ Many small desert dasyurids accumulate coots or bilbies ( Thy/acomys spp.). The large deposits of fat in their tail . This is latter are the only truly fossorial bandi­ particularly true in the case of several coots, which live in complex burrows in species of Sminthopsis, the mulgara and the spinifex grassland plains. They are A ntechinus macdonnellensis of the ranges nocturnal in their habits and feed both on around Alice Springs. It has been sugges­ insect and the succulent tubers of plants. ted that this fat i of significance in the pro­ The fte h-eating dasyurids of the desert duction of metabolic water and would thus are all of small size, the larger native cats assist the animal in maintaining a positive being normally absent from the arid regions. water balance. Schmidt- ielsen has denied The Narrow-footed Marsupial Mice (Smin­ that this is likely, and has postulated that thopsis spp.) are well represented in deserts any gain in water would be off et by evapo­ and are smaller in ize and have longer ration from respiratory surface , during the ears and tails than their counterparts in in piration of the large amount of oxygen the more temperate regions. The e features which are required to oxidize this fat. are probably adaptation for the dissipation of excess heat. The larger desert dasyurids The most highly specialized desert-living are represented by Byrne's Marsupial marsupial in Au tralia is the Marsupial Mole ( Notoryctes typhlops) , whose biology Mouse ( Dasyuroides byrnei) of the gibber plains of outh-wcst Queensland and by the is, unfortunately, virtually unknown. mulgara or Crest-tailed Marsupial Mouse The kangaroo-like animals or macropods (Dasycercus cristicauda) of the spinifex of the arid regions of Australia include grassland of South Australia and the several genera of small animals such as the Northern Territory. The latter species has rat-kangaroos Bettongia and Caloprymnus, been tudied extensively by the American together with other small wallabies such as physiologist Knut Schmidt- ielsen, who Hare Wallabies ( Lagorchesres spp.). Nail­ showed that this small burrowing carni­ tailed Wallabies (Onychoga/ea spp.) and vorous marsupial could get all the water Rock Wallabies (Petrogale spp.). Only two that it required from its diet of insects and species are of a large size, the euro or Hill small rodents, provided that it did not have Kangaroo (Macropus robustus) and the to expend water in cooling its body. Jt pro­ Red Kangaroo (Macropus mfus) . Of the duces a very concentrated urine which is maller forms only the bettong ( Bettongia able to expel the considerable amounts of lesueur) is fossorial, while the other specie

The entrance to a bur­ row of a Rabbit-eared Bandicoot in spinifex grassland. The majority of small desert mammals avoid ad,erse condition of heat and lack of water by living in bur­ rows during the day. [Photo: Author.]

December, 1965 Page 121 The Crest-tailed Marsupial ( Dasycercus cr�su­ cauda) is able to li\e without drinking. provided it does not have to u e water to cool il'.elf. All the water it needs is supplied by the in ects. rep­ tiles and mall mammals on which it feeds. [Photo: HO\\ard Hughes.] It a\oids heat tre s and \\ ater loss by living in burrows at the ba es of dwarf paperbark shrubs (Mela/euca spp. ) in spinifex gra sland. as seen below. [Photo: Author.)

rest in the hade of hrubs or in rock shel­ ing the heat of the day. The kidney of the ters during the hottest part of the day. Red Kangaroo is significantly more efficient The water metabolism and heat regula­ than that of the euro and can excrete highly tion of desert macropods have not been concentrated urine. fully investigated but some contributions to Placental Mammal these problem have been made by Ealey and ewsome. who have studied the euro [n addition to monotremes and marsu­ and Red Kangaroo respectively. Both pials, the mammal fauna of Australia inclu­ these animals use water to cool themselves des two group of placental mammal , bats by licking the fur of their forelimb and and rodents. che t rather than by weating. Thi i a rela­ Relatively few species of bats are to be tively inefficient method of cooling. since. found in arid regions of Australia and there to be effective. the water should evaporate are no species which are confined to this from the surface of the skin and not from type of habitat. The more important the fur. Both pecie require water to drink. pecie of de ert-living bats include the although this may be consumed at infre­ False Vampire Bat (Macroderma gigas ), quent intervals. and both con erve water to Sheath-tailed Bat (Tapho::.ous spp.) and a certain extent by resting in the shade dur- the Small Brown Bat (Eptesicus pumilus ),

Australian Natural History The Au tralian hopping rodent ( Noromys cer­ vinus) how a striking convergence towards other de en-living rodents in other part of the world. The jerboas (law/us ). of orth Africa. and kangaroo rats ( Dipodomys ). of orth America, show a imilar elongation of the hind foot and tail which i correlated with a hop­ ping gait. [Photo: Howard Hughes.] all of which live in caves by day where and they emerge at night to feed on eeds they arc protected from excessive heat. and other dry plant material. Unfortun­ I nsectivorou bat presumably obtain water ately, little work ha been carried out on from their food, but they will al o drink by the physiology of Notomys in Au tralia, dipping over water when it is available. but exten ive research has been undertaken Under heat strc s. the blood vessels in the on the kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ) in wings of bats become dilated. which allows America. The e rodents rarely drink. and for a rapid dissipation of heat. It is prob­ obtain all the water they require from the able that a considcrabl:! volume of water metabolism of the dry seeds on which they might be lo t from the surface of the wing . feed. They have highly efficient kidneys lt is interesting to note that the majority of which can excrete alt in twice the concen­ desert bat roo t in caves; the notable tration of sea-water. They do not u e water exception is the Long-cared Bat (Nycto­ for cooling since they have no sweat glands philus spp. ), which normally spends the and only leave their burrows at night. The day in hollow trees or under loose bark. metabolic water that they produce i just With one or two notable exceptions, few ufficient to counterbalance that lo t in genera of Au tralian rodents are confined tran piration and in the urine. When fed on high protein diet, such as soya beans, to desert regions. and in consequence small a native mice such as Leggadina pp. and the c animal then require water to elimj­ Pseudomys spp., together with Stick-nest nate the additional urea and under these circumstances can drink sea-water with Rats ( Leporillus pp.), are found in a vari­ ety of habitat . The Thick-tailed Rat impunity. Mammal . such as man. who (Zyzomys spp.) is confined to the arid lack such highly efficient kidneys, cannot areas of the Northern Territory and Western drink ea-water when they are dehydrated, Australia but virtually nothing is known since additional water is excreted in an about the biology of this genus. attempt to get rid of the extra salt that has been ingested. The delicate hopping mice (Notomys spp.) are the eta sical example of Australian Studies of the water balance in Notomys rodents which are adapted to desert con­ would be of very great interest, so that a ditions. These animals how a remarkable comparison could be made between this convergence towards desert-living rodent typical Australian desert rodent and the in other parts of the world, such as the highly efficient Dipodomys. jerboas of North Africa and the kangaroo­ Mammals in the arid regions of Au tralia rats of America. These hopping rodents show many intere ting physiological and have elongated hind limbs and long tufted behavioural adaptations to their environ­ tails. In common with many desert mam­ ment. Intensive invc tigation of the hither­ mals, they have a greatly inflated auditory to neglected fields of water metaboli m and bulla in the skull. The significance of this thermoregulation in this highly endemic feature is at present unknown. During the fauna would offer fascinating and timulat­ day. the e hopping rodents live in burrows ing subjects for research.

December, 1965 Page 123 Typical gibber desert. where the Gibber Bird or Desert Chat found. [Photo: Howard Hughes.]

DESER T BIRDS

Uy H. J. de S. DISNEY

THE Australian de ens or arid areas con- in the form of shade or. like some large si ting of spinifex steppe and gibber bird , by soaring at high altitude , as the cover about 14 per cent of the country, temperature would decrease by 3°F for with an average rainfall of 5 to 8 inches. every 1.000 feet rise in altitude. Of the 53 1 breeding bird in Au tralia only 17, or 3 per cent. are found in arid areas. Drinking The water lost by evaporation must be Keeping Cool replenished; a few bird appear to be able Birds that live in de ert and hot arid to do this without drinking, by getting suffi­ areas have no special methods for controll­ cient water from their food. In all cases ing their body temperature. The body the e are either in ect eaters or birds of temperature of both de ert and other birds prey feeding on flesh. There arc no case of ranges- from about 104° F to 107 F, with purely seed-eating birds or bird with a dry the lethal temperature about I 16 F. Bird diet which do not require to drink at least do not have "sweat" glands, but mu t also once a day and frequently more often. ln cool thcmselve by evaporation of water. this way you get the large flocks of bud­ This is done by "panting·· and pas ing air gerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) coming over the moist respiratory tracts. Thi takes to waterholes to drink, although experimen­ place when the body temperature reaches tally they are apparently able to survive at about I 09°F. Under very hot conditions least 38 days at 86'F. and apparently at the bird seek a cooler microclimate, either 68° F some can urvive indefinitely without

Page 124 A us/ralian Nawra/ His/01')' water. However, this can only be done (Ashbya lovensis) is characteristic of gibber under relatively inactive condition and in or stony desert and is found in we tern the wild thi would not be so and it is Queen land, the far north-we t of New very doubtful if a budgerigar could exist South Wales and northern South Australia without water. a far outh as Oodnadatta. On a field As bird mu t drink water the question trip in 1963 this was ob erved near ari e , can they drink saline water? Marine Bedourie in western Queensland out on the birds can, a they have special na al or open gibber plain, and it was again een alt gland . Mo t terrestial birds have a near Birdsville in open stony country with low alt tolerance; however, the Zebra a few small bushes. At Birdsville there Finch ( Taeniopygia caswnotis) can toler­ were also Crimson Chats (Eprhianura tri­ ate a alt olution slightly stronger than color) and Orange Chats (Epthianura auri­ ea water. The budgerigar has apparently frons) moving through on migration. At a no pecial salt tolerance. Another bird in distance it was difficult to di tinguish the which the salt tolerance has been studied is De ert and Orange Chat , when feeding on the American Savannah Sparrow ( Passer­ the ground, as they were both yellow. How­ culus sa ndwichensis). Here there cemed ever, when they were disturbed it was to be difference between sub pecie . and found that the Orange Chats settled on top P. s. beldingi inhabiting the salt marshes of a low bu h. but the Desert Chats didn't ; could maintain it body weight at similar they alway settled again on the ground. salt concentration as the Zebra Finch. Another bird of dry stony country is the This is apparently carried out by very Cinnamon Quail Thrush (Cinclosoma cin­ powerful kidney action. namomeum). This was also met with at Bedourie and Birdsville. lt is fond of stony Gibber Desert ridge with a few bushes for cover. Tt is, Certain species are very characteristic of however. easily missed. as when disturbed the different main habitats of these arid it ftie very swiftly and low to cover and i areas. The Gibber Bird or Desert Chat difficult to find again, being a great runner.

December, 1965 Page 125 Only by careful watch was it een in the dry stony ridge country east of Alice Springs. During the day few birds are een on the open desert. but at night the Australian or Inland Dotterel (Peltohyas australis) can be frequently picked up in car headlights, also nightjars and even frogmouths arc seen. Grey Teal move around at night and, perhap upset by moon reflections. have flown into boundary fences and killed them­ selves. When travelling through desert areas, if birds start to become common it means that water must be present omewhere, either a natural waterhole or water from an open bore, which may form a small stream. At Sandringham Station near Bcdourie there was a creek with water from a bore form­ ing pools ; the surrounding country was sand. Here, at the end of October, 1963. were een water birds, such as Spoonbills, Straw-necked Ibis, and, in the small patches of bulrushes in the pool , a Rail and several A tree growing from a hidden waterhole Reed Warbler . In bushes nearby were which is protected from evaporation by large Zebra Finches and Diamond Doves. and rocks. [Photo: Author.] roosting at night in ome bare dead trees were Little Corell::t. At a small waterhole about I 2 miles away there were ten Grey morning and evening on termites. and gett­ Teal, four Blacktailcd ative Hens. several ing their underpart heavily stained with Blackfrontcd Dotterel. Pipits. Zebra the red sand. The only other bird seen Finches, Crested Pigeons, several Pecwees. in this area were two Masked Wood-swal­ Black-faced Wood-swallows, Whitebacked lows and two crows. The nearest water Swallows and Bee-cater . was at bore hole 8 to 10 mile away. ln an area where the ground was bare except Desert Grassland for low Acacia bushes, forty galahs sud­ This is very similar to open desert as denly appeared. Jt is uncertain what they there arc very few birds, except near water­ were feeding on, but scattered over the holes, unless it rains. In April, 1965. a whole area wa plenty of pisolitic grit. visit was made to the edge of the sand This grit when rubbed was found to be a dunes in the northern end of the Simpson layer of very fine grit round a nucleus of Desert, due east of Alice Springs. Here, a flat Acacia seed. The galahs may have among t the broken-down spinifex been feeding on these. (Triodia ) and scattered flowering Blood­ wood trees, the Willy Wagtail (Rhipidura Breeding leucophrys ) collected Bush Flies within a The birds of the arid regions of Aus­ few inches of our feet. At sunrise the tralia are opportunist breeders, which breed Yellow-throated Miners (Myzantha flavi­ after rain. This was noted by the early gula), Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters ( Acan­ naturalists. and Serventy and Marshal! thagenys rufogularis ) and Singing Honey­ (Emu : 57.99- 125) examined the out-of­ eaters (Meliphaga virescens ) came to feed season breeding in southern Western Aus­ on the flowering trees, returning to their tralia in I 953 and 1955. They found that roosting places in the evening. The miners thirty-nine species bred out of season after were also feeding on the ground in the early heavy rain in the area. and the lower the

Page 126 Australian Natural History A migrating harptailed andpiper at a claypan on its return journey to nonh-ea�tern iberia to breed. [Photo: Author.]

avera!!e rainfall of the area the quicker the Au tralia in July. it i considered that there re pon e of the bird to the stimulu of would be no great difficulty for these bird rain. to migrate acro I ,000 mile of arid country to join their relatives in south In early March, 1965, the Tanami Desert Western Australia. They are not known Sanctuary in orthern Territory received to do thi . although in the orthern Hemi- 7 inche of rain. Four week later the pherc similar sm:tll birds twice a year cro following insect-eating birds were found the amc distance over the much more nesting. but no seed-eating birds: One cvcre ahara De crt. Crim on Chat with young; Pipit and Brown Songlark with eggs, the latter well incub­ As soon as any rain falls in the arid ated ; two bustards with eggs. one clutch of areas insect become abundant. o that which was about ten days incubated : quail �mall insect-eating birds would have no with mall young, and also a Ground­ difficulty crossing these area and in fact. nesting Pigeon. In ect life was abundant. in 1939, when the Simp on De crt Expedi­ particularly Bush Flies and also a whitish tion crossed from west to cast and there octuid caterpillar feeding on the pinifcx wa rain. small birds were recorded all the and which was being fed by the Crimson way across. Rain also fills the claypans Chat to their young. and at once duck and Mar h Terns and other water bird appear. The orthern Migration Hemisphere migrant uch a Sharptailed Sandpiper and Little Whimbrcl al o stop Most of the older indigenous birds do on the journey north at the claypans, al­ not appear to perform true migrations. but though at this time their bodic are covered are only nom�ds within their own uitable with a quarter-inch layer of fat and they habitats. a none of the Au tralian deserts could C!_uite easily continue their journey. or arid regions arc barriers to true migrat­ One of the great attraction for these birds ing bird . True migrating birds lay down a is the abundant food supply which quickly layer of fat as re erve energy for their develops in these claypans. particularly journey. From examination of the heavy Shield Shrimps ( Triops ausrraliensis ) (see fat depo its of cw Holland Honcyeaters the article on Crustacea). which the terns (Meliomis novaehollandiae) in eastern and others readily eat.

December, 1965 Page 127 The Water-holding Frog (Cyclorana platyceplwlus) is found in many parts of the arid inland of Australia. lt ha a number of physiological and behavioural adaptations to life in arid regions. [Photo: Howard Hughes.]

REPTILES AND FR OGS OF AUSTRALIA'S ARID REGIONS

By H. G. COGGER

AS already de cri bed in this is uc the at high noon even on the hotte t ummcr arid interior of Australia contains a day perched on rocks, stumps. termitaria diversity of environment and landscapes. or mounds of and, within ea y reach of The major features common to all of these their home burrow or clump of Porcupine environments are lack of water-or rather, Grass. it unreliability from year to year-and high As pointed out in a previou article (Australian mural History, ummer temperature . both of which make Vol. 14. o. life in this region c pccially hazardous. 2) the reptile of central Au tralia can be divided roughly into four major group . on The reptile of Australia's desert and ·• the basis of their preferred habitat or way emi-desert " arc rich in numb::rs and of life. These are:- variety. but very few arc encountered by the 1. Specie which live in the Porcupine vi itor. Mo t arc nocturnal and ecretive. (Triodia ). Grass avoiding the har h conditions which prevail 2. during daylight hours. everthelc . a few Burrowing pccies. pecie of lizards, e pecinlly some of the 3. Rock-dwelling specie Agamidae ). 4. dragons (Family can be een Arboreal pccies.

Page 128 Australian atura/ History tions apply, for night surface temperatures This is, of course, something of an over­ 20Fo simplification. for many species do not may become so low (up to or mort: have such clear-cut preferences. Some below freezing) that only by remaining in dragons, for example, make extensive bur­ their burrows can the reptiles avoid freez­ rows but spend much of their time in the ing to death. Triodia. Some reptiles. such as the Western Some large lizard , such as the skink a (Tiliqua occipitalis) Blue-tongue Liz rd Egernia kintorei, have been found by zoo­ ( Varanus gouldii ) and the Sand Goanna logists in the Northern Territory to con­ 6 move freely about the countryside to forage, struct "family" burrow systems up to 20 and for this reason do not conveniently feet deep and more than feet long. with fit into any of these four "habitat" cate­ multiple entrances. Many species make gories. Nevertheless, this simple classifica­ their burrows at the bases of trees or tion will indicate the basic ecological niches shrubs, the roots of which may give struc­ in which reptiles are found in Australia's tural support to the burrows, and where arid interior. the water content of the soil is often high. Inhabitants Of The Porcupine Grass Rock-inhabiting Reptiles

Those forms that inhabit the Porcupine Scattered throughout inland Au tralia Triodia) Grass or spinifex ( make up one are numerous mountain ranges, each sepa­ of the largest groups of desert reptiles. rated from its neighbours by tracts of desert Various species of Porcupine Grass con­ of varying extents. Lt is in these ranges stitute the dominant vegetation over vast that rock-inhabiting reptiles are found, living areas of central Australia, from the desert either under slabs of rock or deep in rocky sandhills to the very tops of the mountain crevices. Lt is here, too, that the only ranges. Ln many areas it is the only per­ permanent water is found, for only the manent ground cover, and as each clump combination of impermeable rock base and consists of a relatively dense thicket of sheltering ravines will allow surface water interlacing, outwardly-projecting spines, it to be retained for any period of time. provides shelter and protection for a host Spring points, though uncommon, also occur of smaller reptiles, especially lizards. in the ranges and together with rock holes Indeed, all five families of lizards which provide a few places in this typically water­ occur in Au tralia have representatives in less region where frogs can survive. The Hyla gilleni. this group. Some common species are the centralian "tree" frog the ( Diplodactylus elderi). J-/yla rubella Beaded Gecko a ubiquitous little tree frog ( Delma frazeri), Limnodynastes ornatus legless lizard the Ocellated and the ground frog (Sphenomorphus ocelliferum) Skink and are commonly encountered at such places (Amphibolurus iso­ the Military Dragon as Simpson's Gap, and Palm Valley in the lepis). MacDonnell Ranges. Rock-inhabiting rep­ Burrowing Species tiles which are found only in the mountain (Amphi­ ranges are the Ring-tailed Dragon bolums caudicinclus ). Burrowing species are also plentiful, the Rusty Dragon (Amphibolurus rufescens), although into this category arc also placed White's Skink (Egernia whitii ). tho e reptile , such as some of the larger a spiny-tailed skink ( Egernia stokesii) venomous snakes, which do not make their and various geckos. The ( Varanus giganleus ), own burrows but inhabit those made by Pcrentie Australia's other reptiles or by mammals. Burrows largest goanna. is usually found close to the offer a number of advantages. On hot days ranges or large rocky outcrops, but will the temperature only a few inches below move out into the urrounding country to ground is much lower than that on the sur­ forage. face. and numerous nocturnal species spend Arboreal Reptiles the daylight hour underground. Some sun­ loving dragons also construct burrows to Arboreal reptiles are relatively few; ome which they retreat when danger threatens common centralian species are the Pigmy (Varanus gilleni), or when conditions above ground become Tree Goanna the Little (Cryptoblepharus boutonii) excessively hot. ln winter, reverse condi- Tree Skink

December, 1965 Page 129 Some common lizards of central Au�tralia. Top (left to right ): The Perentie ( Vara1111.\ giga11reus ). which gro\\S to more than 8 feet and i Australia\ large;t lizard. 1 he Common Sand Goanna ( Varai/IIS gou/dii ). Cenrre: A burrowing �kink. Rlwdona bipe�. only a fe" inche in length. Kintore· kink ( Egemia kinrorei) . Be/oil': The Knob-tailed Gecko ( ephrurus /ae1·is ). The Thorny or lountain Devil ( Mo/och lwrridu1 ). [Photos: HowarJ Hughes.] and the Tree Gecko or Dtella (Gelryrcr moist sand away from the heat, hady rock variegata). crevices. protective grassy thicket -which enable them to avoid unfavourable condi­ lt can be seen from the above discus ion tions. Tho e pecie which survive even that the majority of reptiles (and frog ) under condition of extreme heat and dry­ Jiving in the arid interior of Australia arc ness are often able to do o by virtue of able to survive there not so much by adapt­ complex behavioural adaptation . By care­ ing to the rigorou conditions which exist fully changing their body position in rela­ there, but by finding niches-burrows in tion to the sun and the hot and, many

Page 130 A usrralian arura/ History lizard are able to maintain their body in this country. Indeed, it is within the temperature up to 30F• below the tempera­ field of physiological adaptation to the Aus­ ture of their urrounding . Total water tralian environment that we can expect some need are often provided by the numerous of the most exciting work and result in in ect upon which they feed. the tudy of Australian reptiles and frogs within the next few year . Overseas tudies have shown that many desert reptiles have complex physiological The evolution of Australia's numerou adaptations. such a increased re-ab orption de ert reptiles is a problem which is al o of water from waste products in the kidney commanding increasing scientific intere t. and urodaeum. which help them to urvive We know little about the hi tory of climatic under arid condition . The extent to which and other change which have contributed Australian de ert reptiles have evolved such to the landscape, flora and fauna which physiological mechanism is little known. today characterize the arid interior of this for few inve tigation have been carried out vast island-continent.

BOOK REVIE W

'·THE �tO Q ITOES OF VICTORIA", N. V. and preserving specimens for study. a li;t of ref­ Dobroh• orsky; �tclbournc nivcrsity Press; i-v, erence�. a systematic list of mo quito ;pecies in 237 pp., 86 figs.• pis. 1-111; 1965; price, £� 13 . Od. Victoria and an index. The inside'> of the front and back cover., are used to proYide a map of This book consist of a systematically arranged Victoria. account of Victorian mo.,quitoes. After an intro­ duction consisting mainly of a brief historical The type is clear and headings are well used review of work on Australian mo quitoes there o that it is quite easy for the reader to find hi'> are four sections devoted to general -.ubjects. The way about the book. The illu trations are large. Paper quality and binding are adequate. The fir t of the e deal with the external anatomy of adult mosquitoe . their periodicity of activity. price is high. mating. feeding and oviposition. The second deals Entomologists engaged on "ork on mosquitoes ''ith the immature stage�. The subject of eggs in Victoria "ill find this book indispensable: and hatching are followed by description of the workers in other areas. moreover. will find it external anatomy of the larvae. their biology and very u eful. In addition. it will be of consider­ larval habitat . A brief description of the mos­ able use to those engaged in public health and quito pupa is included but unfortunately no details other work where identification of mosquitoes i are given of some essential pupal character . uch required. with pecial reference to Victoria. as chaetotaxy. which are u ed in pupal identifica­ For a considerable time no\\ the description of tion. The third section deals with general aspects Australian insect species has been going on apace. of distribution and seasonal abundance of Vic­ In most group there ha been comparatively torian species. The fourth section. consisting of lillle published in the way of synopses. revisionary only two pages. deals with mosquito as disease work or monographs with an Australia-wide cov­ vectors in that State. This section concludes the erage or even on a regional ba i . The time First Pan of the book. spent by taxonomists in making identifications for The bulk of the book. the Second Part. con­ others is u ually time taken from their research: sists of a y tematic treatment of the pecie and more publications like that of Or Dobrotwor ky subspecies found in Victoria. Keys. descriptive would enable workers in non-taxonomic fields to text and essential figure are given for the iden­ make their own identifications. Thi they should tification of adults and larvae. Under distinct do. of course. whenever possible leaving the tax­ headings adult character (male and female ). onomist to produce more work in the same vein. larval characters. biology and distribution are This book is a good example of the kind of dealt with for each specie . Pupae are virtually thing much needed for Australia at pre ent. lt ignored. is to be hoped that many more volumes \\ill appear. with similar content and coverage for The book ends with an appendix on collecting other 111 eel groups and areas.-C. N. Smirhers.

December, 1965 Page 13 1 Clam or helled Fairy Shrimps ( Limnadop.1is birchii). The specimen at upper-right show prominent ..teeth", typi­ cal of thi specie , along the dorsal hinge of the nearly transparent pair of hell . The specimen upside-down at the left has one of its hells turned back to reveal its body and limbs. Length, up to I inch; colour, olive-green. [Photo: Howard Hughes.]

Crustacea of the Arid In land

By JOHN C. YALDWY1

N 0 the whole there is nothing unusual animals are aquatic. In other words they about the inland Crustacea of Australia live in. or depend directly upon. the pre­ when compared with those of other conti­ sence of water, either fresh, saline, or even, nental land ma cs in the world. One could in two ea e at least, hot arte ian bore paraphra c the words of a famous English water. All the small forms belong to the carcinologi t who wrote about the smaller group called Entomostraca. or lower Crus­ frc hwatcr cru taccans of Britain, and say tacea. The e are mostly inhabitants of tem­ that in a gathering of water-fleas. copepod porary pool and bodies of water which dry and shelled o traced from central Africa or up completely o that "resting egg " . of a inland Au tralia. we find that most of the pccial type which can with tand unu ual genera, and even omc of the pecies. are hem, cold and prolonged dessication. con- identical with those found in similar situa­ titutc the sole mean of tiding the specie tions in hi country. This does not mean over from one ea on to the next. Such that all frc hwater pccie are so univer­ sexually-produced. re ting eggs. as distinct sally distributed. for there arc many, espec­ from normal, "favourable-season" egg a ially among the larger form . which have (often parthenogenetic or unfertilized), arc restricted range, but thi does not render effective dispersal mechanisms for these le s striking the general uniformity of this form . These minute dried eggs may be fauna over wide area of the world. blown over great distances in dust or pos­ sibly transported by birds and insects. lt Although we di cuss here the Cru tacca i thus not urprising that these species arc of the arid and semi-arid inland of Au - often widely distributed. Resting egg of a tralia, it hould be made auite clear that few species will hatch without drying. but f with the inglc exception o the terrestrial in mo t ea cs drying is a prerequi itc for isopods or wood-lice as a group. all the e hatching.

Page 132 Australian atura/ History Green Shield Shrimps

In favourable conditions development takes place very rapidly, as observed by Baldwin Spencer, Profe sor of Biology at the University of Melbourne, during the Horn Exoedition to central Australia in � 1894. D ring his investigations. the large Triops ausrra/iensis ) green Shield Shrimp ( (see photographs) wa found in hundred in small claypans and pools in the creek beds-in fact anywhere where there was Triops water clouded with mud particle . ha been the characteristic crustacean ccn by travellers in central Australia ever since, and its fanciful re cmblance to the com­ pletely unrelated and extinct fossil trilobite , a it flounders in the mud of a drying clay­ pan, has been remarked upon by many ob crvers. Spencer went on to record that Triops the rate of growth of and Shelled Fairy Shrimps must be very rapid. Cer­ tainly not more than 2 weeks, and probably only a few days, after the fall of rain, Triops . "numberless" pccimcns of measur­ 3 ing in all about 2} to inches in length. were swimming in the pools. As not a ingle one had been found pri?r to the rain 111 The edge of a water-filled temporary claypan these must have developed that hort a few mile east of M t Ptilotu . Tanami time from resting eggs. Desert anctuary. onhern Territory in April. 1965. This is a typical habitat of the In these areas too, so subject to rapid Shield hrimp Triops and the helled Fairy drying up of tcmporary water bodies . a Shrimp Lim11adopsis. Louis Wright. of anta . . . specie may locally dte off as raptdly as tt Tere a Mis ion. is digging for the burrowing frog Cyc/ora11a and Neobatraclws. numbers originally built up, and at a diff­ [Photo: H. G. Cogger.] erent rate in clo cly allied species as physi­ cal conditions in the hrinking water body ourablc circumstances may be exceedingly change. Thus Spencer found at Conlon's 60 Lagoon. for example, not far from Alicc fast. lt ha b::en calculated that in days the progeny of a single female daphniid can. Spring . that one part of the low land 13.000 around the shrunken lagoon wa studded theoretically. amount to about with innumerable dried-up carapace hells million individuals. Limnadopsis birc!tii of (see photograph ). As only a few of the smaller cru taccan but not a inglc one was to be found in have common name , and as many of the the muddy water of the laeoon itself, where - - groups represented in inland Australia will the closely related Shelled Fairy Shrimp be unfamiliar to the general ( £srheria packardi) reader. a li t was swimming abund­ of those groups recorded from the arid antly. For extreme example of rapid inland i given below. together with some development in Crustacea, however. we typical generic or specific rcprc cntatives must turn to the micro copic cladoccran from this area. This list of example must water-fleas. There a single brood of par­ not be taken a even partially complete at thenogenetic, normal egg will number from the gen ric level. thou�h Daphnia � the li t of major about thirty to ixty in and its groups ts probably definitive with the po - relatives. As the brood may succeed each sible 3 exception of aquatic i opod . which. other at interval of 2 to days it will be other than the atypical suborder Phreatoi­ een that multiplication of a species in fav- cidea, appear to be unreprc entcd.

December, J 965 Page 133 C1ass CRUSTACEA Utah, and in addition is found throughout ENTO IOSTRACA (liter:tlly meaning "shelled the world from Greenland to Australia and insects"), the lower Crustacea from the West lndies to central Asia. When BRA CHIOPODA (the gill-footed cru taceans) pre ent in large numbers these small crus­ Fairy Shrimp' or Anostraca-Brallchinel/a, taceans give the water a reddish colour due Branchi11ecta and A rremia saii11a (the cos­ . mopolitan ··Brine Shrimp . of aquarists). to the presence within their bodies of the Shelled Fairy Shrimps. Clam Shrimps or Con­ pigment haemoglobin. b�tter known as the chostraca (with a transparent bi,alvcd shell) respiratory pigment characteristic of verte­ (Triops) -Limnadopsis. Eulimnadia, Estheria, Lim­ brate blood. The Shield Shrimp netis. also has haemoglobin in the blood. Other Shield Shrimps or 'otostraca-Triops (form­ anostracans. such a Branchinella, attain a erly known as Apus) australiemis. length of an inch or more, are almost trans­ Water-nea' or Cladocera-Daphnia, Cerio­ dapllllia, Simocephalus, Moina, ..-JIona and parent or white in colour, with an elongate others. body and a bunch of leaf-like leg concen­ OSTRACODA (Crustacea with a solid bivalved trated behind the head. They do not have sheli )-Cypris, Cypridopsis and allie . a shelled carapace. but possess prominent COPEPODA (the oar-footed cru taceans )- black eyes and the unusual habit. shared Boeckella, Calamoecia, Leprocyclops and others. with the Clam Shrimps and Shield Shrimps, MALACOSTRACA (literally meaning ·'soft· of swimming upside down, that is, back shelled animals", the Greek equivalent of the downwards. Latin word Crustacea), the higher Crustacea Shelled Fairy Shrimps ISOPODA (slaters. wood-lice and their aquatic allies)-Hemiporcel/io and Cuharius are ter­ re trial forms. The phreatoicid Phreatomems The Shelled Fairy Shrimp or Clam is an aquatic amphipod-like form. Shrimps have a similar body shape to the DECAPODA (shrimps. crayfish and crabs)­ above forms. but possess a carapace of two . True ·•ten-legged . shrimps are repre ented by transparent shells hinged dorsally. which Macrobrachium in perennial waters over much completely encloses the body and limbs. of the inland. by Caridina thermophila from thus closely resembling a small bivalved hot arte ian bore water near Longreach. west­ Limnadopsis ern Queensland. and by Parisicr from subter­ mollu c. The larg�st of these. birchii, ranean water near Katherine. Northern Terri­ here illu trated, grows to a length 1 tory. At least two freshwater crayfish of the of at least inch and i olive green in life. genus Cherax occur. as well as the single fre h­ Shield Shrimps are represented by the one water crab Parathe/pl111sa tranSI·ersa. Triops. pecies of described above as typical The Fairy Shrimps. with the Clam and of the arid inland. On rare occasions ome Shield Shrimp . are exclu ively freshwater of these large crustaceans have been form , and though many thrive in saline recorded hatching in eastern coastal areas waters none arc found in the sea. An after strong westerly dust storms. Under ( Artemia Triops example is the Brine Shrimp these conditions overlaps in distri­ salina ). Lepidurus, which can tolerate water high in bution with the closely related salt content, such as the Great Salt Lake of found widely in temperate coastal areas

The Shield Shrimp (Tri­ ops australiensis ) mo,·­ ing through drying mud at the edge of a shallow waterhole 30 miles north of Coober Pedy. South Australia. in April. 1963. Length. up to 3 inches; colour, oli' e-green. [Photo: A. Holmes.]

Page 134 Australian Natural History Dor al and ventral views of the hield hrimp ( Triops australiemis ) at the Tanami De ert claypan. Note the long multi-segmented abdomen. with many small limbs visible on the under urface. and the two slender terminal projections from each side of the tail segment. [Photo: H. G. Cogger.]

W. D. Wood-lice and in Ta mania. Or William . of Mona h niversity, Melbourne. is at pre­ a Terrestrial wood-lice are rare in collec­ sent doing study of the detailed distri­ tion from the inland area. but arc possibly bution of these two forms and any records common in suitable habitats. The two of either would be of interest to him. examples quoted above were taken by an The water-fleas, o tracods and copcpods expedition to the Strzelecki and Cooper are mo tly microscopic, and con cquently Creeks in 19 J 6. The phreatoicids are seldom collected and poorly known from unusual isopod with almost the appearance inland Australia. One o tracod is. however. of an amphipod. since the body is more or pea- izcd and its opaque and rounded bi­ less flattened from ide to side. instead of valved hell occur in many amplcs brought from above downwards. Their distribution to the Mu_cum from thi area. The cope­ is of great zoogeographic intere t a they Boeckella triarticulwa pod was originally arc restricted to southern Africa, r ndia, recorded from standing water near Alice Au tralia and New Zealand, with their Springs and in the MacDonnell Ranges. but greatest development in the cooler fresh has recently been taken at several localities waters of the southern part of our continent. Pllreatomems /atipes. in northern Australia. Our knowledge of One species. i found the di tribution of thi genus comes from in the arid inland in the hot waters of an I. recent work by A. E. Bayly, of Monash artesian bore near Lake Eyre, South Au - Univer ity. tralia. lt is unu ual among the phreatoi-

December, 1965 Page 135 �ids, by being able to conglobate, or roll The interesting cycles of abundance and mto a ball, like many terrestrial i opod . replacement of the entomostracan forms Apart from Entomostraca and their des- that must go on in temporary or semi­ ication-resistant resting eggs, few Au - permanent claypans or waterholcs are a tralian freshwater Crustacea show special study in themselvc . To demonstrate the adaptation for survival under arid condi­ viability of dormant egg , dried mud Cherax tions. Among freshwater crayfi h. samples from suitable areas can be obtained destructor, a widespread inland form also and placed in aquariums under controlled Cherax found in central Au tralia. and conditions where the sequence of hatching of a/bidus, of more southern and eastern the various species pre ent can be ob erved. This was the cla ical method u ed by the regions. have developed the burrowing habit . famous nmeteenth century orwegian, Pro­ to a marked degree. These species can G. 0. seal the mud chimney above their burrows fe sor Sars, to study the e little fresh­ under dry condition and urvivc in the arti­ water cru taceans from all over the world. ficial waterholc at the base of the burrow Dried mud ample from collector and naturalists in many countries. including till the next rain. The ingk freshwater . Parathelphusa transversa. crab, ha an Australia, were sent to Or Sar in Christ­ iani�' orw�y, where they were "brought cxtcn ivc range from inland north-western ...111 to . ht Australia, acro s the orthern Territory to ltfe laboratory aquarium . Often the Lake Eyre basin, the Darling River all we know today of a species, or of the drainage system in we tern cw South small freshwater Cru tacea of an area. is recorded in the beautifully drawn and col­ Wale and into inland and coa tal Queen - oured plate and meticulous de criptions land. Like the crayfish. thi crab al o seals left by this one man. the entrance to its burrow with mud when the waterholes dry out and survives in the e Important tudie n burrow till the ext wet eason. Parathe/­ Miss Marguerite Henry. of Sydney, fol­ The distribution and habits of phusa lowed this lead in the early 1920's and was have bc.cn extensively tudied recently able to breed Fairy Shrimps, water-fleas, J. Bt by A. hop. of the nivcrsity of ostracods and copcpods from dried mud Sydney, who found that their burrows may samples obtained all over Au tralia includ­ 3 h penetrate 2 to feet into the clay soil of ing many from the arid inland of t e conti­ creek banks. ground tank and waterholcs. nent. From her tudies she was able to The crabs clo e the burrow mouth with a produce a ba ic account of the Entomos­ moulded plug of clay. which dries and be­ traca of the Australian region. She also come very hard. lt i difficult to find bur­ recorded in detail the natural fluctuations rows in habitat which have been dry for of many of her samples when placed in any length of time. as weathering of the mall, well lit aquariums, upplied with a oil surface destroys the surface earthwork little uncontaminated water plant for aera­ of the burrows. This pccie can survive tion and left for at least a year. Studie of long period of drought in the e burrows. and many observer in north-we tern cw thi t) pe could be done by any interested ob erver with the minimum of home equip­ outh Wales·· have noticed active. adult "sidcwalker in large number soon after ment, and the e should provide varied and the breaking of long drought . worthwhile fauna( record from any area.

Page 136 Australian Natural History THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

HYDE PA RK, SYDNEY

BOARD OF TRU TEE

PilE. !DENT: F\IEIIITL'S I'HOFESSOH A. P. El.l-.1'\, :\1. . \., Ph.D.

CHOWN THUSTEE: E\IERITL1!> PHOFESSOI\ \. 1'. EI.KI:>., ;\I.\., Ph.D.

OFFICIAl. THUSTEES: TilE 110:\'. TilE CIIIE F JLTSTICE. 'filE 110'\. TilE 1'1\ESIOE:'\T OF TilE U�GISLATI\ E COL':>.CIL. TilE 110:\. Tlm CHIEF SECHETARY. TilE 110\:. TilE i\TTOH:'\EY-GE:\'EHAL. TilE liON. TilE TlmASURER. 'I llE 110.'11. TilE ;\11.'1/IS'n:H FOil PUBLIC \VOHKS. I'IIE 110:\'. TilE \11'\/ISTER FOH EDL'C.\TIO:'\. TilE Al'DITOR-GE:\'ERAL. TilE PRESII)E:\T OF Till;: NEW SOL'TII \V\!.ES \IEDICAL BO\IlD. TilE SURVEYOH-CE'\1•:1\AI. t\ :\'1) CIIIEF SUil\'EYOH. TilE CHOW'\ SOLICITOR.

ELECTI\'E TRUSTEES: F. �kDO\\ El. I.. C. 11. SLADE. ll.�c. NOBLE, C.II.E., H. j. ll.St·.Agr., �I.Sc., Ph.D. PHOFESSOR 1.. C. BIRCII. D.Sc. E. j. KE:\NY, �I.Aust.I.�I.M. PROFESSOR D. 1'. IELLOH. D.Sc., F. H. C. A. JOII\:SO:'\. � \.C.I. PROFESSOH J. H. A. .t.lc�IILL.\ \:, �I.S., PROI I SSOR 11. . BAR Ill R. r.R.S D.Sc.Agr. R. (. RJCIIARD. �- I IA\'ILA'\/ 1), C.B.F:. W. If. MA71. M.Sc.

DlllECTOH:

J. W, I VA S, c I)

OEP TY J)(llECTOII: 11. 0. FLETCliEH, �!.Se.

CIE:\'TIFJC STAFF: Birch: 11. j. dc· !>. DISNEY, \L\., Cnmtor. Rcptilt•s and Amphibians: 11. G. COCGER. \!.Se. . Curator. \lannnal" B. J. ;\IARLO\V, B.Sc., Curator. Fishes: r. 11. TALBOT. M.Sc. . Ph.D .. Curator. Insects nnd Ar.IChnids: C. :\. \IITJIImS. \I.Sc., Cur.1tor; D. K. �lct\1.1'1'\E, :\I.Sc., \ssistant Curator. �lollusts: D. F. \lc;\IICIIA£1., ;\1..\., Ph.D .. Curator. Cru�ta('<'n nnd CodrnteralC'S: j. C. YALD\\'Y�. �I.Sc.. Ph.D .• Curntor. \Vorms nud Et:hinodPrms: E.I..IZ.\BETII C. POPEt �t.Se.t Curatm. Minerals and Rock-= R. 0. < IIALMI I(S. A.S.l.( .. ( urator Fossils: 11. 0. FLETCIIEH, ;\I.Sc., Curator. \nthropolo)!) : D. 11. \lOO HE. H.A.. Curator.

£DITOHIAL ASSlSTA:\'T A:\'D I' 13LIC EDUCA TIO:\ OFF'ICEH: HELATJO:'\S OFFICER: I'ATRI( lA M M< 1)(), AL D. B.Sc .. \1 Id I'FTI-R COl ll�.

EXIIIIHTION DEPAHT�IE:\'T. ART AND DE. ICX SECTIOX: F. j. BEE\1.\N.

PIIOTOCHAI'IIEH AND LII3HAHIAN: VISUAL AIDS OFFICE!\: �J..\RY D \ \'IES, B. c., L.A ..\. 11. IIL'CIIES. \.ll.P.S. The Australian Museum

The Museum is open free, daily, at the following times: Tuesday to Saturday, and public holidays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Mondays, 12 noon to 5 p.m. (during school holidays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.); Sundays, 2 to 5 p.m. It is closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day.

To teachers and pupils of schools and other educational organiza· tions special facilities for study will be afforded if the Director is previously advised of intended visits. A trained teacher is available for advice and assistance.

Gifts of even the commonest specimens of natural history (if in good condition) and specimens of minerals, fossils and native handiwork are always welcome.

The office is open from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 4.30 p.m. (Monday to Friday), and visitors applying for information there will receive every attention from Museum officials.

College St., Hyde Park, Sydney L .� �.���.rvvvvvvvvvvv-

\Vbolly set up and printed in Australia for the proprietors, The Trustees of the Australian �iuseum. by V. C. N. Bli�tht, Government Printer, ydney, N. ,\V,