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Australian Natural History EXPORTING OUR ANHSummer 1990-91 Volume 23 Number 7 EXPERTS Published by The Australian Museum Trust BY FIONA DOIG 6-8 College Street, EDITOR Sydney, NSW 2000 Phone: (02) 339 8111 Trust President: Robyn Williams Museum Director: Desmond Griffin NE OF THE BEST EXPORT ITEMS TO salaries appallingly low and poorly struc­ come out of Australia yields the EDITOR 0 tured, a distinct deterioration of working Fiona Doig country virtually no financial gain. conditions has occurred over the last few SCIENTIFIC EDITOR In fact, it is costing us money. The im­ years, with greater pressure on staff to Georgina Hickey, B.Sc. porter, on the other hand, reaps all the increase teaching hours and administra­ CIRCULATION MANAGER benefits.What ridiculous kind of product tive duties. Many senior research scien­ Cathy McGahey could that be? Our experts. Those people tists find they must spend an inordinate ART DIRECTION who have the capacity to solve some of amount of time chasing up funding for Run Run Run Design PtyLtd our major environmental problems, bring their research projects-they are literally EDITORIAL ASSISTANT us closer to an understanding of our natu­ being forced to become entrepreneurs, Jennifer Saunders ral history and develop our resources leaving less and less time for research. TYPESETTING more effectively. Job insecurity is a major stumbling Excel Imaging PtyLtd Why are we exporting these products, block. Many scientists I work with exist PRINTING which cost so much to produce, for no from grant to grant, with periods of em­ Dai Nippon Printing Co., Tokyo, Japan gain? ployment ranging from a few months to a A student entering any field of the few years. Add to this scenario the ever­ ADVERTISING dedicated Wendy Symonds natural sciences has to be to increasing annual budgetary cutbacks Lisa Rawlinson the subject. That person must put up with which research institutions like mu­ (02) 339 8234 with shoddy conditions, lack of incentive seums are struggling and you have the SUBSCRIPTIONS and poor prospects-at least in this recipe for mass emigration of scientists. Annual subscription (4 issues) country. On the flip side of the educational coin, Within Australia $A30 When I see an advertisement for a PhD science teachers are leaving schools in Other Countries $A42 in nuclear physics with several years ex­ droves. This shortage is so severe that Two-year subscription (8 issues) perience offering a salary less than a primary school teachers are being put Within Australia SASS fresh economics graduate, I question the through crash 13-week courses to teach Other countries$A 78 imbalance. New subscriptions can be made science in high schools. What kind of sci­ by credit card on the ANH toll-free I have met many scientists on oc­ ence education can they provide future hotline 008-028558 or use the form in the casional sojourns back to the 'land of milk generations of scientists? back of the magazine. If it has been and honey' telling tales of the great job All of this is occurring at a time when removed, send cheque or money order to the prospects in other countries... and moan­ the Federal Government and unions are address above, made payable to the ing the abysmal lack of professional work emphasising the importance of a brain-led 'Australian Museum' in in their own. economic recovery-but what has been Australian currency. But this is not the worst of what ap­ done to achieve this? All material appearing in Australian pears to be a general trend. Not only are At least this ideal has recognised the Natural History is copyright. we losing trained people, fewer and fewer fundamental error we have been making Reproduction in whole or in part is not students are reaching the higher levels of in relying heavily on primary produce for permitted without written authorisation education. Fears that Australia will face a our export income, rather than using our from the Editor. huge shortage of post-graduate scientists collective intelligence. Just compare Opinions expressed by the authors are have been confirmed in a recent study by Australia's economic structure with that their own and do not necessarily represent the policies or views of Flinders University. This research found of other, relatively stable, nations. Swit­ the Australian Museum. that there was, for example, a net loss of zerland, for example, lives off not the fat Australian Natural History is printed on mathematicians from Australia to other of the land but the power of the brain, as archival quality paper suitable for countries every year and that only about does Japan. library collections. 60 PhDs in physics are graduating annu­ These countries advance in technology 1990 ·· .. ally. In 1989, 270 positions for such while we stay behind and mind the sheep. Published @-· · ,,'t' people were advertised in one daily news­ ISSN-0004-9840 : · • Our infrastructure is not unlike that of paper alone. I imagine the stakes for the many developing nations. ' natural sciences would not be dissimilar. Much is said of a lack of economic com­ Australian Natural Australian Natural Concern within the CSIRO about find­ prehension among scientists, but little is History is audited by History is proud winner ing qualified staff in the future was so said of scientific literacy amongst econo­ the Audit Bureau of of the 1987, 88, 89 & 90 great it triggered the implementation of a mists or politicians who ultimately make circulations. Whitley Awards for union-management action plan to take decisions that affectthis country's future. Best Periodical. their argument for a 19 per cent pay An emphasis on research that leads to Front Cover increase before the Australian Industrial solving global problems will certainly reap Scientists Gordon Grigg, Mike Augee and Relations Commission. vast benefits for the nation that comes up Lyn Beard (pictured) spent over two years Job and pay structure needs to be im­ with viable alternatives, for example, to tracking Echidnas in the high country to proved if young academics are to be en­ fossil fuel-based energy. discover just how they survive the freezing couraged to pursue a career in scientific Economic support of science is vital so winters. The answer has important research. Universities aren't even able to that we can put Australia's scientific cred­ implications for the study of hibernation. compete with the CSIRO. Not only are Photo: Gordon Grigg. ibility back on track. •

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 505 CONTENTS Articles IN THIS ISSUE BY GEORGINA HICKEY SCIENTIFIC EDITOR

E STEREOTYPE IMAGE OF AN TIchidna is that of a primitive, egg­ ying holdover from the earliest days of mammalian evolution. You can imagine the surprise, then, when Gordon - ECHIDNAS IN THE HIGH Grigg (pictured) and his colleagues found COUNTRY .) :. Echidnas in the Snowy Mountains hiber­ The recent discovery of winter hibemation for Echidnas in nating over winter-a mechanism pre­ the Australian Alps has rocked the traditional views 011 the viously reserved for only birds and physiology of Echidnas and the 'higher' placental mammals. This excit- concept of hibemation in general. ing discovery has led the authors of the article on page 528 to BY GORDON GRJGG, LYN reconsider, among other things, the traditional concepts of BEARD & MIKE AUGEE hibernation. 528 Australia's extinct Thylacine is also put under scrutiny, but RETURN OF THE GREAT SEA MONSTERS from a phylogenetic viewpoint. Dan Faith uses the Thylacine After 450 hours of painstaking to explain methods of evolutionary biologists intent on eluci­ work, a grisly pile of rubble from the opal fields at Coober dating the relationships between animals. In this new age of Pedy was converted into an exquisite specimen of an technological advancement, the systematist is faced with the extinct marine reptile. And problem of deciding how much weight should be given to there are more in store for those with the expertise and different structural or morphological evidence and that derived money to extract them. from molecular studies (see page 546). BY ALEX RITCHIE John Brackenbury, the author of the recent "Insects in 538 Flight" article (ANH vol. 23, no. 5, 1990), offers more of his superb photographs, starting on page 562, to illustrate the array of ingenious design principles that can be gleaned from the study of insects. Other articles in this issue deal with the evolution of haemoglobin and opalised Australian fossil marine reptiles. Mike Archer, after recently attending a US confer­ ence on the interrelationships of mammals, writes about some of the key players-the Platypus and her three direct ances­ SEARCH FOR THE tors. Also, Ralph Molnar and Glen Ingram discuss evolution at THYLACINE'S SISTER Where do scientists studying the level of the gene; Tim Low looks at some of the products the evolutionary relationships of the early acclimatisation societies; and Robyn Williams de­ of animals stand, for example, when morphological and lights us with the strange eating habits of Frank Buckland. molewlar evidence contradicts? There is perhaps no better Last but not least, ANH has been awarded the Royal Zo­ animal than the Thylacine to ological Society of NSW'S 1990 Whitley Award for Best illustrate the methods of phylogenetic analysis. Periodical. And earlier in 1990, we ran equal first in the Media BY DANIEL P. FAITH & Education category of the Australian Heritage Awards. 546

506 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY HAEMOGLOBIN IN RARE & END ANGERED VI EWS FR OM TH E FOURTH DI MENSION PLANTS: WHEN THE 'UNDERGROUND CONSERVATISM RULES PUMPKIN' THARALKOO'S CHILD: AN Haemoglobin-that al/­ This native sweet potato is UGLY DUCKLING STORY important oxygen-carrying currently known from only one The good news is that there protein found in the blood of locality in the Northern are now three different species mammals-has now been Territory. It was once a of fossil platypus known, which found to also occur in a wide favoured and reliable food of will help us understand the range of organisms, including the Anmatjirra Aborigines. origin of our modern Platypus. various plants and bacteria. It BY ANTAL SOOS, ANNE KERLE The bad news is that this line seems that evolution really is & PETER LATZ of evolution may come to a sad quite conservative: when you're end if we're not careful. 011 a good thing, stick to it. 522 BY MICHAEL ARCHER BY KAREN McGHEE W I L D F O O D S ACCLIMATISING EDIBLES 514 554 Colonial acclimatisation STIL L EV OLVIN G societies were responsible for THE DRIVE OF THE importing various exotic plants GENES into Australia. Although many failed to become established, Genes are complicated beasts. Not only can some spread several were too successful and QUIPS, QUOTES & today are invasive weeds. regardless of whether they are BY TIM LOW harmful to 'their host' and CURIOS thus avoid natural selection, Shedding Light on jet Lag; 524 but they can also be directly When the Pitcher Pays; exposed to selection just as Feasting on Feathers; Scare organisms are. Tactics; Tunnel of Love; ORIGAMI IN THE INSECT BY RALPH MOLNAR WORLD Australian Fungal Aid; The & GLEN INGRAM Value of Rotten Eggs; Mussel Entomological·equivalents of Monitor; Bats Turn Over a the concertina fan, the 516 New Lea/; Fire Ants jack-knife and the umbrella LA ST WOR D Blot and Run. abound. Today's engineers might well benefit from sparing 512 some time to look down an entomologist's microscope in To the uninitiated, a rock is a search of modern design clues. rock is a rock. But to an BY JOHN BRACKENBURY experienced archaeologist, subtle clues can reveal 562 whether or not it was ever used as a tool. R 0 F L E BY TOM H. LOY THE ZOO TUCKER MAN Frank Buckland not only liked 584 to collect specimens for science, he liked to eat them too. Columns BY ROBYN WJLLIAMS

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS Bent Fish; Double-yolkers; Regular Features A Deadly Quandry. FROM THE ARCHIVES A Run-down on Environmental ON THE TRAIL OF THE Lifestyle Guides: How to be BUNYIP Green; The Green Consumer Two extraordinary skulls Guide; the Green Buyer's discovered in 19th-century Guide; It's Easy Being Green; Australia caused Bunyip fever The Green Cleaner; Shop Safe; to soar. But even after the The Australian Non-buyer's 'evidence' had been dismissed, P H O T O A R T Guide; Australian Cicadas; the idea of the fabled LETTERS Human Evolution: An creature's existence still EYESPYE Antarctic Park; Fire Illustrated Introduction; persisted. It seems some The intricate and exquisite Management Paradox; Traditional Bush Medicines: people just won't take no structure of eyes is explored Dynamically Speaking; Seeing An Aboriginal Pharmacopoeia; for an answer. through the camera lens. Red; Whale Shark Tales; Aliens From Inner Space; The BY JULIAN HOLLAND BY STEVE WILSON Suggestion Box; Liar Bird? Fastest Claw in the West. 520 510 508 580 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 507 the food chain (recklessly ex­ ploited by Russian and Japanese fle ets) is very sketchy indeed. Antarctic bio­ logical literature abounds with examples of serious wildlife LEI I ERS disruption by mere scientific Comments, criticisms and congratulations from concerned bases. correspondents. Readers are invited to air their views. How many Treaty Nation policy-makers (the weight of whose opinion so impresses Dr Law) understand Antarctica as a landscape, let alone as an ec­ osystem of unique beauty and fragility? Dr Law's arguments really amount to a dogmatic and rather unscientific advocacy for the acceptance of very un­ certain odds on Antarctica's future integrity. -John Gill Medical Offer, Mawson Station 1 988 Prince Charles Mountains 1989 Antarctica

Fire Management Paradox Although I personally agree with much of Dr Flannery's ar­ gument concerning wilderness and Aboriginal fire regimes ("The Last Word", ANH vol. 23, no. 2, 1989), the scientific basis of the debate is still far from proven. I wish to illus­ Antarctic Park "99 per cent of it will always Antarctic species, like these Em­ trate this with the problem of Perhaps ANH is playing remain a wilderness, no peror Penguins, are directly de­ fire management in the south­ devil's advocate in publishing matter what ...". This argu­ pendent on the ocean. western Tasmanian wilder­ Phillip Law's objections to the ment is refuted, I believe, by ness. idea of an Antarctic World Wil­ one crucial fact: that the "one-sided and characterised It is now widely accepted derness Park. His arguments threatened, accessible, coastal, by emotion, ignorance and ex­ that south-western Tasmania ('The Last Word", ANH vol. partly ice-free areas contain aggeration". In the same liter­ has had a long history of 23, no. 4, 1990) are based on virtually all the wildlife breed­ ary breath he trivialises the human occupation and that the outdated concepts of wilder­ ing sites. Penguins, petrels and likely consequences of a major use of fire by the Tasmanian ness and conservation. seals would compete with in­ Antarctic oil spill, comparing Aborigines contiibuted to veg­ Dr Law is a respected pion­ dustry for the same one per it, quite illogically, with a spill etation patterning of this eer; I admire his Antarctic cent of the continent. The re­ in Bass Strait. region. Regrettably, however, work of the 1950s. But the maining 99 per cent is scarcely Antarctica's cold, species­ we don't know how they burnt gulf between pioneering vision relevant to the conservation poor ecosystem is largely iso­ the lowlands while avoiding and environmental sense is il­ issue. Even the "vast geo­ la ted by the oceanic con­ the elimination of fire-sensitive lustrated by his ideas on rub­ graphical scale" of the coast­ vergence-principles of bio­ rainforest and alpine communi­ bish disposal. Most of the line does nothing to invalidate logical resilience and environ­ ties. For some this question rubbish that now lends such an my concern because nobody mental regeneration that apply may seem academic yet it is air of dereliction to Antarctic can say where the limits to ex­ in lower latitudes, and even in the crux of the fire manage­ stations is the result of bureau­ ploitation, once begun, would Arctic zones, apply less readily ment issue in this region as cratic policies and demonstra­ finally be drawn. here. Every Antarctic species the primary goal of fire man­ bly gross and wasteful Those who have experi­ depends directly and com­ agement is to avoid destroying overdevelopment. To hide this enced the Antarctic hinterland pletely on the ocean. Numbers fire sensitive refugial com­ junk permanently in Antarc­ know the soulJess desolation of within some species are strik­ munities. tica, where the taxpayer a landscape devoid of plant and ingly small. Standing at Auster If the Aborigines intention­ cannot see it, would add deceit animal life. Yet one would be Rookery, (about 50 kilometres ally burnt the lowlands then to environmental insult. Like forgiven for thinking that Dr east of Mawson Station) for presumably they produced most easy solutions, it would Law sees Antarctic wildlife as example, one can see-and ac­ sharpened veg?.tation bound­ be wrong. a mere side-issue. Wildlife con­ tually count-roughly one aries that also acted as fire But there are far more servation measures that he twentieth of the world's entire boundaries and thus protected serious problems with Dr mentions (such as specially Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes fire-sensitive vegetation. This Law's arguments. He accepts protected areas) are barely ad­ forstert) population. Adaptive is certainly the case in the Top an uncertain fate for 'threat­ equate against modern expedi­ mechanisms are extreme. End of the Northern Terri­ ened parts' of the continent tions and would be mocked by There is a fine line between tory, where vegetation bound­ simply because they are rela­ any Antarctic industry. breeding success and disaster. aries typically coincide with tively small. Antarctica, he He finds the treatment of And to cap it all, our under­ environmental discontinuities states, is not at risk because the Antarctic conservation standing of the lower end of as well as differences in fuel

508 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY mass and moisture content. Energy used by life on Earth orig­ The creation of 'wilderness' inates from the sun. following the eradication of the religion and have no need to Aborigines in this region 150 construct a rigorous scientific years ago may have resulted in argument at all. Neither of the expansion of the scrub ec­ these alternatives commends otone between the forests and itself to me. treeless plains. This wedge of It makes very little sense to inflammable shrub species state "the role of the genes is would have fundamentally not clear" and then to state changed fire patterns such that categorically in the next line fires are now more likely to that they play no part in devel­ run into and ignite the sur­ opmental programs (a view rounding forests. If this argu­ completely discredited by the 8§ ment is correct then we can well established developmental � never return to an Aboriginal effects of point mutations in � fire regime as vegetation and the fly Drosophila melano- §? fire patterns have changed. gaster). <� Unfortunately there is an Finally it is unsatisfactory to urgent need for fire manage­ Dynamically Speaking Some other difficulties arise state that "adaptation arises in ment because the 'wilderness' Ralph Molnar and Glen from the puzzling assertions an unspecifiedfashior. from the is now repopulated by Ingram ("The organisation of and generalisations scattered thermodynamics of the genes bush walkers-potential life: from entropy to evol­ throughout the article, which and development". Adaptation sources of ignition with far less ution", ANH vol. 23, no. 4, are presented without visible of organisms to their environ­ ecological savvy than the 1990) appear to believe a con­ support or justification. Some ment is already competently Aborigines. Clearly tourists flictexists between the second examples include: explained by natural selection must be educated about their law of thermodynamics and "Thermodynamics is the in the Neo-Darwinian theories responsibility not to start neo-Darwinian evolutionary realm of the dead". The laws so lightly discarded here. It is bushfires. However, wildfires theory. They imply that the of thermodynamics apply to all critical to the credibility of any will continue to occur in the course of evolution represents matter, living and non-living. rival theory that it can explain south-west. I believe that only a net reduction in entropy. The very process of living is the facts as they are currently some of these should be fought This idea stems from the mis­ intimately related to heat flow. observed. Recognition of this taken assumption that the "Organisms are only tenu­ requirement might have re­ Earth's biosphere constitutes a ously related to the environ­ strained Molnar and Ingram closed system in thermodyn­ ment". Conventional biology from expressing the uncritical amic terms. Nothing could be holds the view that organisms enthusiasm so evident in their further from the truth. are inextricably related to closing paragraph. As far as I Virtually all life on Earth ob­ their environment. The wild­ can see, that enthusiasm is tains the energy it requires life that died in the Alaskan oil­ misguided. from sunlight, either directly spill disaster died because the -William Russell as with plants or indirectly as addition of oil to their environ­ Cammeray, NSW do animals. Sunlight is pro­ ment made it too hostile for duced by the sun from the con­ them to survive. Is this seri­ Mr Russell is quite right in version of hydrogen to helium ously being disputed? implying that no conflict at the rate of four hundred "Developmental constraints exists between thermodynam­ million tons (4 x 10 grams) lead to long-term stability in ics and evolution. As he per second. The cost of this species such as Horseshoe points out, there is no appar­ Bushwalkers need to be educated energy release is an increase crabs". What evidence is there ent conflict between irrevers­ about fire management. in the sun's entropy. that this stability is due to de­ ible thermodynamics-that Since the energy used by velopmental constraints? An­ applicable to open systems­ in order to protect specific living things originates from other point of view might be and evolution. But there is a places of value from fire the sun, the decrease in en­ that any species that is still conflict between equilibrium damage. Similarly, some areas tropy represented by the around after 150 million years thermodynamics and evol­ of country should be intention­ growth, reproduction and must be fairly well adapted to ution, which is the crux of the ally burnt to maintain particu­ hence evolution of complex or­ it's environment and is there­ column. Living organisms are lar wildlife habitat mosaics. ganisms is only possible be­ fore under no pressure to not in equilibrium with their Such management burns cause of the corresponding change. environment-when they are should occur where there is no increase in entropy that the "Organisms adopt a lifestyle no longer living, hence my hy­ risk of these fires destroying sun has undergone. To go a suited to their anatomy". This perbolic comment that (equi­ sensitive vegetation. little further, the loss of statement leaves us with one librium) thermodynamics is Whatever course of action is energy as wasce heat at every of two possibilities. The first is the realm of the dead. Studies taken, one thing is certain: biological transformation that there is a lifestyle suited in irreversible thermodynam­ there is a need for constant means that the net entropy of to every imaginable ana­ ics indicate that the complex­ scientific monitoring and study the system is increasing over tomy-somewhere an eighty ity and organisation of natural areas to ensure that time even if we ignore the ton elephant with the legs of a characteristic of many organ­ we don't destroy one of the sunlight that is radiated di­ small budgerigar can make a isms not only are not in con­ scarcest resources on Earth­ rectly to space without im­ good living. Alternatively, flict with the second law of ecosystems unmodified by civi­ pinging on Earth at all. There there is some guiding influence thermodynamics, but in fact lisation. is no 'free lunch', and the that has the foresight to may be expected to appear -D.M.J.S. Bowman second law of thermodynamics ensure that only those anat­ spontaneously, without re­ Conservation Commission of holds true for the evolution of omies which have an associ­ course to some supernatural the Northern Territory, life on Earth, just as it does for ated lifestyle can appear-in creative force. Darwin, NT individual organisms. which case we are appealing to The distinction between

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 509 equilibrium and irreversible other roles. To be sure theydo Seeing Red both, especially the latter, thermodynamics is crucial, play a role in development as As usual the poster from have the common name "scar­ for almost all our understand­ well is attested by recent work ANH vol. 23, no. 4, 1990 is let"? I greatly look forward to ing and ability to predict on, for example, homeobox another excellent production being enlightened. refers to equilibrium thermo­ genes. and hangs in the hallway for all -Harry Dodson dynamics. This distinction I agree with Brooks and to view. Rosny Point, Tas. has been well-known overseas Wiley's suggestion that to say I wonder ifyou would kindly for at least a decade and a adaptation arises in some un­ unpuzzle me. The poster is The common name for half, but still seems poorly specified fashion from devel­ labelled Scarlet Banksia, Banksia speciosa is the 'Showy understood by Australians. opmental thermodynamics is Banksia speciosa, but as our Banksia ', not the 'Scarlet This column aims to bring unsatisfactory. However, first visitor commented, Banksia '. As thorough as we such matters to the interested many prominent evolutionary there's not a trace of scarlet in are on ANH, sometimes reader. biologists-Steven jay Gould, the painting. Yet on page 305, errors do occur! I feel that Mr Russell read for example-regard the ex­ with the caption "The Scarlet -Ed. the column but missed the planation of adaptation by Banksia (Banksia coccinea)" is point. It is true that there is natural selection as totally one that is scarlet or at least Whale Shark Tales no conflict between thermody­ unsatisfactory. Adaptation is red. I read with interest Geoff namics and evolution; ac­ a controversial subject. Indeed My wife and I have seen B. Taylor's "The Whale Shark" knowledging this is not it is the aim of this column to coccinea in Western Australia (ANH vol. 23, no. 4, 1990). enough. There is more to ther­ bring such matters to ANH and know well that its flower, The good news is that Whale modynamics than simply con­ readers. leaves etc. are quite different Sharks are regular visitors to sistency with the second law. -Ralph Molnar from B. speciosa but how do the Coral Sea (east and north­ It is the absence of any clear Queensland Museum east of Cairns) each year. understanding ofthe relation­ The real Scarlet Banksia, Banksia They appear in the deep chan­ ships of thermodynamics to coccinea. nel between the outer Barrier evolutionary processes that Reef and the Queensland Pla­ prompted this column. Too teau around the time of the full often we have been content moon in November. merely to state that thermody­ Whale Sharks have been re­ namics and evolution are not ported as congregating in this contradictory and neglect to area at the same time as large pursue an understanding of aggregations of spawning their relationship. Yellowfin and Bigeye Tuna. Mr Russell's remaining The Japanese first reported comments refer to my descrip­ this in the mid 1960s and tuna tion of Brooks and Wiley's research by the Queensland views. The comment that or­ Department of Primary Indus­ ganisms are tenuously related tries has confirmed their ob­ to their environment should servations. be taken in terms of environ­ In the absence of detailed mental causation of data, I have proposed that an organismal form. I doubt that oceanographic event occurs in Brooks and Wiley would this restricted area of the seriously dispute the effects of Coral Sea (at least in October pollution and other environ­ and November) that is associ­ mental influences on an or­ ated with possible nutrient ganism's survival. Regarding upwelling, peak spawning ac­ long-term stability and devel­ tivity of deepwater lantern-fish opmental constraint, I agree. (family Myctophidae) and peak This is also the case with spawning of Yellowfin and adoption of a lifestyle suiting Bigeye Tuna. · the anatomy. I think Brooks As to 'who eats who', we and Wiley have in mind some can eliminate Whale Sharks 'influence' analogous to prin­ eating adult tuna and vice ciples in physics, such as that versa. Ho wever, other of least action. These rules scenarios-of young tuna feed­ enable the prediction ofwhich ing on eggs or larvae of one of several conceivable out­ lantern-fish and Whale Sharks comes of a mechanical inter­ feeding on any of the above­ action is the most likely. I are all possible and under­ think the implication is that standably advantageous to non-equilibrium thermody­ some of the participants. namics determines that cer­ It is quite likely that Whale tain anatomies are possible Sharks act as fish aggregating and others are not. devices-when the Japanese It is not contradictory to handline vessels locate the state that the role of genes is Whale Sharks up to one not clear (true) and that they kilometre away on sonar, play little part in the develop­ there is invariably a large ag­ ment process. This must be gregation of tuna around them. considered to the effect that Whale Sharks are regarded the part genes play in develop­ as welcome visitors by ment is much less than their Japanese and Australian fish-

510 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY would correspond to the line drawing only if it were re­ versed (based on positions of the 'blue' permanent teeth). The other is in "A tale of three species: the stilt, the shrimp a and the scientist" (page 325), C nelo d a Revel in the ll'et, where the satellite images ltke the CANE TOAD' appear to be reversed. Other­ l limy namesake! wise, keep up the very good work! Bushll'alking, Trekking or X-C -David L. Oberdorf k11ng, the j&H CANE TOAD Trevallyn, Tas. 11'111 keep you Jry, J&H guarantee it! You are correct. The radio­ graph is backwards and the satellite lake images are cor­ rect when rotated 180° (as if you cut the photos offthe page and turned the entire section upside-down). Unfortunately, although we specified these changes to be made on the proofs, they were not and the error remained in the final print. -Ed.

Liar-bird? I wish to correct a state­ ment I made in my review of the video "Kingdom of the Lyrebird" (ANH vol. 23, no. 5 1990). Unfortunately I got my facts wrong in regard to the Whale Sharks are regular visitors to the Coral Sea. moult of the Lyrebird's tail ennen alike. I have been on a searchers' attitudes about en­ when I commented that the Japanese handline vessel that dangered species management "feathers are lost and replaced sidled up to three Whale in Australia and perhaps gradually over a number of months". Sharks basking on the surface theprogress towards farming Genuine Taslan Gore-Tex. in crystal-clear water. Tuna Australian macropods. I recall L.H. Smith, who extensively studied the growth and re­ Tough, yet comfy to wear, fishing was dispensed with some useful commentaries by the CANE TOAD will while a few kilometres of Gordon Grigg on this topic in placement of the tail, found colour film were devoted to earlier issues. that there is complete tail last you for vear,. these beautiful creatures. From my perspective as a moult every spring (August­ j use a iew features are: The Whale Sharks appear in veterinarian with some experi­ December), the feathers being A hood chat totally rrotects, this area, remote from the ence in wildlife disease investi­ shed over a period of 1-3 A h,Jden che c rocket to weeks (mostly within ten days). Barrier Reef, prior to and gation and management (both keep your camera dry, during the coral spawning in wild populations and in cap­ This is unusual in songbirds, in which the loss and replace­ U111que underarm gu,set for event. Whether Whale Sharks tivity), I feel the need for movement and comfort. occur in numbers closer to the debate on the rationale for ment of the tail feathers are The name 'CANE TOAD' 1 reef at this time is unknown. captive breeding programs, gradual. Nonetheless, the A great magazine, keep it habitat preservation, feral and statement in the video that the a, unforgerrable up. predator control and re­ Lyrebird sheds its entire tail is di its performance. -Geoff Macpherson introduction programs etc. correct. It is doing exactly le may cost a lmle extra, what it should be doing-and Cairns, Qld These issues need to be dis­ hut It's certainly well worth it. cussed more publicly. There not what mistaken ornitholo­ gists would have it do. For the complete are too many examples of en­ 1 y Suggestion Box -Walter E. Boles CA E TOAD tor write tn: dangered animal species. Is it Division of Vertebrate Just a quick note to express too little too late? It smacks Derr Y, J & H Ad1·enrure Wear. Zoology (Birds) PO Box 443 Queanbeyan, 2620 my appreciation of the recent too much of Homo sapiens' at­ Australian Museum ANH issues-the photography titude of feeling OK because is exceptional! I have long felt we can use our technology to that this publication is a better have one species 'hang on' in a ANH welcomes letters for medium for increasing the zoo or small reserve, while all publication and requests awareness of Australians about about is laid waste! that they are 400 words their environment and geo­ Finally, please check ANH maximum length and typed graphic region than Ceo or vol. 23, no. 4, 1990, for some if possible. Please supply a Australian Geographic. photographic inversions. The daytime telephone number I would like to see some lower radiograph accompany­ and type or print your name and address clearly on the useful follow-up articles or ing Peter Vaughan's letter letter. critical comments about re- (page 269) looks as though it

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 511 When the Pitcher Pays Australia has two native species of those extraordinary botanical curiosities, the carni­ QUIPS, QUOTES vorous pitcher plants. The best known is the Tropical Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes & CURIOS mirabilis) of the family Nepenthaceae, found on Cape COMPILED BY GEORGINA HICKEY York Peninsula, northern SCIENTIFIC EDITOR Queensland. The family is widespread in South-East Asia and eastern Africa. The other Australian pitcher plant, the Albany Pitcher Plant (Cephalotus follicularis), is the only species of the family Cephalotaceae and is re­ stricted to the south-western corner of Western Australia. These two species are not closely related and have evolved their strikingly similar w u carnivorous habits separately. z They are a classic example of w:s w the phenomenon biologists call a:: u. convergent evolution. � The pitcher plants are found z 0 >- in swamps and on poor soils, and supplement the nutrients z from their roots and leaves � ::, with nutrients supplied to 0 z them from insects caught in w J: specialised leaves that function "­ w as pitfall traps. These leaves t;; are shaped like a pitcher Shedding Light on Jet Lag underwent several 'resetting Good news for weary trans­ (hence the common name), Human brains may have trials' where light-dark sched­ meridian travellers. have smooth internal walls and made aeroplanes but planes ules were variously altered, are half-filled with a clear fluid can scramble brains-via the the researchers showed that, secretion and various other that the plant produces. Just curse of jet lag. However, a following a six-hour phase­ physiological functions are all inside the gaping mouth of the natural cure for this 20th­ advance shift, for example, the affected. pitcher are nectar-secreting century nuisance is now at human body after nine days is The researchers have found glands, which attract foraging hand. Global circumnavigators still not fully realigned with the that, to reset the human in­ insects. These hapless individ­ who find themselves staring at new sleep-wake schedule. But, ternal clock, two cycles of ex­ uals fall into the fluid and the ceiling at three o'clock in with properly timed exposure posure to light are needed to drown because they cannot the morning are being advised to bright light, ordinary indoor crush the amplitude of the scale the smooth internal walls by scientists to spend a couple room light, and darkness, circadian cycles (making them of the pitcher. The pitcher of days at the beach to reset physiological adaptation to the irregular and less pronounced) fluid contains chemicals that their internal clocks. new light regime can be com­ and a third to reset the pace­ hasten the decay of the in­ Charles Czeisler, Richard pleted within two to three maker to the new light-dark sects. The plant takes up nu­ Kronauer and colleagues from days. The researchers suggest phases. As Kronauer explains trients from the fluid through the Center for Circadian and this may explain why (cited in Science 24 4: the pitcher walls. Sleep Disorders Medicine in transmeridian travellers who 1256-1257; 1989), if you are Insects are well known as Boston have found that spend more time outdoors travelling from New York to the quintessential opportun­ humans are far more sensitive show quicker adaptation to Sydney, which is 14 hours ists, and some species have to changes in light than pre­ new time zones than those ahead, and immediately go to turned the tables on the Trop­ viously thought (Science 244: who stay indoors, illuminating work, it will take ten days to ical Pitcher Plant. They have 1328-1332; 1989). Until re­ the potential role of bright fully adjust. Under normal in­ developed the ability to live in cently it was believed that, (outdoor) light exposure in the ternal lighting your internal the pitcher fluid unharmed and unlike other animals, social phase-resetting process. The clock will be reset by only feast on the prey of the pitcher contacts rather than the results also have implications about an hour a day. But if you plant! These insects are light-dark cycle synchronised for treatment of disorders such spend six to eight hours of the termed commensals, in that the human circadian system to as shift-work dyssomnia, dis­ first day in bright sunshine, they take food from the plant the 24-hour day. Now exper­ rupted sleep in the elderly and this should do the work of two without adversely affecting it. imental evidence shows that other sleep disorders. cycles of bright light exposure, The larvae of various species the human circadian Czeisler et al. believe that crushing your internal of flies, including mosquitoes pacemaker-our internal light probably exerts its pri­ circadian cycle. Another day and sandflies, have been found clock-can be reset, either mary action directly on the outside should reset your clock in the Tropical Pitcher Plant. backwards or forwards, by human circadian pacemaker and bring you back in tune Until recently nothing was scheduled exposure to light. via the retina and hypothala­ with Australian local time. known of the commensal In a series of laboratory ex­ mus. Sleep-wake patterns, insect fauna of the Albany periments in which subjects body temperatures, hormone -S.H. Pitcher Plant. The plant itself

512 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY has a patchy distribution, col­ there was no hint at the time tastes? The evidence relating Albany Pitcher Plant is very onies being found in swamps of their bizarre life history, he to this last question favours restricted in distribution, much and beside watercourses adjac­ noted that they were mimics Badisis being restricted to of its habitat is in prime farm­ ent to the south-western coast of the ant lridomyrmex (coni­ pitcher plants. I have now land and many of the swamps of Western Australia, from Mt fer species group), which is the found the fly larvae in all four have been drained, making Manypeaks to Augusta. On most common prey of the pitcher plant localities I've vis­ them unsuitable for the plant. examining the contents of pitcher plant! ited, and have also found a Of course, when the plant dies pitchers for the first time I There are many unan­ healthy population of pitcher out so does its strange wing­ could see many insect remains, swered questions about this fly plants, with Badisis larvae less inhabitant. However, most commonly ants of the and its relationship with the inside, at the location where many pitcher plant popula­ genus lridomyrmex but also pitcher plant. How does it get David McAlpine first collected tions are preserved in flies and beetles. Sure enough, out of the pitcher, which is the adult flies. If indeed the fly the D'Entrecasteaux and soon a small, white fly larva specifically designed to guard is restricted to breeding in Walpole-Nornalup National (maggot) wriggled from under­ against insect escape? Why pitchers, how does it move bet­ Parks. Let's hope that enough neath a decomposing beetle. does the adult fly mimic the ween the isolated pockets of remain, allowing us to find Up to 25 larvae in all stages of main prey item of the pitcher suitable swampy country meaningful answers to the puz­ growth can be found in one plant? Are the larvae only where the pitcher plant zles of this pitcher plant fly. pitcher-all lively and eating found in pitcher plants or do occurs? It can't flythere! -David Yeates the insect cadavers around they have more catholic Sadly, even though the WA Dept Agriculture them with impunity. They are UJ about seven millimetres long a:, when fully grown, cigar-shaped ::E and breathe air. Most of the a: 0 body of the maggots remains ::E submerged, however they are equipped with two air holes (spiracles) on their posterior end. The spiracles are sur­ rounded by water-repelling hairs and the larvae breathe by periodically thrusting the spiracles above the pitcher fluid surface whilst they are still eating at the other end. The discovery of commensal flylarvae in the Albany Pitcher Plant was exciting enough, but the story has another curious twist that was revealed when the larvae finally completed metamorphosis and emerged as adults. They turned out to be wingless flies that mimic ants! Although there are some other wingless flies known, they are by no means common. Many flies that have reduced wings are known from subantarctic islands (perhaps an adaptation to the windy conditions?) and some families of flies have evolved into ex­ ternal parasites of bats and as a consequence have lost their wings altogether. The wing­ less pitcher plant fly has no wings at all and has even lost the halteres, small sense organs that flies use for bal­ ance in flight. As an improbable coinci­ dence, these wingless adult flies were first collected in September 1987 by David McAlpine (Australian Museum) while sweeping veg­ etation adjacent to a creek near Pemberton. He recognised the flies as taxo­ nomic novelties and described them as a new genus and spe­ The Albany Pitcher Plant is home to the larvae of a recently described species of wingless fly that mimics cies (Badisis ambulans) in the the plant's most common prey-lridomyrmex ants, this one falling victim to the plant. Inset: the commen­ family Micropezidae. Although sal wingless fly larva, Badisis ambulans.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 513 Feasting on Feathers tent is removed. They do not Usselmeer, The Netherlands ible functions of feather-eating Grebes are known from actively pluck their feathers, (Ibis 131: 477-486; 1989). and lends support for the lakes and marshes on all conti­ but only ingest those that have They discovered that flank fourth. That is, feathers, in the nents except Antarctica. already moulted. feathers were actively ingest­ absence of indigestible matter, The Great Crested Grebe Four main hypotheses have ed over other feather types contribute substance to the (Podiceps cristatus) is the larg­ been suggested to explain this (scapular, breast, belly, head stomach contents for the for­ est of the three species of peculiar feather-eating habit. etc.). Flank feathers are the mation of ejectable pellets. grebes found in Australia. It Feathers may protect the longest soft feather and show a But why form pellets in the sports a regal chestnut and stomach wall from sharp fish regular curvature-features first place? Why is there a black collar and two black ear remains; they may form a pad that may help to efficiently need for regular emptying of tufts, which are displayed around sharp fish bones so wrap up the stomach contents. the stomach? Comparison of during courtship. The plumage damage to the oesophagus Also discovered was a corre­ stomachs and oesophagi of 16 is particularly soft and dense, does not result when the bony lation between fish species and species of fish-eating water­ so much so that in Europe the pellets are ejected; they may amount of feathers ingested. birds showed that those spe­ desire to trim ladies' hats with be necessary in the formation Birds that consumed mainly cies that produced pellets 'grebe fur' seriously threat­ of a 'pyloric plug' to filter smelt ingested more feathers harboured a much lower ened the species' existence. sharp fish debris or even than those that had consumed number of parasites than those Today the bird is protected. smaller particles such as para­ other fish species, such as that didn't form pellets. This Grebes, however, have been sites and so prevent them pikeperch and perch. The main suggests that regular empty­ putting their own feathers to from entering the intestine; or difference between smelt and ing of the stomach reduces the extra use long before the they may simply contribute other fish, the authors explain, chance of gastric parasites 'grebe furriers' came along: substance to the stomach con­ is their digestibility. Smelt is building up to dangerous levels they are unique in their habit tents, enabling the formation digested completely, leaving in the upper alimentary tract. of eating their own feathers. of pellets that can be ejected. behind only two small otoliths Grebes are also unique in that Feathers can be clearly seen in To elucidate the feather­ or earbones; pikeperch and they continue to moult their the pellets that the birds regu­ eating habit, Dutch scientists perch, on the other hand, are flank feathers during mid-wint­ larly (about every second day) Theunis Pi ersma and not nearly as digestible, with er. It seems that the benefits de­ eject from their mouths and by Mennobart van Eerden exam­ scales and many bony remains r.ived from having a continual which the entire stomach con- ined the stomach contents and being left behind. supply of feathers for ingestion degree of moulting of over 400 This inverse relationship be­ outweigh the costs involved in Great Crested Grebes are unique non-breeding Great Crested tween bony fish remains and the production of new feathers in their habit of eating their own Grebes that had accidentally number of feathers ingested to replace those moulted. feathers. drowned in gill nets in Lake discounts the first three poss- -G.H.

514 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Scare Tactics shrubbery onto the grass. The I have always been rather spider darted off across the fond of huntsman spiders, es­ lawn with the cat and myself in pecially those large, hairy hot pursuit. As the cat neared members of the genus lsopeda the spider, the latter under­ that roam around the living went an astonishing trans­ room walls or pop out unex­ formation-by disappearing. pectedly from the dashboard of In its place flashed a vivid back the car-rather intimidating to and white mask. This was vis­ some but they are good value ible only for an instant before as insect killers. Many are vanishing in its turn to reveal crevice dwellers living under the spider running at an angle loose bark, their flattened to its former path into the bodies sometimes as thin as safety of some ferns. cardboard. One of the latter, This sudden change in ap­ Delena, can be found massed pearance certainly startled together in colonies of many both me and the cat-tes­ hundreds, hairy leg to hairy timony to its effectiveness as a leg. Other huntsman spiders defensive scare tactic. The 8

have less flattened bodies and spider apparently achieved its <.:I� are as often found on foliage as disconcerting effect by prop- :r: on bark. Some of the most in­ ping suddenly and raising the :E teresting belong to the genus The Sydney huntsman spider O/ios diana has a brightly coloured ven­ underside of its abdomen to 0lios. Seen from above these tral surface, which itdisplays when under threat by predators. flash its black and white pat­ spiders are a uniform brown or tern before righting itself and grey colour, but turn one over and orange banded legs. The that huntsman spiders are not racing on. If cornered, 0lios and a different picture common species around renowned for foreplay let will rear up like a funnel-web emerges. The legs are banded Sydney have rather more staid alone elaborate mating display. spider, fangs at the ready and and the abdomen has a shield­ patterns of white on black for A warning defensive function banded legs spread wide-a shaped pattern of strongly 0lios pictus, and with an added seems more likely but how formidable 'last resort' threat contrasting colours (hence the patch of orange for 0. diana. might these spiders use their display. Such tactics, very ef­ common name of shield or Bright colour patterns are hidden ventral colours? fective against people and pus­ badge huntsman spiders). usually associated with either An answer to this question sies, are also used effectively 0lios patellatus from south­ mating or defensive behaviour. was provided for me by the against more genuine preda­ eastern Australia and Tasma­ Because the 0lios colour pat­ family cat. Blackitt (the cat) tors such as lizards, frogs, nia is most spectacular with an terns are unique to each spe­ had somehow flushed out a birds and small mammals. orange and black abdominal cies, one might suspect a role female 0lios (probably 0. -Mike Gray ventral patternand blue, black in mate recognition, except pictus) from our overgrown Australian Museum

Tunnel of Love Higginbotham and Mt Loch in Mountain Pygmy-possum. niles dispersed during the non­ The Mountain Pygmy­ Victoria. Here adult female Sure enough, within two breeding season and female possum (Burramys parvus) is Mountain Pygmy-possums live weeks of installation of the survival returned to that found one of Australia's most threat­ sedentary lives in high-altitude 'tunnel of love', Mountain elsewhere on the mountain (]. ened small marsupials. It is the areas that provide good food Pygmy-possums were re­ Wildt. Manage. 53: 701-707; only mammal restricted to and shelter, while adult males corded using the tunnel and, 1989). It appears that segre­ alpine and subalpine areas of move to and from these areas, within a relatively short period gation of the sexes in the non­ Australia, where it lives in generally from lower slopes, of time, the composition of the breeding season is an integral rock screes in Mountain Plum­ via natural rock screes. disturbed population returned part of the social organisation pine (Podocarpus lawrenceii) Redevelopment of the Mt to that found in undisturbed of Mountain Pygmy-possums, heathland. The entire habitat Hotham Ski Resort had the areas. Adult males dispersed at least at Mt Hotham. available to the species is a effect of inhibiting the dis­ downslope at the end of the Mansergh and Scotts found mere 12 square kilometres. It persal of males to and from the breeding season, most juve- that females become very ag­ probably stockpiles seeds, females' territory further up gressive when carrying young fruits and insects during the slopes. Adult males were and that they probably apply a summer for the colder winter remaining at female breeding great deal of social pressure on months, when it lives under areas during the non-breeding males to leave at the end of the snow. The species has winter season and the number the breeding season. been the subject of intense of females surviving winter Tunnels under roads have study since 1966 when it was had seriously declined. been used previously to con­ first discovered in a Mt In October 1985, therefore, serve wildlife, such as in the Hotham ski lodge. Before then a funnel-shaped, 60-metre-long United Kingdom, United it was known only from fossil corridor of basalt rocks leading States and Netherlands for remains. to two adjacent rock-filled tun­ badgers, big game andamphib­ The number of breeding nels was constructed beneath ians respectively, but Mountain Pygmy-possum fe­ the Alpine Way at Mt Hotham, Mansergh and Scotts believe G males is estimated to be 1,800 following the design of Ian that the speed with which the ; in two or more isolated popula­ Mansergh and David Scotts Mt Hotham tunnels were used I tions in the New South Wales from the Arthur Rylah Insti­ by Mountain Pygmy-possums z and Victorian highlands. About tute of Environmental Re­ and the apparent reversion to � 40 per cent of the total esti<­ search in Melbourne. The idea Roadsigns are used to warn mo­ a natural population structure mated population occurs on was in order to provide a suit­ torists that Mountain Pygmy­ have no parallels elsewhere. Mt Hotham between Mt able habitat corridor for the possums cross at night to mate. -S.H.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 515 Australian Fungal Aid Entomophaga grylli is an nisms are still not fully under­ and other pollinators. With grasshoppers raising obligate pathogen of grasshop­ stood, fungal pathogens of Following extensive scien­ havoc throughout range and pers. When grasshoppers many different insects cause tific evaluation, E. grylli was crop lands of the western come into contact with E. their hosts to climb to elevated determined to be an effective United States, American scien­ grylli, the fungus infects its positions within their normal biological control agent of tists have come to Australia would-be host by directly pen­ habitat just prior to death. grasshoppers and safe for for assistance. Help may be etrating the body wall through They also control the time of United States field release. near at hand following the col­ a combination of enzymatic day when mortality occurs. In Following its release in late lection, isolation and American and mechanical actions. Once the case of E. grylli, grasshop­ July 1989 in western North release of a naturally occurring infected, grasshoppers have pers only die in late afternoon Dakota, E. grylli infected sev­ pathogen of grasshoppers little hope of recovery as the and early evening. This timing eral different species of grass­ found along Kangaroo Creek, fungus proliferates throughout allows the pathogen to syn­ hoppers. Although the near Wongwibinda, New South its body in the form of chronise sporulation, conidial pathogen was introduced into Wales. With the assistance of amoeba-like cells called germination and secondary the field late in the grass­ CSIRO scientists Dr Richard protoplasts. Within approxi­ host infection with moderate hopper season and environ­ Milner and Mr George Lutton, mately one week of contact, night-time temperatures and mental conditions at the time the fungal pathogen En­ grasshoppers will be found dew formation. Since the were quite dry (similar to con­ tomophaga grylli was col­ dead clinging in the top of the pathogen requires free moist­ ditions found in Australia), the lected and imported into the grass canopy. Four to six ure for disease transmission to pathogen was still effectively United States by scientists hours after the grasshoppers occur, insect pathologists be- transmitted to pest grasshop­ from the United States De­ die, the fungus grows to the 1 i eve that the climbing pe rs. Over the month of partment of Agriculture outside surface of its old host behaviour of dying grasshop­ August, E. grylli reached mod­ (USDA). CSIRO and USDA where it produces millions of pers and their synchronisation erate infection levels (about 15 scientists have a long history spores called conidia. These with optimal environmental per cent) in the release site, of assisting one another, par­ conidia are forcibly ejected into conditions for fungal develop­ killing thousands of grasshop­ ticularly in the area of biologi­ the local environment to ment are adaptive characteris­ pers in the process. Disease cal control of pests. Parasites, ensure contact with suscepti­ tics that aid the pathogen by transmission was short-lived, predators and pathogens of im­ ble grasshoppers. If proper en­ increasing the efficiency of however, as the pathogen portant pest species have long vironmental conditions exist, conidial production, dispersal began producing resting been the focus of joint re­ the disease will spread within and ultimately host infection. spores rather than the infec­ search and exchange programs the grasshopper population. Due to the speed with which tive conidia, which are primar­ (see ANH vol 23, no. 6, 1990). Although the exact mecha- this pathogen infects and kills ily responsible for spreading grasshoppers (it may cycle this disease within a season. three to four times in a single Although the overall re­ generation of its host grass­ duction in grasshopper num­ hoppers), it can rapidly induce bers was small in 1989, it a major epidemic in the field appears that E. grylli is estab­ causing significant declines in lished in the North Dakota re­ grasshopper numbers. Near lease site and, hopefully, larger the end of the summer season, impacts will be realised in the fungus develops an envi­ future years. USDA scientists ronmentally resistant 'resting are interested to see if the spore' that allows the patho­ fungus will be able to with­ gen to spend the winter stand the harsh North Dakota months in the soil in a dormant winters and, if so, to deter­ condition. Each spring, these mine if the resting spores will resting spores germinate just germinate at appropriate times in time to infect newly hatched to infect grasshoppers soon grasshoppers and the struggle after they hatch. for life between the pathogen If E. grylli is found to be an and its host insects begins effective biological control again. agent of grasshoppers in the Although E. grylli may be current test sites; introduc­ killing off grasshoppers in tions will be made in other some parts of Australia, grass­ parts of the western United hoppers are still major pests in States where grasshoppers are other areas of the country now causing economic where the pathogen does not damage. In addition, scientists exist in high enough numbers, investigating the African locust or environmental conditions plagues have already shown in­ are not appropriate for disease terest in the possible use of E. transmission to occur. How­ grylli. It is currently unknown, ever, many factors cause however, if the Australian iso­ grasshopper outbreaks and lates of E. grylli will infect this pathogen is only one these pests or if the conditions factor helping to limit their in the locust problem areas are numbers. Nevertheless, Amer­ appropriate for the use of this ican scientists are particularly fungus. interested in E. grylli because -Raymond I. Carruthers & Mark E. Ramos A grasshopper (Acrida conica) infected with the fungus Entomophaga it infects a wide range of USDA Agricultural grylli has crawled to the top of a grass stem and millions of spores grasshoppers while having no Research Service (conidia), seen here as the white powder on the stem, have been adverse effect on other benefi­ ejected into the environment. cial insects, such as Honeybees New York

516 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY The Value of Rotten Eggs for birds. So the researchers Scientists in Israel believe compared the difference bet­ there may be a method in the ween the temperature of the apparent madness of birds that nest and the surrounding space incubate eggs containing dead within the ceiling, as well as embryos. Prolonged incubation the heating and cooling rates of dead eggs has been re­ of the nest, when it contained ported in a number of bird spe­ all eggs (live and dead) and when cies. According to Daniel A1ik it contained only live eggs. and David Ward from Ben For ceiling temperature Gurion University of the over 40 ° C, Afik and Ward Negev, dead eggs may act as found that when the nest con­ heat buffers for subsequently tained only live eggs it had a laid, Jive eggs (Auk 106: temperature above 40° C for 726-728; 1989). 100 per cent of the time; A1ik and Ward monitored a when the nest contained dead pair of Hoopoes ( Upupa epops) and live eggs the temperature nesting in a disused building in was above 40° C for only 81 the Negev Desert. The nest, per cent of the time. built between the ceiling and Apparently dead eggs roof of the building, was com­ reduce heating and cooling pletely enclosed except for a rates of the nest, and increase c::i small hole through which the the absolute difference bet­ � parents entered. A normal ween nest and ceiling temper­ 0.. atures. When dead eggs are in ..., clutch size for Israeli Hoopoes :::,z is five to six but over the a nest, the amount of time that >­0 summer study period the pair nest temperature remains z above what is considered to be laid 32 eggs, representing six ....J8 UJ consecutive clutches. the limit of a bird's ability to 3: Because the birds were control nest temperature is re­ ci UJ unable to use convective cool­ duced significantly. 0 ing in the enclosed nest, it was -S.H. s UJ assumed that the birds would Why do some Hoopoes incubate z have difficulty in controlling � ° dead eggs? (Illustration by W. T. 0 egg temperature above 40 C, Cooper in Kingfishers & Related V,z the normal body temperature Birds Vol. IV.) :s

OOLOGICAL Catalogue of Australia Volume 6 Ephemeroptera,Z Volume 7 Pisces: Petromyzontidae to Megaloptera, Odonata, Carangidae Plecoptera, Trichoptera Volume 1 Amphibia and Cat. No. 89 0147 5 Reptilia Cat. No. 87 1802 5 $49.95 Cat. No. 83 15363 $29.95 $24.95 Volume 5 Mammalia Volume 2 Hymenoptera: Cat. No. 86 07961 Formicoidea,Vespoidea and $29.95 Sphecoidea Cat. No. 85 0188 0 The Catalogue isa directory to the most $29.95 comprehensive and recent information Volume available on each species. Information 3 Arachnida (part): on each species includes synonymy, Mygalomorphae, Volume 4 Coleoptera: literature citation, location and status Araneomorphae(part), Archostemata, Myxophagaand of type material and type locality for Pseudoscorpionida, Adephaga each available name, a brief summary of Arnblypygi and Palpigradi Cat. No. 86 0793 6 geographical distribution and ecologi­ Cat. No. 85 0402 1 $34.95 cal attributes, and important references $24.95 on various aspects, especially biology. To order- Phone your credit card details to the AGPS Phone Shop (008) 02 0049 (toll free) on line 24 hours, 7 days a week. Canberra customers call 295 4861. Also available from Commonwealth Government Bookshops in all capital cities.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 517 Mussel Monitor Mussels are being used to monitor water pollution levels. The Mussel Monitor, designed by Dutch researchers, is com­ prised of eight mussels glued to stainless steel plates and fitted with electronic devices that monitor closure of the shells (New Sci. 16 December 1989: 18). Mussel shells are open most of the time for filter feeding but close in response to changes in their immediate en­ vironment, such as a drop in oxygen level or an influx of noxious chemicals. In the Mussel Monitor, a small com­ puter checks shell movements z and data are transmitted by � radio to a control station on � shore. Closure of six of the � eight mussels over a given !:o! time activates an alarm. � Because their growth and reproduction are very sensi­ tive to pollution, mussels are than ten weeks. Mussels' sensitivity to water pollution makes them ideal organisms to often used to monitor water One prototype of the device monitor water quality. Shown here is an Australian species, Velesunio quality. The Mussel Monitor is is being used at the outlet of a ambiguus. particularly valuable because it Dutch chemical plant, another cooling system, and a third is can continually monitor water is monitoring the amounts of monitoring water quality in the Or Suzanne Hand, Biological quality, tests showing that the chloride released from the River Rhine. Science, University of NSW, is a regular contributor to QQC. device still works after more cleaning of a power plant's -S.H. tember in the tropics, they Bats Turn Over a visit Siris or Rattlepod trees New leaf (Albizia lebbeck) in order to One of the fascinating areas chew through a quota of of animal-plant relationships is leaves. Similar observations the way animals have adapted have been made at Palm Cove, to an all-plant or, more par­ Queensland, by Mr Greg ticularly, all-leaf diet. The Richards (CSIRO Division of catch is there is only a limited Wildlife and Ecology) for the amount of nutritive value to be closely related Spectacled extracted directly from the Flying-fox (P. conspicillatus) leaf. Most of the leaf is cell and tree (A. procera). The bat wall material, cellulose, behaviour is a lot less exuber­ hemicellulose and lignin. ant when they are feeding on Strangely, no 'higher' animal fruit, and the leaves probably produces a cellulose-digesting represent a stand-by food enzyme. They depend on supply. It seems likely it is the micro-organisms in the gut to protein, which is usually defi­ break down the material and cient in their diet and which extract useful energy from the happens to be more available fermentation products. This in Albizia, that is the main at­ � takes time. Thus there is traction. Most tropical trees z always a trade-off between are well protected by deter­ � getting the most value from rent chemical features. Cer­ w the food and the weight the tainly, these two species of � herbivore can carry around in Albizia appear to be the only ;!i its gut; that is, between effi- trees used in this way. ciency and rate of passage. In its quest for protein-rich food, the Black Flying-fox bites off more I strongly believe that the There are no flying ruminants than it can chew. Siris tree can be of major apart from the cow that value, in several ways, to the jumped over the moon. The find Australian animals that fibre rather than try to pro­ pastoral industry (see ANH only bird with fermentative di­ side-step this evolutionary cess it in the gut. The animal vol. 23, no. 4, 1990). It is nice gestion, the South American problem in a neat, if wasteful, I've observed doing this is the to know that my opinion of its Hoatzin or Stinkbird, is so way. They chew up leaves, Black Flying-fox (Pteropus food value is endorsed by the bizarre that it proves the rule swallow the liquid fraction that alecto; Aust. Wild/. Res. 16: flying-foxes. (see ANH vol. 23, no. 6, contains almost all the easily 203-206; 1989). These bats -J. Brian Lowry 1990). accessible nutrients, and then are normally fruit or flower CSIRO Division of Tropical So it was of some interest to simply spit out a pellet of leaf eating but, from April to Sep- and Animal Production

518 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Fire Ants Blot and Run Researchers from Tulane ..... University in New Orleans have recently reported the use I of tools by the Imported Fire ... Ant, Solenopsis invicta (Anim. Behav. 38: 550-552; 1989). The ants used objects to soak up honey in order to carry it back to their nest. John Barber and colleagues recorded the behaviour of fire ants, which were being main­ tained in their laboratory during the course of an unre­ lated research project. During a period of more than a year, UJ three separate ant colonies " . ...." CD

• CAMBRJDGE UNNERSITY PRESS • CAMBRIDGE UNNERSITY PRESS •

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U) habitats and environments () and fauna. Package holidays for bird !il and the Antarctic region, observers and field naturalises. Other including biologists, � activities include fishing, boating, swimming, surfing and bushwalking. � geologists and conservationists. 1Q ! First class, all-inclusi,·e accommodation Studies in Polar Research in the Lodge or self-contained coctages. � :::, Order from your usual 300pp many half-tones and stockist or from: � For further details contact tables 247 x 174mm CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY Alan Robertson 85i 0 521 26633 5 PRESS, � "O Gipsy Point Lodge Gipsy Point, \"ictoria 3891 Australia Hardback $ 75.00 tplease add $4.00 for postage rn (/) Telephone: (051) 58 8205 ! and packing) I u _J I P O BOX 85 OAK.LEIGH 3166 TELEPHONE (03) 568 0322 I �------VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 519 FROM THE ARCHIV ES

inches (28 centimetres) long, was possi­ "There can have been few other bly that of a young camel, certainly that natural history specimens that of a large herbivorous animal. Although this contrasted with the renowned carni­ received so many detailed vorous diet of the Bunyip, the skull con­ descriptions in Australian newspapers tinued to excite attention. and journals in the 19th century. " Several Bunyip stories appeared in MelbourneSydney newspapers Morning Heraldand a long letter in the announced the discovery of the skull, and provided an illustration and description of it under the heading "The Apocryphal Animal of ON THE TRAIL OF the Interior of New South Wales." The author, William Hilton Hovell, had seen the skull during a three-month explora­ A BUNYIP tion of the Murrumbidgee-Murray area, from which he had just returned. BY JULIAN HOLLAND All the publicity had quite an effect on MACLEA Y MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY the inhabitants of the Lower Mur­ rumbidgee district and further mysteriousSydney sightingsMorning wereHerald: reported in the " ... almost everyone BUN-YIP-THE PUBLIC ARE RE­ became immediately aware that he had " E Lower Murrumbidgee in 1846 attracted heard 'strange sounds' from the lagoons TIspectfully informed that by the great public and scientific interest. at night, or had seen 'something black' in kindness of His Honor the The skull was found in October 1846 the water, which if not a whale, was 'very Speaker, the cranium of the supposed or a little earlier on the property of Atholl like a whale'; and some who read this will Bun-Yip, recently discovered in the vicin­ T. Fletcher, a squatter, in the vicinity of smile at the remembrance of the high ity of Melbourne, may be inspected at the what is now Balranald, New South Wales. state of excitement they were thrown Australian Museum upon Wednesday and The skull was without lower jaw and no into by the appearance (on the surface of Thursday next, from ten to three other bones were found. There was a the Murrumbidgee) of a sleeping turtle, o'clock." hole in the top of the domed cranium with which being rather larger than usual, and In these sober terms, the public of signs of Dingo tooth marks. The remains appearing in a peculiar manner, was taken Sydney was invited to visit the Museum of membranes and ligaments attached to for the crown of the bunyip's in July 1847 to see the remains of a poss­ the skull-and even blood stains­ head!. .. Such errors of judgment andreported false ible Bunyip. The story of this remarkable indicated that the skull was recent. conclusionsexistence arose solely from the skull began nearly a year before. Some time later Fletcher took the skull of a bunyip." In the 50 years or so of inland explora­ to Melbourne where it was reported to In mid 184 7 Edward Curr sent the tion and settlement, many strange crea­ be the following January. Fletcher lent it skull to the Speaker of the Legislative tures had been discovered and, from to Edward Curr, a notable local figure Council, Charles Nicholson, in Sydney. some of the Aboriginal tribesmen, stories who had been the manager of the Van Nicholson, later Sir Charles, was one of of even stranger creatures had been gath­ Dieman's Land Company in Tasmania for the most cultivated men in the colony. He ered. Dwelling in the deeper waterholes several years. He forwarded the skull to was a doctor of medicine trained in of some of the inland rivers were suppos­ his friend Ronald Gunn in Launceston. Edinburgh whose collection of antiquities edly fearsome creatures that devoured Gunn,Tasmanian an energetic journal botanist of andNatural editor Sci­ of later became the Nicholson Museum at Aboriginal children. Occasionally white theence, the University of Sydney. Nicholson settlers and travellers reported seeing sought the opinion of Dr James passed the skull over to be examined by some unknown animal in the rivers, but Grant. The skull of "an apparently new William Sharp Macleay, the leading natu­ never had a specimen of a Bunyip been form", was that. of a young animal, re­ ralist in Sydney. obtained to substantiate the stories. So ported Grant, probably even foetal. He Macleay wrote an article describing the the discovery of a strange skull on the concluded that the skull, which was 11 skull in detail and compared it with "an­ Illustration of the skull found on the Lower Murrumbidgee in 1846. (From Ronald C. Gunn's other and still more extraordinary skull in 'On the "Bunyip" of Australia Felix', Tas. J. Nat. Sci. vol. Ill, no. II, plate 3; 1849.) my possession". Although mammalian, the peculiar shape of the skull gave the ,. notion of a bird such as the Emu or Os­ trich. Like Dr Grant in Launceston, he concluded from the teeth that the animal was "quite young, if not a foetus". While some characteristics of the skull were suggestive of certain members of the camel tribe, in particular the Peruvian Llama, the teeth and bones were overall more like those of the horse. The molars were exactly those of a young foal and d .. the animal was grass-eating. Whereas the Murrumbidgee skull had widely separated eyes, the skull in Macleay's possession had the opposite peculiarity-it was a cyclops! It was from the foetus of a mare that had been found floating in the Hawkesbury River in 1841. (The skull and mounted skin are still preserved in the Macleay Museum at 520 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY ANH SUBSCRIBERS For prompt attention to all subscription enquiries, please quote the subscription number located at the top left of the ad­ dress label on the magazine: l 2345 Due: 01/91 0128 Mrs B Subscriber r11 3 3 Marsupial Lane Brisbane 4004

Enquiries can be sent postage-free, to: ANH Subscription Enquiries, Freepost AAA 10, P.O. Box A285, Sydney South 2000. Phone enquiries from 10.00am- 12.30pm weekdays on (02) 339 8119.

I I The skull and mounted skin of the 'Hawkesbury River Cyclops' found in 1841, now housed in I the Macleay Museum. I the University of Sydney.) In Macleay's take place as it had been determined to I opinion, both skulls were in some re­ keep the skull in the Museum. In Decem­ I spects identical to those of foals and ber Richard Owen, who had refrained I inother respects unlike any known mam­ from publishing any comments on the I mals. It was therefore likely that both skull while it seemed likely to be sent to specimens represented freaks of nature England, wrote to the Athenaeum. On I and the Murrumbidgee skull was not a the basis of the illustrations in Hovell's � �ERPA EXPEDITIONS new species. Even if it did represent a letter, Owen had formed the view that " ADDRESS:A E . ______new species, Macleay concluded: "I do the rude figures of the Bunyip repre­ ------I not imagine that, even then, it can be sented the misshapen skull of a new-born OUTDOOR TRAVEL 1 st fl. 377 Lt Bourke St. I identical with the so-called Bunyip, of calf or foal. MELBOURNE 3000 (03] 670-7252 which so many unintelligible accounts Despite such a thorough scientific dis­ ------!::;':I have been given in the Sydney papers; for missal of the evidence for the existence of the Bunyip is said to be a solitary aquatic Bunyips, reports of sightings continued to animal, whereas this skull must have be­ appear, even into this century, but the longed to a solipede, which if full grown, Murrumbidgee skull is the closest anyone would have delighted in grass, dry land has ever got to tangible evidence. Some and the society of its own species." evidence! Macleay's article appeared in the Two mysteries remain. What became Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday 7 of the skull? If it was retained in the Aus­ July, the first of the two days of showings tralian Museum, there is no record of it. at the Australian Museum. It may be sup­ Gilbert Whitley, for many years curator posed that the inhabitants of Sydney went of fishes at the Museum and the author of in considerable numbers to the Museum, numerous historical articles on Australian then located in the Court House in natural history, asserted that the skull Darlinghurst, to see the curious skull, but was not there in 1940. Possibly, despite there are no records to confirm this. the comment of the editor of the Austra­ Later in July, William Hovell's original lian Medical journal, it was not long re­ letter on the "apocryphal animal" was tained in the Museum. From the tone of published in the London Athenaeum. It the original newspaper advertisement, it was the common practice of the time to seems that it was not intended to remain send unusual specimens 'home' to Eng­ permanently in the Museum. Perhaps it land to be pronounced upon by authorities was returned to Edward Curr or Atholl such as Richard Owen of the Hunterian Fletcher. At all events there can have Museum, the leading anatomist and been few other natural history specimens Join the tall ship, Eye of palaeontologist in Britain for much of the that received so many detailed descrip­ the Wind, on an adventure in 19th century. tions in Australian newspapers and jour­ the South Pacific, and you'll Some of the more scientifically minded nals in the 19th century. The skull is discover remote lagoons, mag­ in Sydney were fearful of the impression hardly necessary. nificent atolls, exotic plants and the skull would make in London. A veter­ And the other mystery? Why do people animals, and people from di­ inary surgeon, John Stewart, wrote to the persist in believing things for which there verse cultures. Australian Medical journal, urging the is no evidence? Whole books could be You'll relive the romantic editor to protest against "such an osten­ written on that subject. • days or the great explorers - but tatious display of our ignorance and cre­ with every modern comfort. dulity. Before it is two days in London it Mr Julian Holland is Research Assistant and Ad'\'enlurc Undtt Sail. will be recognised as the head of a foal PO Box 79. Annanclak:. NSW 2019 (021560 4035 Curator of Technology al the Mac/eay Museum, that has had hydrocephalus and been born University of Sydney. He is a specialist in histor­ dead." The editor assured his readers ical scientific i11slnm1enls and has recently pub­ that such an "ostentatious display" (os lished a catalogue of the microscopy collection at being Latin for bone) was not likely to the Macleay Museum.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 521 ...... - � � -"='4, ��"tl ; � - i J!f,-, R A_ IR aE· & E N D A N G E R E D .,... .,__ -:�.l:, .._. ,�,,,,_"'£!&,. ..,....� . � "'" ' • few are ever removed at a time, allowing the plants to survive. If the tubers are "A favourite way to prepare it is being transported long distances they are mashed with honey and crushed often strung onto a long runner of Snake Vine (Tinospora smi/acina), which is Munyeroo seeds." then twisted into a circle. This sweet potato features strongly in the mythology of the Anmatjirra people. They believe that it only grows on their THE land. Even if seeds are taken away, ger­ mination will not occur. When one of the owners of the antju/kinha (sweet potato) dreaming died, the people believed that 'UNDERGROUND the ensuing drought was connected to that death, the owner having taken away the rain to stop the sweet potatoes from PUMPKIN' growing. People are also forbidden to col­ lect wood from the mulga woodland BY ANTAL SOOS, where the sweet potatoes grow. This ties ANNE KERLE & PETER LATZ in closely with the need to retain the CONSERVATION COMMISSION OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY canopy and litter cover for the species to survive. Several tribal groups in the Northern HE 'UNDERGROUND PUMPKIN' Territory have their own word for /. (lpomoea po/pha) is a native sweet po!pha so it is possible that its distribu­ potato familiar to the Anmatjirra tion was once more widespread. How­ TAborigines from Ti Tree, 200 kilometres ever, there is also evidence that the tuber north of Alice Springs. The plant was first was once traded and that neighbouring recognised as a new species in 1979 people were involved in sweet potato cer­ when it was shown to Peter Latz by a emonies. It is therefore difficult to assess health worker. The existence of sweet its past distribution. potatoes in this area of the Northern Ter­ In addition to its cultural value, ritory had previously been reported but it Jpomoea po/pha may have considerable had been assumed that the reference was economic potential. ursery trials have to Jpomoea costata, a widespread species shown that the plants can be readily prop­ with woody stems and small tubers. By agated. They produce a lot of tubers in a contrast, /. po/pha produces spectacularly short time and can grow in poor soils. large and numerous tubers that average Aborigines have expressed an interest in

V) about one kilogram in weight. Some as its cultivation for community use and its 0 0 large as a man's head and weighing 2.6 tubers may be suitable for marketing. V) ....J kilograms have been found. There is also a potential for gene ex­ z� Jpomoea po!pha is a perennial plant change with commercial varieties of < with creeping stems that may grow to sweet potato to enhance the commercial four metres in length. The stems die back Kitty Napurula examines a tuber dug from cultivars. in autumn and, if conditions are favour­ an /pomoea polpha plant. Information about the ecology of the able, will regrow in the spring. The plant suggests that, without careful man­ showy reddish purple, funnel-shaped flow­ mulga woodland where there is a well­ agement, the future of the species in the ers appear in summer. developed canopy and a good accumula­ Northern Territory may not be secure. With the assistance of Aboriginal tion of leaf litter. Other plants found in Protection from wildfire is vital since fire people we now know that it is indeed a association with the 'underground pump­ removes the mature mulga association rare plant. The species is currently kin' include the Native Currant that is essential for seedling regeneration known from only one locality in the (Canthium latifolium), the Pencil Yam and promotes the encroachment of wire Northern Territory, but five stands of a ( Vigna /anceolata), Munyeroo (Portulaca grass and spinifex, resulting in reduced closely related species occur in o/eracea), Emu bushes (Eremophila spe­ germination. A fire control program in­ Queensland. Little is known about the cies) and the grasses Digitaria coenicola cluding development of fire breaks has Queensland populations except that they and Enteropogon acicularis. been initiated by the Conservation Com­ are being reduced by clearing, especially Jpomoea polpha was a favoured and re­ mission of the Northern Territory. Per­ in grazing areas because the leaves are liable food for the Anmatjirra people, its manent plots have been established so toxic to stock. The taxonomic status of large edible tubers being collected at any that the vigour of the Jpomoea po/pha these Queensland and Northern Territory time of the year. The flavour is similar to population can be monitored. • Jpomoea plants is still being resolved. commercial sweet potato and the nutri­ The population of 'underground pump­ tional value is also equivalent. Unfortu­ Suggested Reading kin' plants in the Northern Territory lo­ nately it becomes rather rubbery when cality is actually more extensive than at cooked. The Anmatjirra people no longer Latz, P.K., Soos, A. & Kerle, J.A. (in first thought. About 11,000 mature press). The status and ecology of the native rely on this food source but it is still sweet potato lpomoea polpha in the North­ plants occur within one small catchment. eaten, especially on 'picnics'. A favourite ern Territory. Aust. Rangel. J. The catchment is gently sloping and way to prepare it is mashed with honey ponding readily occurs. The plants appar­ and crushed Munyeroo seeds. Messrs Antal Soos and Peter Latz are Tech- ently require moist soil conditions such as The traditional method of digging 11ical Officer and Plant Ecologist respectively are produced by this type of catchment tubers with digging sticks is still used. in the Wildlife Research Section of the Co11ser­ for successful germination and seedling Two women can dig ten kilograms of uation Commission of the Nor/hem Territory. Dr survival. tubers in two hours and they do not Anne Kerle is a Consultant Biologist in Alice The plants prefer to grow in mature damage the tubers when digging. Only a Springs.

522 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Youcan learn a lot about thehistory ofMacquarie Street just by looking at thepavement.

Macquarie Street's Sydney Hospital hasn't Further down the street you'll find the site In an effort to pay tribute to this, Caltex, always enjoyed such an established and con- where the Female School of Industry once stood. in association with the NSW Public Works

In 1826, before anybody had even heard of Department, has laid twenty

'Feminism,' the colony ran short of servants. commemorative footpath

site was occupied by Accordingly, the ladies of the colony set plaques along Macquarie

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

teach their lesser sisters "every branch of liquor of the day, namely, Rum. household work." The site is more appropriately So if you want to find out what Sydney was

In 1810, three Sydney businessmen built occupied now by the Mitchell Library. really like in the early days, look out for the the city a magnificent hospital in exchange for The fact is, Macquarie Caltex Commemorative Plaques on your next 3/��� the coveted monopoly over the city's Rum trade. f/�Z'-;:�� � Street is more than just stroll down Macquarie Street This became the Rum Hospital, and stood another city street You could learn a complete until 1876, when the central block was It is Sydney's, if not lot simply by watching demolished to build the present Sydney Hospital. Australia's, most interesting thoroughfare. where you walk.

Caltex Oil (Aumalii.) Pty L1mi1ed THE COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUES SPONSORED BY (lncorpora1ed in NSW) C&MCCA0012 known as Bastard, Bitter and Camel Melon, is the wild form of Watermelon and Honeydew Melon. A creeper orig­ "The enormous costs imposed by inally from Africa, it produces greenish these weeds, both economic and yellow fruits up to 15 centimetres long. ecological, show up the folly of the Von Mueller in 1885 indicated "the desir­ ability of naturalising it in the interior acclimatiser's ideals." deserts" and indeed, it is now found in the outback regions of all mainland States where it grows in sandy soils and on floodplains. It was widely used in colonial cookery and is still made into jam by ACCLIMATISING country people today. Melbourne journalist Donald Mac­ Donald described this melon in the EDIBLES Riverina in 1887: "Along the banks of the watercourses, that not long since were merely dry depressions in the land, wild BY TIM LOW melons are springing up and spreading so NATURE WRITER rapidly as to give the place the appear­ ance of a garden. The taste for these melons is hard to acquire, no doubt. An­ cient shepherds and boundary-riders, who URING THE 19TH CENTURY THERE probable places. Captain Charles Sturt have lived for a quarter of a century on was a strong push to 'enrich' scattered wheat, mustard and barley seed the plains, pretend to like the fruit, but Australia's forests and fields with near the Darling River, Ludwig their palates have been ruined by an ev­ animalsD and plants from overseas. Col­ Leichhardt buried peach and plum stones erlasting diet of mutton and dyspeptic onial acclimatisation societies brought in in central Queensland, and botanist damper, and they have long since forgot­ deer, foxes, hares, sparrows, starlings Charles Fraser planted banana trees near ten the flavour of a genuine melon." and trout, and even talked of releasing where Perth now stands. In the Channel Country of south­ African game into the outback and llamas Although most plant introductions western Queensland, Pie Melons were into the Alps. failed, a few fruits and vegetables did harvested by tribal Aborigines and sold to Foodplants were of major interest to become established in the wild, either white settlers. Alice Duncan-Kemp of the acclimatisers. Baron Ferdinand von from deliberate attempts or as escapees Mooraberrie Homestead told of the Mueller, Victorian Government botanist from cultivation. Wild forms of celery, and a leading acclimatiser, advocated es­ beetroot, carrot, parsley, lemon, pas­ Wild Pie Melons were gathered by colonists tablishing wild carrots, celery, cabbages sionfrui t, guava and many other and fed to their pigs, or cooked with toma­ and asparagus along the seashores, straw­ foodplants can be found growing self­ toes to make puddings. The fruits have dark brownish seeds and the leaves are rough on berries in the mountains, and pumpkins in sown in paddocks and disturbed bushland. the underside only; the related but poisonous the deserts. A few of these feral plants became im­ Colocynth ( Citrullus colocynthis) has yellow­ Explorers sometimes planted crop portant colonial foods. ish seeds but the leaves are rough on both seeds during their treks, usually in im- The Pie Melon ( Citrullus lanatus), also surfaces.

524 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY "gins" bringing in "big green sugar melons", as well as Emu, Brolga and Inland Dotterel eggs, to exchange for silver money. Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory use the long bristly stems as skipping ropes. Another widely naturalised foodplant in Australia is Watercress (Rorippa naturtium-aquaticum). This spicy herb of creeks and soaks was widely spread about by colonists. The Queensland Agricultu­ ral journal at the tum of the century even ran an article advising that it would "thrive well and yield good crops if sown amongst weeds on a creek bank or on the edge of a waterhole or swamp". Cress of some kind, possibly Trekking the world's Watercress, was planted in the wilds of Tasmania by two of Australia's 18th cen­ remote places tury navigators-Captain Bligh and We invite you to step out of your D'Entrecasteaux. Cress was also sown in normal life for a while and treat your­ southern Queensland by Leichhardt on self to a special experience - trek­ king to some of the world's unspoilt his second expedition, in an incident al­ Watercress can be identified by its tiny white luded to most unfavourably in Patrick places. In small groups, with expert flowers with four petals, sausage-shaped guides. White's novel Voss, based on the explor­ pods one to two centimetres long, and er's life. pinnate leaves with a peppery taste. This Nepal Himalaya The Blackberry Bramble (Rubus plant was sprouting in a soak beside the Undoubtedly one of the world's most fruticosus) was another beneficiary of path that runs south of Bondi Beach, Sydney. beautiful countries. We ha ve treks to acclimatisation. Baron von Mueller de­ satisfy anyone with an adventurous clared that it deserved "to be naturalised up the dangers of the acclimatiser's ideas. spirit regardless of age. Towards on the rivulets of any ranges", and he It is not an isolated case. The Artichoke Everest 16 days from $2295*. reputedly spread the seeds in forest Thistle ( Cynara cardunculus), ancestor Langtang 21 days from $2615* glades during his many botanical expedi­ of the Artichoke, has become an invasive Annapurna Off the Beaten Trail, tions. Early this century hundreds of weed of black soil plains in southern Aus­ 36 days $3795*. tonnes of the wild fruits were sent to tralia. Migrants from southern Europe Pakistan Sydney jam factories. sometimes cook up the delicious but spiky j g The Blackberry spread very success­ buds. The Gherkin ( Cucumis anguria) is En oy the challenge of trekkin the fully in the wild-too successfully. By the a pest of northern Queensland cane fields, mountains of the Hindu Kush and late 19th century Victorian farmers were Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a weed of Karakoram and for the more complaining that it was choking out pad­ temperate cities and farms, and the adventurous perhaps a climb to a (Hibiscus sabdariffa), peak near K2. Karakoram, Hindu docks, creek banks and forests, and pro­ Rosella the source Kush and Hunza Trek viding refuge for destructive rabbits. It is of Rosella jam, is an environmental weed $3960*. now recognised as Victoria's worst weed: of river flats at Kakadu. South America more than 663,000 hectares of the State The enormous costs imposed by these Andes & Patagonia are ensnared in its spiky canes. Many weeds, both economic and ecological, Trekking in largely unvisited areas of thousands of dollars are spent each year show up the folly of the acclimatiser's So uth America. Trekking on the on control. ideals. Von Mueller's charming vision of Edge - Andes 36 days $5545*. The example of the Blackberry shows Australia as a great garden, stocked with Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego wild fruits and vegetables, could never 22 days $4795*. Wild Blackberries are ideal for pies and jams. have come about. Ecosystems cannot be A decoction of the leaves, mixed with other tinkered with in this way. Fortunately, For further information and a free herbs, was prescribed by colonial herbalists the modern concept of wilderness has brochure contact your travel agent to treat sore throats, spongy gums and pim­ taken hold in Australia, the dangers posed or Wilderness Expeditions: ples. by exotic species are well known, and the Sydney: 956 8099 73 Walker St Nth Sydney. acclimatiser's dreams can be dismissed Melbourne: 670 0125 3rd FI 343 Lt Collins St today as gentlemanly foolishness. • Brisbane: 229 0599 3rd FI 333 Adelaide St Adelaide: 231 6844 45 King William St Suggested Reading Perth:221 2300 2nd FI 8 Victoria Ave

MacDonald, D., 1887. Gum boughs and wattle bloom, gathered on Australian hills and plains. Cassell: London. 111n.DERNESS Mueller, F. von, 1885. Select extra­ tf EfflnmoNs � tropical plants: readily eligible for industrial • Prices ex Sydney Lie No 2TA001198 culture or naturalization, with indications of their native countries and some of their uses. ------Government Printer: Melbourne. Please send me a copy of the Rolls, E., 1969. They all ran wild. Angus & I Wilderness Trekking Brochure. I Robertson: Sydney. I Name ______I I I Tim Low B.Sc. is a full-time nature writer. He is the author of four wild food books, his latest bei11g I Address ______I Bush Tucker and Bush Medicine, which include articles repri11ted from his ANH col um 11. I _____ P/code ____ I

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 L------.J525 thedral, Oxford, later Dean of West­ minster. Buckland senior was also a "Frank Buckland could not renowned geologist. When Frank was countenance a species new to himself four the family got hold of an aging croc­ odile. After riding about on it with his or science without trying to put it in brothers, they exhausted the beast and it his mouth. " died. The family promptly cooked it, and so the pattern was set. Thereafter Frank managed to swallow "squirrel pie, mice in batter, hedgehogs, frogs and garden snails." THE ZOO TUCKER "A roast field mouse" he proclaimed "is a splendid bonne bouche for a hungry boy. It eats like a lark!" But earwigs "taste horribly bitter". However, "it is MAN not known what excellent eating young rats are". At Oxford, records Lynn BY ROBYN WILLIAMS Barber "he feasted on panther, sent down ABC RADIO SCIENCE SHOW from the Surrey Zoological Gardens. 'It had, however, been buried a couple of days', he noted 'but I got them to dig it up and send me some. It was not very good'." HAT OUTRAGEOUS AND HILARIOUS So Frank Buckland's zoophagy was film by Peter Greenaway, "The launched. He could not countenance a Cook The Thief His Wife and Her species new to himself or science without TLover", satirised a world obsessed with trying to put it in his mouth. Jackdaws, consuming things, including food. They rooks, bison, elephant trunk soup, por­ began with posh cuisine and ended up poise ("which tasted like broiled lamp­ eating people! wick"), giraffe (like veal), boa-constrictor, Imagine, though, the equivalent in boiled toucan, armadillo ("strong and natural history, a fellow of hefty, bearded rank"), red monkey, wild cat. He gave aspect similar to Michael Gambon's up­ dinners where, like his father, he served roarious Thief, but who collected speci­ "horse's tongue, alligator, puppies, mice, mens not only to classify but to have tortoise and ostrich". them for dinner. This was the remarkable In his never-ending search for fresh Dr Frank Buckland, Inspector of Fish­ and novel creatures with which to deco­ eries in Victorian Britain. He was born in rate his menu Buckland was enraptured the Tom Quad of Christ Church College, by the discovery of Australia's new Oxford, in 1826 and died 54 years later animal cornucopia. And so there was Emu having devoured more beasts of land, sea and 'Kangaroo Steamer'. Each dinner was and air than practically anyone before or conducted with formal hilarity and the since. exotic fauna was accompanied by veg­ "Buckland", wrote Charles Darwin, etation of appropriate obscurity. "though very good humoured and good­ Buckland's contributions were signifi­ natured seemed to me a vulgar and cant beyond his promotion of zoophagy almost coarse man. He was incited more and it would be amiss to portray him as a by a craving for notoriety, which some­ daft eccentric. He established the Econ­ times made him act like a buffoon, than omic Fish Museum in South Kensington, by a love of science." Frank Buckland (1826-1880). From Lynn and was succeeded as Inspector of Fish­ But, love science he did; indeed, Frank Barber's The heyday of natural history, eries by no less a figure than T.H. Huxley Buckland produced a number of authori­ 1980. himself. tative papers and articles, including Lynn Barber (whose book I rec­ "Natural history of British fishes". He dent at St George's Hospital in London, ommend as a wonderful catalogue of lectured on the same stage as T.H. where he derived especial delight in cut­ characters and practices from a time Huxleyat the South Kensington Museum, ting up dead bodies. Buckland took his when natural history ruled) quotes this wrote a regular column about nature for surgeon's interests to the dinner table obituary from the field of Buckland's the Field, Land and Water periodical and where, a medical colleague recounted: "to achievements: "His great merit as a published four series of jottings called a lover of Natural History it was a writer was his power of rendering natural "Curiosities of natural history". pleasant sight to see him at dinner with a history attractive to the multitude; this he This was at a time, remember, when chicken before him-to watch the scru­ did to perfection... Whilst other writers the public, both in Britain and Australia, pulous delicacy with which he removed of popular natural history simply compile, was obsessed with plants and animals and the leg out of the socket, or examined, Buckland described from his own quaint collecting their remains or representa­ after very careful picking, the numerous and singular points of view. His descrip­ tions of them. It was 'the heyday of natu­ troublesome little bones which constitute tions were therefore vivid, and, if not ral history', and this is the apt title of the pinion, and finally to hang over him as always consistent, were eminently read­ Lynn Barber's delightful book Oonathan he performed a Post Prandium examin­ able, and doubtless have served their own Cape, 1980) in which Buckland, amongst ation of the head-and then to see how, good turn by attracting many to the study many others, is celebrated. undeterred by foolish prejudices, he de­ of nature and natural objects." • He was of genteel circumstances, edu­ voured the brain." cated at Winchester and Oxford, where Buckland learned the practice of eating As Executive Producer of the ABC Radio Science he studied classics, chemistry and ge­ specimens from his father, William Show, Robyn Williams has the opportunity to ology. Then he enrolled as a medical stu- Buckland, Canon of Christ Church Ca- study many interesting people in science.

526 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY If you want to Experience the Natural Environment in the next 12 months, here are 10 reasons why you should join YHA! l) Friendly to the Environment Comprehensive World Hostel Unlike the many 5 Star resorts that have Network sprung up in the last few years, YHA Ausrralian YHA membership is your Hostels mean low impact enrry point to a net.work of 5,300 hostels accommodation. Because facilitiesare in 60 countries. Perhaps you CAN shared, there is more efficientuse of affordthat big overseas trip after all! resoruces - possibly better than your own Recreational Activities home! Even so, YHA Hostels are still You can enjoy a huge range of comfortable and cosy, with friendly recreational activiry at YHA Hostels, professional staff. such as walking, cycling, photography, 2) Environmental Organisation climbing, white water rafting - even YHA was a green organisation beforethe bungy jumping! term had even been invented! YHA exists No Age Limit to give you the chance to escape the cities You only need to be Young at Heart! and towns and enjoy wildernessareas and Save Money the countryside. It won't cost you much to stay at YHA 3) Friendly International Atmosphere Hostels because you're not paying for You weren't designed to hide behind a frillsyou don't need! You save too, motel door when you go away from home. because a YHA membership card YHA Hostels are used by members from entitles you to an ever growing range of up to 60 countries and you'll enjoy discounts on outdoor equipment, coach making internationalfriendships that travel, ski hire, travel books and could last for the rest of your life. YHA hundreds of hostel based attractions and Hostel guests are really travellers rather Scone YHA Hostel NSW. Simple comfort in a activities. than tourists. natural setting. 4) Comprehensive Australian Hostel Network 9) Travel Magazine There are almost 150 hostels around Australia. Many are in A free quarterly budget travel magazine is part of your major tourist centres, but many more are off the beaten track membership benefits. in the most magic of locations. And, to help you find them, 10) Free Family Membership each year you'll receive a FREE copy of the Annual Australian Once you're a YHA member, any of your children under 18 YHA Hostel Handbook are welcome to a free membership for familyhostelling. So, if you want to do more than just sit and read about the natural environment, join YHA now and you'll soon be out there enjoying it! We've got a free information package prepared for you, so just phone, fax or write and we'll send it out to you. YHA membership is now valid for a full year from any date of joining. 1------...... ------.------Use a copy if you don't wish to cut your magazine. Phone: Please send me furtherinformation on hostellingwith YHA Sydney (02) 267 3044 Adelaide (08) 231 SS83 Name .. Canberra (06) 248 9155 Perth (09) 227 5122 Address � Melbourne (03) 670 7991 Hobart (002) 34 9617 YHA Brisbane (07) 236 1680 ...... Postcode AUSTRALIA Darwin (089) 84 3902 Post to YHA, GPO Box 5276, SYDNEY NSW 2001 or fax to (02) 261 1969 "After a patient search the source of the signal was located. But was she alive? Telemetry pulses still suggested near-ambient temperature. Perhaps the animal was alive and in torpor?"

I

BY GORDON GRIGG, LYN BEARD & MIKE AUGEE DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSIAND SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

F ALL AUSTRALIA'S 150 OR SO native mammals, only the Short­ beaked Echidnas ( Tachyglossus aculeatus) have a distribution that can be said to be Australia-wide. They are found in deserts, wet and dry sclerophyll for­ ests, rainforests and heathlands. They are even seen in the high country of the Aus­ tralian Alps. This remarkable range of habitats does not fit well with the usual stereotype of Echidnas as primitive, egg-laying hold­ overs from the earliest days of mamma­ lian evolution. One would expect a living fossil to survive only in an isolated habitat to which it was specifically adapted. To

Gordon Grigg locates the antenna wire, which provides a clue to the position of the recording box used to track Echidnas in the high country. Above: tell-tale signs of an Echidna- fresh tracks in the snow.

528 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 be widespread and even common in such accused of 'primitive thermoregulation', Wardlaw in 1915, most Echidnas that did a diversity of habitats must require a 'h eterothermy' and 'incomplete enter torpor died. Besides, the mating great range of physiological and homeothermy'. season is usually stated to be in behavioural skills. We wondered if their Of course one explanation for such July-August (mid winter), a most incon­ secret was advanced adaptation or primi­ sightings could be that the individual venient time to be in hibernation! There tive plasticity. Echidnas were outside their normal were a few anecdotal reports of Echidnas In the traditional manner of compara­ winter range, perhaps stranded at higher found in a lethargic state in the wild tive zoologists, we decided to approach a altitudes to which they had wandered during winter (one reported to have been general question by looking at an ex­ during the warmer months. Alternatively dug out by earth-moving equipment), but treme. The Australian Alps, above the Echidnas might live there year round, no field data where actual body tempera­ snowline, provide an extreme habitat, and spending the winter under the snow and tures had been measured. We felt that we knew that Echidnas could be found emerging from time to time, a pattern the only convincing data would be that there. Cross-country ski enthusiasts told reminiscent of mammalian hibernators. collected in the field; and the only way to us of seeing Echidnas out and about in the But they couldn't do that! One of us (M. collect such data would be by radio­ middle of winter, poking about in the Augee) had frequently stated that tracking (see box). snow, and there was even a reliable Echidnas are not hibernators. It was So we applied to the Australian Re­ report of one within a few metres of the there in black-and-white, in scientificjour­ search Council for funds to solve the summit of Mt Kosciusko. Such obser­ nals. That conclusion had been reached puzzle. In preparing this application we vations might be considered a bit unusual because captive Echidnas would only found very little in the literature about for a fox or a possum, but they begged enter torpor reluctantly. In early studies the biology of Echidnas in the field. The further investigation for an animal often carried out at Sydney University by H. lack of field studies is probably related to the difficulty of relocating Echidnas and the impossibility of trapping them. The obvious technique to use was telemetry, employing modern, implantable, long­ lived, temperature-sensitive transmitters that are small enough to be easily toler­ ated by an animal the size of an Echidna. But first to find some Echidnas in the alpine habitat. We put out the word amongst the staff of Kosciusko National Park (KNP) that we particularly wanted animals from the highest ridges, as well as a 'control' group lower down in the Waste Point or Jindabyne area below the snowline. Meanwhile the grant had been obtained and laboratory work began at Sydney University, with Grigg and Beard IJ perfecting the techniques of implanting IJ transmitters within the peritoneal (body) a:IJ z cavity. Whenever possible we went to 0 KNP in the hope of findingEchidnas our­ 0a: 0 selves. IJ As luck would have it, the very first Body Temperature by Using a stopwatch or digital processor, animal that turned up in KNP was in a Radiotelemetry Lyn Beard reads off the pulse intervals perfect spot for the study. Early in 1987 between signals recorded on cassette John Whittaker, while delivering ski-trail By surgically implanting a small tape from the transmittered animals poles to Prussian Plain at 1,720 metres temperature-sensitive radio transmitter every few hours for the past couple of elevation on the crest of Ramshead into the body cavity of an animal it is weeks. Range south-west of Perisher, captured a relatively easy to keep tabs on them for tan-coloured female weighing about three months, or even a couple of years, relo­ animal can be located by following the cating them whenever required and re­ direction of greatest signal strength. The kilograms. We implanted a transmitter cording body temperature without range is typically one kilometre, but often and released her at the exact site of cap­ causing them any disturbance. This pro­ two to three kilometres. ture. The weather was warm as she vides biologists with a powerful tech­ To record body temperature when we crawled out of the opened sack and took a nique for learning about the behaviour could not be in the field, we devised a couple of hesitant steps onto the and physiology of free-ranging animals. battery-operated system in which a pro­ snowgrass. After sniffing the air she hast­ The transmitters we use measure 20 x grammable timer turned on the receiver ily burrowed into the soft earth. Although 8 x 7 millimetres. Powered by a three­ and a tape-recorder at predetermined in­ designated El0 (Echidna number ten), volt lithium battery, they are water­ tervals. In this way we could sample tem­ this was the first animal released in the proofed with a physiologically inert wax. peratures hourly, eight-hourly, or Once powered up, pulses of 15 millisec­ whenever we wished, thereby covering Kosciusko study area. onds duration are sent every second at intervals between field trips and obtain­ Over the next few weeks we plotted 30° C, slowing down as temperature ing a more or less continuous record of the position and monitored the body tem­ falls. pulses The are detected using a spe­ changes in body temperature for months perature of El0 as she moved about cially designed radio receiver. By careful at a time, changing the tape every two to Prussian Plain. We were pleased that she calibration prior to implantation and three weeks as required. Using a scanner remained there and did not head down careful timing of pulses once the animal is plugged into the receiver, the same 'box' into one of the valleys. By now we also released, bodytemperatures can be mon­ could be made to record more than one itored with an accuracy of ±0.2 • C. individual's body temperature plus ambi­ Each transmitter has a unique fre­ ent temperature. Transmitters are implanted intraperitoneally quency that can be tuned in with the re­ under sterile conditions, as approved by the ceiver. With a directional hand-held -LA. Beartl & university's Animal Care Committee. Inset: antenna connected to the receiver, an G.C. Ciritt the transmitters are coated with a physiolog­ ically inert wax.

530 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY ,�,-- {

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 7990-91 531 had two other Echidnas with transmitters (Ell and El3) at Waste Point on the shore of Lake Jindabyne (altitude 1,000 metres) and another (E15) at Rennix Gap (1,580 metres). We also came by a female (E12) from Dead Horse Gap, another high-altitude location, and released her onto Prussian Plain after implanting a transmitter. Now we had three animals above and two below the normal snowline, and were ready to establish the summer patterns of behaviour and body temperature before the weather turned cold.

T WAS ALREADY KNOWN FROM STUDIES OF Echidnas in captivity that body temper­ aturesI vary on a daily basis, and we soon found this to be true in our summer field study. Most mammals have a small daily variation of a degree or so, being warmer when active and cooler when at rest. We found the Echidnas in KNP to vary daily by 6-8 ° C. The pattern set by El0 on Prussian Plain in those early weeks turned out to be typical. She was active all day, foraging for small black ants by digging along the edge of fallen timber and under clumps of snowgrass, with a body temperature of 32-34 • C regard­ less of the weather. Soon after daylight had faded she would hole up for the night in a suitable retreat: a hollow log, under a rock, in a disused burrow or, as we ob­ served several times, under a convenient clump of snowgrass. Shortly thereafter, as the lengthening times between pulses from the radio transmitter deep within her showed, body temperature began to fall, quite slowly, as she rested for the night. In these latitudes Echidnas tend to be late risers, avoiding the chill of early morning, so the minimal body tempera­ tures at this time of year were measured between 9 and 10 am and were typically 25-27 ° C. When El0 emerged and became active again, body temperature rose rapidly; sometimes associated with basking in the sun but more certainly as­ sociated with heat produced from muscu­ lar activity. Sometimes, when Prussian Plain was swept with wind and rain, she would stay in her retreat and cool further for a day or two before re-emerging to forage and warm up, body temperature always returning to 32-34 • C. This was the typical pattern during the summer months for all our animals at KNP, and the field data agreed pretty much with conclusions from captive ani­ mals, going back to the pioneering work of Prof. C.J. Martin in Melbourne in 1902, that body temperature in Echidnas is highly variable for mammals. To us, following the animals about in their natu­ ral habitat, it looked to be a very sensible, 'Servicing' a recording box consisted of changing or turning the cassene tape, which recorded the 'beeps' from the receiver, and 0 a: delivering fresh baneries. The antenna was jj placed as high as possible nearby, in this co z case taped to a dead tree on top of a rocky � outcrop.

532 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY energy-saving pattern, rather than one suggestive of 'poor thermoregulatory abilities' associated with a 'primitive' animal. We quickly realised how much more data we could obtain (and how much extra sleep we might get!) if we had an automatic sampling system that could gather data overnight. So we invented and deployed a couple of weatherproof systems to record body and ambient tem­ peratures at pre-set times during the night onto cassette tape (see box). It was not until the first apparent 'disaster' in the study that the full potential of these 'boxes' (the system was enclosed in a large polypropylene box) was realised. At Easter we returned, expecting to turn on the receiver in the vicinity of the last position of an animal and to hear the usual 'beep... beep ...beep' on the appro­ priate frequency and at the usual rate. Echidnas seemed to have well-established home ranges and were always in the same general area. But when we got together at lunch time Mike Augee, who had gone up to Prussian Plain to locate ElO, was pessimistic. He had picked up the signal as expected but it was coming in slowly, with a full 4.5 seconds between beats. That equated to 9.3 ° C, which was close to ambient temperature, and Mike's gloomy conclusion was that the animal was dead. However, he had not been able to locate the carcass as the long interval between signals made it hard to get a fix. It did seem to be off Prussian Plain, amongst dense snow gum saplings on the steep southern escarpment overlooking the Bullock's Flat ski-tube terminal far below. We discussed the possibilities, in­ cluding predation (a fox perhaps?) and death from exposure. The first snow had not yet fallen but it had been very cold in the mountains. Maybe the Echidnas in the high country really were only strays, at the edge of survival, and this one had just not made the grade. With still a few hours left until nightfall, Grigg set off to Prussian Plain to find El 0. It was a quick trip over now familiar terrain to a rock cairn at the southern edge of the plain, overlooking the Thredbo River. After a patient search and a lot of scrambling through thick under­ growth on the precipitous slope, the source of the signal was located under a rock at the base of a large sun-bleached stump. It was typical for an Echidna re­ treat and there seemed to be every likeli­ hood that E 10 had entered there of her own free will. But was she still alive? Tel- :. emetry pulses still suggested near­ ambient temperature. Perhaps the animal was alive and in torpor? Here was an exciting problem, but we were committed to leave for Sydney the next day. We needed some way to keep

Gordon Grigg and Mike Augee fix the whip ��I, .•• antenna high in a tree so the recording box may still pick up the Echidna's signal if it moves unexpectedly from its hibernation site nearby.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 533 Lyn Beard follows a signal from a hibernating Echidna, which was found in a cavity formed track of the animal's body temperature between roots of a snow gum under a granite boulder. until we could return. The solution was obvious-set up a 'box' to take readings not hourly or half-hourly, as we had been doing to make overnight records, but every eight hours to spin out the cassette tape for a couple of weeks until our return. So we climbed again to Prussian Plain early the following morning carrying all the necessary equipment. The sky was blue but it had been damp and cold over­ night. On reaching the crest we hurriedly checked the signal. It was more rapid! The animal was now warm! It took only 15.1 seconds for 10 beats, compared to the 45 seconds the previous afternoon. Far from being dead, she had now warmed up. The Echidna story was also hotting up! Periodic and rapid warm-ups from torpor are characteristic of hiber­ nating mammals. Were Echidnas hiberna­ tors too? While it was not a sure bet, the odds were changing. We needed more data. We set up the 'box' to record the body temperature every eight hours for the next 15 days and secured the lid down with a large rock (gales are the norm on the Ramshead Range at this time of year). Fifteen days later in early May we re­ turned and went straight to Prussian Plain. Yes, she was torpid again, and she had moved. But she had moved to the northern side of the ridge out of range of the carefully placed recording box

534 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY ..,

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er: ...,0 An Echidna (ElO) dug up from hibernation is so slow in its movements and so cold that survival seems unlikely. 40 (Murphy's Law applies especially to field studies!). 35 Our two other high-country Echidnas, E12 and ElS, were also torpid, and so 30 was one of the Echidnas in the 'control' 0 group well below the snowline beside Lake Jindabyne. Torpor was beginning to f 25 look like a normal event for Echidnas. Only E13 was still active. The four torpid t 20 Echidnas stayed put, with low body tem­ ! peratures, for the four days of this field 15 trip. We had only two recording boxes, so we left one at the new location of El0 10 and left the second to record data from another torpid animal. This time we were rewarded for the effort. 5 On the next trip we listened eagerly to 0 the first tape. It had successfully recorded 1 NOV. 3NOV. 5 NOV. 7 NOV. data every eight hours for two weeks Summer and, most excitingly, it contained in beau­ tiful detail a striking, rapid warm-up over about 12 hours to a 'normal' operating ECHIDNA 10 ° Prussian Plain 1987 temperature (about 32 C) followed by a 40 slower, steady decline almost to ambient ° temperature (in this case 10 C). This 35 pattern was to be repeated again and again, every couple of weeks, by every monitored Echidna-just what would be 30 expected of a ground squirrel or marmot. Echidnas are hibernators! -0 25 Contrasting patterns in body temperature 20 during summer and winter shown by an Echidna (ElO) on Prussian Plain. Note the different time scales. In summer, cyclic j 15 changes in body temperature correlate with periods of activity (by day) and rest (at 10 night). In winter the animal entered hiberna­ tion in a burrow, its long periods of torpor being interrupted by spontaneous arousals 5 during which body temperatures rose briefly into the low 30s before falling again to near ambient temperature. This pattern of hiber­ 0 nation is the same as that seen in traditional 3 MAY 23 MAY 12 JUNE 2 JULY 22 JULY placental hibernators. Winter

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 535 CJ CJ ii: CJ z 0 0 ex: 0 CJ

536 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY HE STRATEGY OF HIBERNATING AND conserving energy during the period Hibernation, Torpor, Lethargy or Just Plain Sleep? Tof the year when food may be in short supply or when environmental conditions At its simplest, hibernation is a vague dens in winter in northern latitudes. In are harsh makes sense in one of the cold­ notion that some animals survive harsh the 'S0s Raymond Hock, from the Arctic est areas of Australia. However, there winter conditions by retreating to a den, Aeromedical Laboratory in Alaska, meas­ remains the problem that Echidnas are burrow or nest, not to be seen until ured the body temperatures of a couple of supposed to breed in July or early August. spring. Hibernation has often been bears in winter in the field and found At first it looked as though they were termed 'winter sleep', in which case their body temperatures to be only about awakening should simply be a matter of 5 ° C below summer active body tempera­ indeed going to hibernate through the putting the central nervous system on full tures. I have always considered this man, breeding season, and some did, but with a alert, a process taking seconds or perhaps who "made deep rectal insertions" with a further year of monitoring we confirmed minutes. And yet, if you dig up a marmot thermometer into bears in their dens, to that most of them aroused in time for in winter in the Canadian Rockies, it will be one of the great field biologists of our mating and breeding. The other animal take hours to become active, and that time. Needless to say the bears woke up being studied on Prussian Plain, E12, in arousal will involve a gradual warming rather quickly and these field measure­ fact hatched a living young in a burrow with heat produced from the animal's ments have not been repeated since. dug in a clump of sedge and sphagnum, own metabolism until the nervous system Most zoologists are content to consider providing strong evidence that the high­ is functioning at a normal level. If you dig that bears, like skunks and a few mem­ up a nearby lizard, it will not become bers of the order Carnivora, exhibit country Echidnas really live in that habi­ active until you apply external heat. 'carnivorean lethargy'. tat and are not simply occasional visitors Obviously different vertebrates that Hibernation involves complex seasonal that become 'lost'. remain inactive over winter do so in quite cycles. Few mammalian hibernators are To what extent hibernation in Echidnas different states. A terminology, with the able to enter torpor during the summer is homologous to that of eutherian (pla­ precision demanded by science, capable active period. The reproductive season cental) hibernators is still uncertain. The of making such distinctions is needed. appears to require physiological condi­ pattern is the same, but we do not know 'Torpor' is a state in which body temper­ tions that preclude torpor. Many bats, whether it is supported by the same ature is lowered almost to the tempera­ however, can enter torpor at any time of physiology. If monotreme and eutherian ture of the surroundings and functions the year. There are therefore a number of such as heart beat, breathing and metab­ variations in the way different species hibernation are homologous, then this is a olism proceed at rates well below those utilise torpor. This has led to continuing bit hard to reconcile with the current idea observed in active animals. 'Hibernation' adjustment of the terms used above and that hibernation is an advanced state de­ is used by most zoologists to refer to a search for a more quantitative defini­ rived in only a few mammals. Perhaps winter torpor with the additional proviso tion of hibernation. Since mitochondrial monotreme hibernation is based on that the hibernator is capable of com­ membranes (which produce energy for physiological mechanisms present in an­ pletely arousing itself at regular intervals many cell functions) of most endotherms cestors common to all mammals, in which to normal body temperature using its cannot function at temperatures below ° case further studies of thermoregulation own metabolic resources. This definition 18 C, with the exception of those of hi­ in Echidnas might shed light on the devel­ therefore excludes all ectotherms and is bernators, it is possible to define hiberna­ restricted to birds and mammals. Some tors as those endotherms capable of opment of endothermy and homeothermy small desert birds and mammals show a lowering the minimal temperature of in metatherian (marsupial) and eutherian similar response to summer conditions, in membrane function below 15 ° C. By this mammals. Either way, the discovery of which case the term 'aestivation' is used. definition bears are not hibernators but hibernation in Echidnas poses some ques­ What about bears? They are often consid­ Echidnas are. tions for the old debate on whether hiber­ ered hibernators because they retreat to -M.L. Augee nation is a primitive or advanced character state (see box). It also poses interesting questions about Echidnas themselves. How widespread is the oc­ currence of torpor, and is the ability to Hibernation: Primitive or Advanced? become torpid used under completely dif­ ferent circumstances in other areas? Australian biologists are a bit touchy was then held to be a 'plesiomorphic' The discovery of hibernation in about the word 'primitive'. It is often ap­ character state. In recent times, however, Echidnas, like the recent discovery of plied to our native species, such as mar­ hibernation has come to be considered a electrosensitivity in monotremes (see supials and especially monotremes. That very advanced ability, involving seasonal ANH vol. 23, no. 4, 1990), indicates implies they are second-class animals, adjustment of function and even structure there is still much to be discovered about isolated on a geographic ark and doomed in the case of some membranes. Since hi­ these fascinating beasts. All of which to be out-competed by 'advanced' mam­ bernators are found in at least four separ­ serves to reinforce Mike Augee's oft­ mals from the 'real' world over the seas. ate orders, if hibernation is an advanced quoted maxim "Never underestimate an The problem is that 'primitive' carries state it would have to have evolved sep­ two meanings that are not necessarily arately at least four times. In evolution­ Echidna!". • compatible. It carried in biology the ary terms this would be an example of meaning of 'ancestral' in the case of four-fold convergence. And now we have Suggested Reading phylogeny and 'old' in terms of the fossil evidence that Echidnas hibernate. That record. It also of course means lacking in should shift the balance toward the older Grigg, G.C., Beard, L.A. & Augee, M.L., complexity, which has implications of view, since monotremes are the closest 1989. Hibernation in a monotreme, the being inefficient and old-fashioned. To living mammals to the Mesozoic stem. Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). Comp. get around this, a new word Otherwise we are faced with five-fold Biochem. Physio/. 92A: 609-612. 'plesiomorphic' has been coined to carry convergence of a quite complicated char­ the meaning 'ancestral' only. acter state, and that stretches the concept f f Hibernation was originally considered a bit too far. Obviously more information Pro Gordon Grigg is Head o Zoology at the University of Queensland. His research interests primitive. Small mammals were said to is needed about the basis of hibernation gy 'abandon homeothermy' and revert in the Echidna, and it could be that evolu­ include the physiology and ecolo of Australian vertebrates, particularly Echidnas, crocodiles and during winter to a reptilian metabolism. tionary terms and concepts that fit struc­ fi f Mammalian hibernation was considered tural characters so well cannot be applied kangaroos. Mrs Lyn Beard, Senior Scienti c O to be a remnant of reptilian physiology to functional states. ficer, is his research assistant. Dr Mike A ugee held in a few mammals. In other words, it -M.L. Augee lectures in biologyat the University of New South Wales. He has been studying the physiology of Echidnas since 1966.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 537

BY ALEX RITCHIE PALAEONTOLOGY SECTION, AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM

N MID 1987 REPORTS OF THE DISCOVERY are not uncommon-we know of at least of an opalised skeleton of a plesiosaur, ten similar finds discovered over the last an extinct marine reptile, reached us in 20 years and there have almost certainly the Australian Museum. The specimen been others of which we scientists are had been dug out of an opal mine at unaware. We had been closely involved in Coober Pedy, South Australia. Such finds one such find, in 1976, of a plesiosaur

Plesiosaurs and pliosaurs are long-extinct marine reptiles that lived during the Age of Dino­ saurs. They flourished in shallow seas covering much of inland Australia in earty Cretaceous times, 100-120 million years ago. They were fast-moving predators and probably swam by 'flying' underwater, not unlike modern penguins. skeleton at White Cliffs, western New We thought nothing more about it until South Wales (of which more later). Unfor­ mid 1988 when Zoltan Berta, a Sydney tunately most opalised skeletons are in­ opal dealer, sought our advice on an complete, usually because they have been opalised skeleton that his firm, Berta dug out by opal miners without scientific Opals, was considering purchasing as a advice or assistance. possible display item. It turned out to be For two decades I have been interested the same Coober Pedy plesiosaur. Ac­ in opalised fossils. On several occasions I companied by Robert Jones, the Austra­ have reported in ANH the fascinating­ lian Museum's Palaeontology Collection and frustrating-stories behind such finds Manager, I went to Berta Opals' office to (see ANH vol. 19, no. 12, 1979; vol. 21, inspect it. At first glance our hearts sank. no. 9, 1985; vol. 22, no. 8, 1988). For The specimen had been brought to those who have followed the earlier dis­ Sydney in a large steel box half full of coveries, and for those who are new to pinkish sandstone blocks and innumerable the subject, a review of recent Australian smaller fragments. Most of them were discoveries and developments may be of bundled into plastic bags with no special interest. packing or protection. None of the blocks On hearing of the latest find at Coober was larger than fist-size. Some of the Pedy I immediately phoned Neville bags contained hundreds of miscellaneous Pledge, my counterpart in the South Aus­ opal chips. We were introduced to Mr Joe Vida, LU tralian Museum. He confirmed that he <..:l 0 had heard the report and was going to the miner who had found it. He described

Cl..� Coober Pedy to investigate. He later de­ how his tunnelling machine had cut into LU ....J scribed how, when he visited the mine to and exposed part of the skeleton in the ....J inspect the specimen, he was shown a wall of the opal mine. He and his partners � z pile of rubble for which the miners were had then dug the rest of it out with a asking $200,000, a sum far beyond the pick. He assured us they had collected all Museum's resources even for a reason­ of it but we had our doubts. We examined ably complete skeleton. the rubble, in dismay, and knew just how Neville must have felt when he visited Coober Pedy the year before. However, as we sorted through it, we gradually realised that we might still be able to salvage something from the wreckage. Some blocks contained parts of four or five evenly spaced ribs, others enclosed several vertebrae in line. Clearly the animal had been complete and still articulated when it was buried on a sandy sea-bottom over 100 million years ago. It was either a plesiosaur or a pliosaur, closely related marine reptiles, not unlike the legendary 'Loch Ness Monster', that swam in the seas over central Australia LU :i: while dinosaurs roamed the land. � In our report to Berta Opals we rec­ a:: ommended that, despite its condition, it ....J� < might provide a reasonable display item but only if prepared by experts. It would still be a gamble because several crucial parts, such as the all-important skull, ap­ peared to be missing. In the circum­ stances we questioned whether it was worth the $200,000 asked, mainly be­ cause of the haphazard way it had been excavated, collected and shipped, with bits rubbing freely against one another. (There is a lesson here for any other opal miner who finds such specimens: call in expert advice at the earliest possible op­ portunity. It will save money for you and valuable specimens for science.) On reflection the board of Berta Opals decided against its purchase. Instead Mr Sid Londish, a prominent Sydney businessman and chairman of Comrealty, ii) a large property development company, z S< decided to buy it. On the basis of our report he had been able to buy it for LUb: co considerably less than the original asking 0 a:: price, but still far more than any Austra­ Alex Ritchie excavating a layer containing numerous opalised dinosaur bones in Bob Foster's lian museum could outlay. At that time mine, Sheepyard Opal Field, near Lightning Ridge in northern New South Wales. Comrealty's planned developments in-

540 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY hardness. As the bones slowly emerged the magnitude of the problem became clearer. The larger blocks, with several bones still in association, provided the key as the backbone was extracted and reassembled. The rib cage was especially tricky, with one side spread out and the other side more compressed. The miners had identi­ fied, cleaned up and partly reassembled the main limb bones (humerus and femur) but appear to have missed most of the smaller paddle bones (the phalanges). Al­ though Paul searched carefully, only a ?§ few of the paddle bones were recovered. � Although we had seen no trace of the � skull, Paul gradually recovered parts of it � as he systematically worked through the � material. First the rear of the skull and t;:; braincase emerged, then most of the � snout and two smaller pieces that fitte'd � on to them. To our amazement most of :£ the delicate triangular skull was present. 'z Under the circumstances it was remark- � ably well preserved. None of the teeth 1-z< remained attached to the skull itself but Paul Willis with the Coober Pedy pliosaur skeleton, which he prepared and reconstructed from ten small, needle-sharp teeth were dis­ hundreds of fragments in 450 hours of painstaking work. covered lying loose in the rock surround­ ing the bones. They ranged in length eluded a large hotel and tourist complex tember 1988 employed Paul to prepare from four to 45 millimetres. Only part of in the Kings Cross area of Sydney. An their specimen in the Australian Muse­ the rear of the lower jaw was found. opalised skeleton of an ancient sea mon­ um's laboratory. To an impecunious stu­ An even bigger surprise awaited us ster would make a fine tourist attraction. dent such employment was a godsend as inside the rib cage-two clusters of Having seen many fine fossil specimens well as invaluable experience. smoothly rounded pebbles. The pebbles ruined by well-meaning amateurs, we were of many different types of rock, as if wanted to control the whole process and AUL'S FIRST TASK WAS TO REMOVE THE they had been picked at random from a so we put a proposal to Comrealty. The rock from the opalised bones to find stony beach. They were quite out of place Museum had the equipment and exper­ outP how much was preserved. The thick­ in the fine-grained sandstone matrix. The tise, and we knew where we could find a est parts of rock were trimmed by an answer soon became clear; both lots of student to prepare the skeleton under our air-powered percussion tool. Closer to the pebbles were still attached to parts of the supervision. Paul Willis, who is currently bones Paul switched to more delicate pelvis and sections of the small ventral studying fossil crocodiles from means, an air-abrasive tool, a miniature ribs characteristic of plesiosaurs and Queensland at the University of New sand blaster, using powders of different pliosaurs (and some other extinct rep- South Wales, has had a long-time fascina­ tion with dinosaurs. A plesiosaur was the The skull of the Coober Pedy pliosaur, extracted from four separate pieces of rock, resembles next best thing to a dinosaur. Comrealty that of Peyerus, a pliosaur found in Cretaceous rocks of South Africa. Several loose teeth of agreed with our suggestion and in Sep- various sizes were discovered in the sandstone around the bones.

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VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 tiles). The pebbles were gizzard stones, selected by the animal and swallowed either to help grind up its food or as a kind of ballast, or perhaps both. But the real surprise came as Paul cleaned up the patch of smaller pebbles. Nestling amongst them, complete and unabraded, were a dozen small fish vertebrae, also opalised. Paul, who had nicknamed his charge 'Eric', decided that the fish form­ ing the remains of its last meal should be called 'Wanda', from the film of the same name. (Rather appropriately Paul was living in Wanda Crescent at the time!) It took Paul about 450 hours of deli­ cate, painstaking work to extract and re­ construct 'Eric'. As it was gradually reassembled it became clear that it was much more complete than we had antici­ pated, or had dared to hope. It was also clear that 'Eric' was not a plesiosaur, as we had originally thought, but a pliosaur.

A cluster of gastroliths (gizzard stones) at­ tached to ventral ribs (not visible) and part of the pelvis of the Coober Pedy pliosaur. Lying among the rounded pebbles are about 12 small vertebrae of a bony fish.These ver­ tebrae, the remains of 'Eric's' last meal, are also opalised, just like the pliosaur bones that enclose them.

KronoSilurus queenslandicus, the world's largest known ancient sea monster, comes from Australia. It was discovered in 1931 near Richmond, northern Queensland by W. Schevill of Harvard University. This spectacular 13-metre-long pliosaur skeleton Is seen here just before it went on display in 1958 in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard.

542 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Plesiosaurs and pliosaurs are closely re­ lated, but plesiosaurs have long, slender, flexible necks and relatively tiny skulls while pliosaurs generally have much larger skulls and shorter necks. 'Eric's' flippers were unusually long and powerful, and its short stubby tail ended in a series of about six fused and

Part of the rib cage and backbone of the 1976 White Cliffs plesiosaur (below) with some ribs polished to show the opal and of the new Coober Pedy pliosaur (right) after reconstruction by Paul Willis. These two specimens represent the finest opalised marine reptiles found in Australia.

Other New Sea Monster Finds The last couple of years have seen ton yet found (see ANH vol. 23, no. increase the scientific and educa­ a remarkable chain of discoveries of 6, 1990). tional content of our display. We extinct reptiles in Australia, es­ Ahhough elated by their partici­ quickly slipped the ichthyosaur skull pecially in Queensland.In mid 1989 pation in this historic find, the three into a bath of dilute acid to clean it the Queensland Museum recovered Sydney students were taken aback up. In the display we had a section a two-metre-long skull of the giant to find that the specimen they had for 'New Australian Ands' and the pliosaur Kronosaurus from a prop­ come so far to help excavate had ichthyosaur skull provided a show­ eny in north-central Queensland. only taken three days to extract. piece item. Kronosaurus, which reached a They asked the QueenslandMuseum Two days after 'Dinosaurs Alive' length of about 14 metres, is one of team to recommend other likely opened, one of the security guards the largest known extinct marine sites and were directed to a nearby noticed a young man staring at the reptiles. property where, they were assured, ichthyosaur skull for a very long Two months later, in October they would certainly find some bone time. When approached the visitor 1989, another propertyowner In the fragments. asked to speak to a Museum same area, near Richmond, discov­ Shortly after reaching the site and palaeontologist and I was sent for. ered a fossil skull of another, smaller starting to prospect in the creek He informed me that his name was pliosaur weathering out of a creek banks, Paul and his companions no­ Ken Delaney and that his family had bank. It was reported to the ticed a lump of limestone with bone owned the property where it was Queensland Museum whose team weathering out. Digging around it found until the previous year. "I've returnedto the area to excavate the they rolled it into the creek bed only got a more complete skull than that new specimen. h turned out to be a to find, to their amazement, that it one," Ken said, pointing to the virtually complete pliosaur skeleton, was the back half of a beautifully specimen found by the three stu­ five metres long, and one of the preserved, almost uncrushed, dents. "You can have it if you like, finest specimens of Its kind found icthyosaur skull. lchthyosaurs were it's probably better off in a anywhere in the world. dolphin-like marine reptiles that museum!" Less than two months later, fired swam in the same seas as At the time of writing, arrange­ by his success, the same grazier plesiosaurs and pliosaurs. With their ments are being made to have Ken went fossil prospecting again. On a trophy carefully wrapped up and Delaney's specimen shippeddown to low hill on his property, several cushioned, the three students drove Sydney from Townsville but, even kilometres from the first discovery, back to Sydney in triumph. from his photographs, it is clear that he found a second skeleton. This With perfect timing Paul, John it is a very fine specimen. The skull time it wasn't a marine reptile but a and Huw arrived back in Sydney Is about 1.5 metres long, lacking much rarer find-a dinosaur skele­ shortly before our major exhibition only about 50 centimetres of the ton. With help from four students­ 'Dinosaurs Alive' opened. 'Dino­ snout, with the lower jaws still at­ Paul Willis, John Scanlon and Huw saurs Alive' was based mainly on tached and all the teeth still in place. Barton from the University of New large, moving, stomping, roaring, Plans are also being made to South Wales, and Juliet Hugenholz robotic models of dinosaurs on loan return to northern Queensland to from Queensland University-the from the National Science Centre in search for the missing front half of Queensland Museum extracted the Canberra. To supplement the the lchthyosaur skull find. Maybe specimen in January 1990. h was a Dlsneylsh aspect of the moving there will be an interesting sequel to small, three-metre-long ankylosaur models I had been desperately seek­ this remarkable chain of discoveries (Minml), unquestionably the most ing other items such as skulls, skele­ in the saga of the 'Return of the complete Australian dinosaur skele- tons, models and trackways to Great Sea Monsters'.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 543 � u:i: I-­a: X UJ <...J somewhat flattened vertebrae, suggesting that the tail may have been slightly flat­ tened and used for propulsion or as a rudder. In the shallow seas covering cen­ tral Australia in early Cretaceous times (110-120 million ye ars ago) fast­ swimming, fish-eating predators such as 'Eric' were the reptilian counterparts of today's marine mammals and mobility in water must have been a major asset. Until studies of the specimen are com­ plete we are uncertain if it represents a new genus or species, but preliminary in­ vestigation by Dr Ralph Molnar of the Queensland Museum has revealed that, in several unusual features of its skull, the new Coober Pedy specimen resembles a known pliosaur called Peyerus from Lower Cretaceous rocks of South Africa.

UJ R SID LONDISH AND COMREALTY, �a: Mowners of the Coober Pedy pliosaur, ; have generously allowed us to display this < remarkable specimen in the Australian Neck of the White Cliffs plesiosaur after cleaning and reconstruction by its discoverer, opal Museum while discussions about its miner Ken Harris. eventual fate proceed. There can be no

544 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY doubt that such opalised skeletons form a unique part of Australia's natural heritage and deserve to be recognised as such. Without Mr Sid Londish's involvement and support it is likely that this specimen, Take a Break in like so many others before it, would have been broken up or shipped out of the country to some overseas museum and Australia would be the poorer. By a strange coincidence another the Blue Mountains opalised skeleton went on public display in Sydney at about the same time that 'Eric' arrived at the Museum. It was the plesiosaur skeleton that Robert Jones and I had helped excavate at White Cliffs in 1976. Its owner, opal miner Ken Harris, has now leased it to Fantos Ltd, a large new Japanese-owned duty free store in George Street, Sydney, a stone's throw from Circular Quay. The White Cliffs plesiosaur was installed, under our super­ vision, in a large display case in a setting resembling an underground opal mine at White Cliffs. At least it is now in Sydney and thus more readily accessible to all visitors, Australian or overseas. Our long-term hope is that, one day, both of these fabulous specimens will be acquired by, and permanently installed in, the Australian Museum. The White Cliffs plesiosaur and the Coober Pedy pliosaur form a beautifully complementary pair. Displayed together they would provide a breathtaking, unique exhibit of two Aus­ tralian national treasures that deserve to be seen by the widest possible audience, in perpetuity. •

Suggested Reading

Bartholomai, A., 1985. Kronosaurus queenslandicus-the giant fish lizard. Pp. 147-149 in Kadimakara: extinct vertebrates of Australia, ed. by P.V. Rich and G. Van Tets. Pioneer Design Studio: Lilydale, Victoria. Molnar, R., 1987. A sea serpentine sauropterygian, Wo o/ungasaurus gl endowerensis. Pp. 33-35 in The antipodean ark: creatures from prehistoric Australia, ed. by S. Hand and M. Archer. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. Rich, P.V. & Rich, T.H., 1985. Plesiosauridae-the Andamooka sea mon­ The sights, sounds and scents of the ster. Pp. 143-145 in Kadimakara: extinct Blue Mountains will inspire you to vertebrates of Australia, ed. by P.V. Rich and enjoy life afresh. This city in a national G. Van Tets. Pioneer Design Studio: Lilydale, Victoria. park is alive with bush-walking and Ritchie, A., 1987. Broad-finned beauty, horseriding and history, golf lchthyosaurs of Australia's inland seas. Pp. 31-33 in The antipodean ark: creatures from and galleries ... it's up to you. A void prehistoric Australia, ed. by S. Hand and M. the crowds with a value-packed mid­ Archer. Angus & Robertson: Sydney. Wa de, M., 1985. Pl atypterygius week holiday in a grand hotel, elegant australia-a cretaceous marine reptile. Pp. guest house, luxury resort or mountain 143-145 in Kadimakara: extinct vertebrates of Australia, ed. by P.V. Rich and G. Van motel. Tets. Pioneer Design Studio: Lilydale, To obtain a copy of Blue Mountains Victoria. Holiday packages, or to book your Dr Alex Ritchie is pa/aeo11/ologist and senior holiday, contact your nearest NRMA research scientist at the Australian Museum. He office or the NSW Travel Centre. has been there since 1968. His main research is 011 early fossil fish but he is also involved in the search for Australian dinosaurs and other fossil reptiles. TMA-6MTA.21-a,90

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 545 546 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY PHYLOGENETIC§

"Many workers have regarded the mystery as resolved. Nevertheless the case of the Thylacine has continued to be a tempting context for exploration of new kinds of data. " SEARCH 5: <.:) FOR ,.,z V\ _,UJ a: :c<( THE u THYLACINE'S SISTER BY DANIEL P. FAITH CSIRO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE AND ECOLOGY

DIVERSITY OF AUSTRALIAN MARSU­ als includes not only our familiar TIoala, kangaroos and possums, but also species that, for one reason or an­ other, are less well known. Sadly, the endangered status of some of these spe­ cies, or even their outright extinction, may mean that we never become familiar with some quite re­ markable animals. One of the most fas­ cinating of all marsupi­ als is almost certainly extinct. Imagine a large carnivorous mar­ supial, resembling a Wolf on one hand, but also having stripes like a Tiger. This animal, the Thylacine ( Thylacinus cynocephalus), presents us with some mysteries that would challenge any detective. Their disappearance is in- triguing because they were, at one time, not only found in Tasmania but also on mainland Australia.

Thylacines were considered sheep killers in Tasmania and a Government bounty was paid between 1888 and 1909 for skins presented. Such direct, deliberate human intervention led to the extinction of the Thylacine within the first half of this century, which has made it all the more difficult to trace its evolutionary relationships with other marsupials. Top: Reconstruc­ tion of the early Miocene borhyaenid Prothylacynus patagonicus. Borhyaenids, the South American group of carnivorous marsupials, were thought to be the Thylacine's closest rela­ tive at the beginning of the century, a theory challenged since. Bottom: After weighing up all the evidence, the Thylacine seems to be most closely related to dasyurids, such as this Eastern Quoll (Dasyurus viverrlnus).

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 547 One dramatic bit of evidence for this is HE EARLY IDEAS ON THYLACINE RELA­ the rock paintings of Thylacines in tionships have been well summarised Kakadu National Park, Northern Terri­ Tby Professor Michael Archer of the Uni­ tory. While Thylacines apparently disap­ versity of New South Wales. Surprisingly, peared about 3,000 years ago from the the story begins with South American mainland, they persisted in Tasmania at marsupials rather than Australian ones. least until 1936, when the last known At the beginning of this century, B.A. wild individual died after capture. Much Bensley noted striking similarities be­ detective work since has failed to find a tween the Thylacine and an extinct South living specimen. American group of carnivorous marsupi­ Another kind of detective work on the als, the borhyaenids. The similarities Thylacine has also been going on for were particularly marked in the morphol­ much of the past century, and has pro­ ogy or appearance of the teeth. Later duced some tantalising results. This re­ workers noted additional similarities in search concerns the mystery of the skeletal features. Based on this evidence, evolutionary or phylogenetic relationships the conclusion seemed inescapable that of this unusual species to other marsupi­ the Thylacine must have shared a recent als. Phylogenetic relationships are those common ancestor with the borhyaenids. that record patterns of common ancestry In its origins at least, the Thylacine was of different species (or, more generally, apparently not a fair-dinkum Aussie at all, different 'taxa'). These relationships, in but rather had its sisters among the tracing the formation and evolutionary South American forms (see tree A). history of related taxa, can be repre­ This early work set the stage for some sented by branching patterns, or tree dia­ interesting counter-arguments over the grams, in which the taxa of interest form next decades. The great evolutionist, the tips of the branches. A phylogenetic George Gaylord Simpson, argued in 1941 tree identifies a hierarchy of pairs of taxa that the Thylacine and the borhyaenids ('sisters') that share a common ancestor. were not close relatives. His arguments The position of the Thylacine in such a highlighted one of the key weaknesses in tree, relative to other marsupials, can using observations on shared features, shed some light on what the Thylacine such as the teeth characters, as evidence must have been like. Clues to the relative of common ancestry. Suppose that the position of the Thylacine on such a tree observed features, rather than being in­ are found in the observed similarities be­ herited from a common ancestor, had tween the Thylacine and other taxa. evolved independently in Thylacines and These similarities are based on morphol­ borhyaenids. Such independent evolution ogy or other shared features that rep­ of the same derived feature is called con­ resent evolutionary novelties among vergence. Convergent derivation of these marsupials. Because these available clues shared features implies that the two spe­ are not unanimous in the story they seem cies need not be closely related at all. to tell, the task of unravelling this mys­ Thus, Bensley's argument was turned on tery has been a difficult one. In fact, the its head by Simpson (and later other case of the Thylacine has been so chal­ workers) in proposing that the observed lenging that it provides insights into the similarities between the Thylacine and problems that all systematists face in ac­ borhyaenids were not evidence for recent cumulating evidence about phylogenetic common ancestry. patterns. The counter-proposal growing out of

Cladistics In cladistics, different features may provide evidence for different phylogenetic trees. In the figure here are two possible trees for four taxa (a, b, c and d). The table lists the taxa having each feature X, Y or Z. Tree I is supported by feature X, but not by feature Y. Feature X im­ plies a single evolutionary acquisi­ tion of the derived feature, while feature Y implies two evolutionary events (or 'steps'). The reverse is true for tree II. Feature Z is compati­ ble with either of the trees, but would not support a tree in which those taxa with that feature were found in different parts. If the ob­ served features for these taxa in­ cluded many features shared by taxa ffi a and b, such as feature X (relative � to features like feature Y), then tree 5 I is favoured over tree II by the prin- � ciple of parsimony. �

548 A U S T R A L I A N N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y this work was that the Thylacine had as its sister-group the Australian dasyurids-a group of insectivorous and carnivorous marsupials, including the DASYURID Tasmanian Devil, quolls and others. This hypothesis has gained some strong sup­ port only in the last decade when new sets of anatomical features were exam­ ined in detail. Frederick Szalay, from the City University of New York, found a number of aspects of the morphology of the tarsal (foot) bones that were shared by the Thylacine and other Australian marsupials, but were absent from borhyaenids. Here, then, was a pattern -contrary to that based on teeth and other skeletal features that had linked the Thylacine to borhyaenids. This new work was important in en­ THYLACINE couraging the evaluation of other fea­ tures. But how should all these clues, represented by different features, be weighed up to draw a conclusion about phylogenetic relationships? What do sys­ tematists do when different sets of fea­ tures (as for the teeth and the tarsus) yield contradictory evidence? Szalay and Archer and others have turned to a formalised procedure to explore all of this conflicting evidence.

ECAUSE THE DIFFERENT HYPOTHESES about phylogenetic relationships can beB represented by different tree dia­ grams, a formalised method must some­ how distinguish among all the possible BORHYAENID trees in light of the best available evi­ dence at the time. The methods of cladistics (from the Greek word klados, meaning branch) use evidence from many characters and choose the tree that im­ plies the smallest amount of convergence and reversal (change of a feature back to a primitive form). This criterion turns out to be identical to choosing the tree that implies the smallest number of changes in z features, and is sometimes referred to as

the 'principle of parsimony'. §LJ.J What is the rationale for this approach? :9 < Because we can never know for certain LJ.J z the historical events that determine a z phylogeny, workers using cladistics take :'.:; the view that the best hypothesis will be Comparison of the upper teeth rows of an Australian dasyurid (top), the Thylacine (middle) the one that best reflects our expecta­ and a South American borhyaenid (bottom), showing the similarity between the specialised tions about how a phylogeny can account dentition of the Thylacine and boryhaenids. for the shared features among taxa­ namely through their inheritance from a common ancestor. By counting the number of changes in features implied by a particular tree, we measure the degree to which the tree accounts for inherited shared features (see box for further ex­ planation). Archer used cladistic methods iT.\ 1982 to pull together all the evidence avhllable at that time relating to the Thylacine. Based on all of the dental and skeletal features, including those for the tarsus, c:r: the most informative tree (in accounting LJ.J for shared features) turned out to be the z ""...J one in which the Thylacine and ::, � borhyaenids were sisters (see tree A). z However, some additional evidence of :f

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 549 A mummified Thylacine, dated at 4,500 years old, collected from a cave on the Nullarbor in 1966. It is possible to extract small amounts of the protein albumin and even DNA from dried Vincent Sarich from the University of museum specimens for comparison with other marsupials. California at Berkeley and his colleagues, in the true spirit of detectives, were able quite a different kind also became avail­ direct evidence of shared features, it does to extract small amounts of the protein able in 1982, using a relatively new tech­ indicate the relative degree of overall albumin from the dried skins of museum nique for assessing relationships based on similarity between the proteins of the two specimens, for comparison with albumin principles of immunological reactions. If species. Presumably, the more similar the samples from other marsupials. While versions of the same protein from two two proteins, the more closely related are these comparisons were limited by the different species are compared, the more the two taxa, because the proteins conse­ absence of material from borhyaenids, the similar they are (in their exact make-up of quently have had less time to diverge surprisingly high similarity of the amino acids), the greater the immunolog­ through gradual evolutionary change. Thylacine to dasyurids suggested such a ical response when antisera specifically The problem in applying this technique recent common ancestor for the two that designed to react to one of them are in­ to the Thylacine, of course, was that no a tree like tree B could be considered stead combined with the other protein. living material was available from which more likely than tree A. Consequently, While this technique does not produce to extract protein samples. However, Archer (in agreement with Sarich and col-

550 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY � ::, LU V, �::,

!u a: zCl ""LU LU <;) a:: 0 LU <;)

leagues) concluded that it was more likely on molecules, hasn't been available. Fur­ that the Thylacine was most closely re­ ther, recalling Archer's cladistic analyses, lated to dasyurids. the direct data available (that of skeletal Many workers since have regarded the features) implied quite a lot of conver­ mystery as resolved, and have proposed gence with borhyaenids if the Thylacine classifications of marsupials based on the was to be considered more closely related sister-relations of the Thylacine and to dasyurids. More direct observations on dasyurids. Nevertheless the case of the different kinds of features have thus been Thylacine has continued to be a tempting welcomed. context for exploration of new kinds of Given this state of affairs, then, it was a:: data. One reason might be that the in­ naturally tempting to try to use one of LU direct methods based on immunological the most exciting direct forms of molecu­ z _,"" reactions have been criticised in the past, lar evidence-the comparison of features ::, and so it has remained somewhat unsatis­ of the DNA of different taxa. Information � factory that more direct data, particularly on the details of DNA structure had al-

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 551 ready been used successfully in solving phylogenetic problems, particularly in the past decade. But for the Thylacine a serious problem was apparent: how can such data be obtained for an extinct spe­ cies?

HE ANSWER TO THIS BECAME CLEAR IN 1989 with publication of a report in Tthe British journal Nature by Richard Thomas and others at the University of California, Berkeley. Recent break­ throughs in DNA technology were used to extract an exceedingly small amount of DNA available from the museum speci­ mens and then produce many new copies of the DNA in order to observe features of the sequence of nucleotides that make up the DNA. Their success in obtaining a DNA sample was all the more impressive because the museum specimens were prone to contamination by human DNA through handling. By cladistically analysing the sequence positions of the nucleotides for each of five marsupial taxa (Opossum, Thylacine, dasyurids, bandicoots and possums), a tree like that of tree B, with dasyurids as the sister-group to the Thylacine, was favoured. Thomas and his collaborators considered that their data provided con­ clusive evidence for Thylacine relation­ ships. However, this new evidence of Thylacine relationships has recently prompted some close attention to our fundamental ideas about how we should evaluate evidence from different sets of features. How should we decide whether the evidence from a given character data set is particularly convincing? I recently performed a simple computer-based ex­ periment as one means of evaluating the DNA data on Thylacines. Recalling that the 'success' of a cladistic tree is measured by the degree to which the total number of evolutionary changes in features is minimised, I won­ dered whether purely random data might Pickled bag of treasure? This Thylacine foetus held in the Australian Museum's spirit collec­ have a reasonable chance of producing a tion may hold more clues to the Thylacine's ancestry. tree as good as that of Thomas et al. Suppose that the set of nucleotides at each site had simply been dealt out, like playing cards, at random to each taxon. This would create a 'randomised data set' that could be analysed cladistically. Com­ parison of the original cladistic analysis with corresponding analyses on many such randomised data sets can form the basis for a significance test akin to that commonly used by statisticians to evalu­ ate patterns. The statistician prescribes a maximum acceptable value on the ob­ served proportion of random sets produc­ ing a pattern as good as that for the original data. If the proportion is greater � ::, UJ than this maximum value, the original "'::, pattern is regarded as not significantly � different from that which could be pro­

552 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY et al.'s data and 99 randomised data sets, the random sets were found to produce a Wheremost tree at least as good as that for the orig­ inal data approximately one in ten times. A F A This proportion is about double that nor- s R s magazine mally accepted by statisticians. Conse- four-wheel drive small group safaris quently, the cladistic tree produced from into nature's own backyard. Camp oven ads end up these DNA data cannot be regarded as cooking. Sleep under the stars in our significantly different from that which could be produced from random data! luxuryswags. Australia all over! It's a sadfact that This result, presented in detail in a report TRANSCONTINENTAL most magazines in the same journal, casts some doubt on _.., the finalityof the evidence from this DNA A are rubbish after a data. matter of weeks. ANHs So the mystery concerning the identity SAFARIS long she({ l{{e and of the phylogenetic sister of the ENQUIRI ES AND BROCHUR ES: CHRIS PA INE '-_JAM_ _ES_R_ DC_ L_ A_R E_ S_ A_ _54_ 53_ __. PH_ _:0_8_8_4_2_3_4_69 limited ad Thylacine remains a demanding challenge 1 ___, to all kinds of data, and provides lessons space mean� in how data should be evaluated. While your the mounting evidence points to the ,�------� ad has dasyu,;d, as the Thyladne's ,;ste,-taxon, acceptance of this pattern means that we �,� more must in turn accept a remarkable amount i\,1• impact of morphological convergence between for the Thylacine and borhyaenids. Under­ Australian Heritage Encounters standing this potential for convergence is Program for 1990-91: a lon�er fi,mdamental to our understanding of the • National Parks of Far East Gippsland period. • Trees of the Far East Thylacine's evolution and ecology. • The Rainforest Trail Indeed, if we return to the mystery of the • Painting and Sketching Safari Thylacine's disappearance from the main­ • Wilderness Encounter land, convergence truly may have had the Small group - luxury camping 5-8 days 4WD/easy walk last word. According to Archer, the In company with the Snowy"s To find out more ahout ath·ertis­ Thylacine's convergent similarity with a most experienced guide in� rin� Wendy or Fiona on (02) late arrival to Australia, the Dingo, may For brochures: well have contributed to the Thylacine's Bushwackers Touring Co. .H9 S2J-t or fax (02) J.l9 8.1 I J Post Office, Buchan, Vic. 3885 for an information kit. decline, because such similarities may Telephone: [051) 55-9240 have placed the two species in intense competition. • Suggested Reading Ecology & Wilderness Holidays Archer, M., 1982. A review of Miocene thylacinids (Thylacinidae, Marsupalia), the phylogenetic position of the Thylacinidae and the problem of apriorisms in character analy­ sis. Pp. 445-476 in Carnivorous marsupials, ed. by M. Archer. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Sydney. Faith, D.P., 1990. Chance relationships for thylacines. Nature 345: 393-394. Sarich, V., Lowenstein, V.M. & Richardson B.J., 1982. Phylogenetic rela­ tionships of Thylaci nus cynocephalus Wilderness Treks (Marsupalia) as reflected in comparative serology. Pp. 707-709 in Carnivorous & Forest Walks marsupials, ed. by M. Archer. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Sydney. Botany & Ecology interpreted in the fiel A variety of interpreted walks from Simpson, G.G., 1941. The affinities of the in Tasmania's Notional Porks... wilderness treks to easy day walks in a Borhyaenidae. Amer. Mus. Novi t. 1118: vo riety of locoti ons... 1-6. Mt Field Szalay, F.S., 1982. A new appraisal of Maria Island i.l Central Highlands marsupial phylogeny and classification. Pp. Central Highlands ;,y�-� Great Western Tiers 621-640 in Carnivorous marsupials, ed. by '),; M. Archer. Royal Zoological Society of New Nth East Highlands __....,v... .__�..,� ..J Southern Forests South Wales: Sydney. Bruny Island & others ,�;;:='-",:;, ,l\rtist's camp & others Thomas, R.H., Schaffner, W., Wilson, A.C. .I & Paabo, S., 1989. DNA phylogeny of the ,...,,._ _,Cabin accomodation or extinct marsupial wolf. Nature 340: 465-467. accomodation and catering. camping/camp catering.

Dr Da11iel P. Faith is a senior research scientist For more information... at CS/RO 's Divisio11 of Wildlife a11d Ecology in T osmonion Environment Centre The Wilderness Society Canberra. His research interests involve math­ Bathurst St. e111atical aspects of a variety of proble111s in ecol­ 102 112 Emu Boy Rd. ogy and evolution. Hobart 7000 Ph. (002) 345566 Deloroine 7304 Ph. (003) 695150

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 553 "Jn haemoglobin, evolution developed a successful molecular strategy to transport oxygen during one of the earliest periods of life on the planet. This gene has been retained, across billions of years, in what are now some of the most diverse life forms on Earth. " HAEMOGLOBIN IN PLANTS WHEN CONSERVATISM RULES

BY KAREN McGHEE CSIRO DIVISION OF PLANT INDUSTRY

E GENETIC PERSPECTIVE OF LIFE tralian research to contribute to this view ow rapidly emerging from the of evolution centres on haemoglobin, the TIworld's molecular biology laborato­ oxygen-carrying protein found widely ries is revealing evolution to be a force of throughout the animal kingdom, notably extraordinary conservatism. Comparative in the blood of mammals. Investigations morphology and physiology have long de­ by a team of molecular biologists led by picted evolution as frugal, but the 'new Dr Liz Dennis, at CSIRO's Division of biology' is providing a more potent mean­ Plant Industry in Canberra, have been in­ ing to the words 'when you're on a good strumental in changing the scientific out­ thing stick to it'. Across extraordinary look on haemoglobin. The Division's work distances against the rigours of time, in the area suggests that this protein, evolution appears to have been unrelent­ once considered a key characteristic of ing in the preservation of successful mol­ animals, is also widespread in the plant ecular and genetic strategies: even the kingdom. And the picture of haemoglobin most diverse forms of life, it seems, rely that is developing internationally puts the upon the same basic components. origin of the gene responsible for the pro­ Some of the most exciting recent Aus- tein back billions of years.

Haemoglobin has been found to occur in the nodules of Parasponia, a non-legume, nitrogen­ fixing tree genus native to New Guinean and Indonesian rainforests (right). Using genetic engineering techniques a 'reporter' gene attached to Parasponia haemoglobin gene promoters (control 'switches') is engineered into tobacco. Expression of the reporter gene (shown in blue) is concentrated in the root tips of the transgenic tobacco plant (top).

a:: w z ....J"" ::, i:E w ::; �

a:: w z � ::, i:E w ::; � This series of photos shows the nodules on a soybean-a nitrogen-fixing legume: the whole Casuari11a. These discoveries put serious plant, a cluster of nodules just below the stem, and a close-up of and cross-section through strains on the validity of, what were at one of the nodules. The haemoglobin molecule incorporates iron, giving mammalian blood its the time, the two most popular theories characteristic red colour and the pink-red tinge seen here in the nodules. on plant haemoglobin evolution. And in recent years the techniques of the mol­ OR DECADES IT WAS THOUGHT THE OC­ Haemoglobin's development in these ecular age of biology have provided currence of haemoglobin in the plant plants was seen by some as an example of almost indisputable evidence for another kingdomF was an anomaly associated only 'convergent evolution' with animal hae­ theory, one of 'linear descent' of the hae­ with the mechanism of nitrogen fixation. moglobin. Others saw it as a possible case moglobin gene in the plant and animal By forming symbiotic relationships with of 'horizontal gene transfer', the haemo­ kingdoms from a common ancestor. bacteria such as Rhizobium and Frankia, globin gene passing into legumes through The initial breakthrough came with the a small number of diverse plant groups a close association with bacteria or an analysis of the haemoglobin molecules have gained the ability to manufacture insect. from legumes and mammals. Both were their own nitrogen. These plants develop About six years ago, Dr Cyril Appleby shown to be extraordinarily similar. In organs known as nodules on their roots to and Dr Mike Trinick, also at the Division particular, some of the most critical house the bacteria that fix nitrogen as a of Plant Industry, found haemoglobin in amino acids in the haemoglobin metabolic by-product. the nodules of species from the non­ structure-those involved in folding the Plant haemoglobin was first discovered legume, nitrogen-fixing elm tree genus protein and forming the molecular pocket about 50 years ago in the nodules of le­ Parasponia, which has a restricted distri­ that transports oxygen-were found to gumes, the largest group of nitrogen­ bution in New Guinean and Indonesian be identical. fixing plants. Its role in legumes is to rainforests. Soon after, haemoglobin was The next development appeared with deliver a constant low-level concentration also found in the nodules of other the isolation and comparison of the struc­ of oxygen needed by enzymes involved nitrogen-fixing, non-legume tree species, ture of the genes responsible for the pro­ in the nitrogen-fixing process. in particular the Australian native genus duction of the haemoglobin protein in

556 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY legumes and mammals. All proteins are produced in living organisms according to coded genetic instructions carried on the double-stranded DNA molecule. There are about 100,000 different genes in the average plant or animal: each is respon­ sible for the production of a different pro­ tein. Plant and animal DNA is generally confined to the nuclei of cells. In a cell, the instructions from a gene are copied by a single-stranded molecule known as messenger R A and carried from the nu­ cleus to the cell's 'protein factories' -the ribosomes, located in the cell's cytoplasm. The ribosomes then 'read and translate' the messenger R A, laying down amino acids, according to the coded instructions, to produce a protein. The similarities between the legume and animal haemoglobin genes were strik­ ing, suggesting an even closer relation­ ship than was indicated by the match between the proteins. According to a widely supported theory, plant and animal genes are built up from separate func­ tional components as if they were Lego constructions. The component sections of the chemical code are known as exons, and the sites where they join are introns. There are three introns in the legume haemoglobin gene and two in the animal haemoglobin gene. The first and third introns in the legume gene are in exactly the same position as the introns in the animal gene. And the central intron of the The nitrogen-fixing Australian native tree, Casuarina. Haemoglobin is found in its nodules legume gene is located where protein and to a lesser degree in its roots. chemists had predicted (from the struc­ ture of the animal haemoglobin molecule) tially from Parasponia spp. and later obvious that the haemoglobin gene con­ that a third intron would have been ex­ from Casuarina spp. Again, the composi­ firmed a degree of commonality between pected in the animal gene. Presumably tion of the exons and the positions of the the otherwise diverse plant groups that this intron had been there once but had introns of these genes had an extraordi­ have the ability to fix nitrogen. The ques­ disappeared through the course of evol­ nary affinity with those from legumes and tion is, were all plants once nodulating ution of the animal haemoglobin gene. animals. (that is, producing nodules) with nitrogen­ These similarities could not be ex­ Nitrogen fixation has a widely scat­ fixing capabilities, the mechanism and the plained by mere coincidence: the hypoth­ tered phylogenetic distribution through­ haemoglobin gene surviving today as esis of linear descent was looking more out the plant kingdom. Yet, it was relics in only a few species throughout and more acceptable. The theory gained more weight with the isolation and analy­ A section by section comparison of the biochemical structure of legume, non-legume and sis of other plant haemoglobin genes, ini- mammalian haemoglobin reveals remarkable similarities, shown in green.

10 20 30 40 50 Trema Hb SSSEVDKVFTEEQEALVVKSWAVMKKNSAELGLKFFLKIFEIAPSAKNLFSYLKO Parasponia Hb SSSEVNKVFTEEQEALVVKAWAVMKKNSAELGLQFFLKIFEIAPSAKNLFSYLKO Casuarina Hb +++++++ALTEKQEALLKQSWEVLKQNIPAHSLRLFALIIEAAPESKYVFSFLKO Soybean Lb ++++++VAFTEKQOALVSSSFEAFKANIPQYSVVFYTSILEKAPAAKOLFSFLAN Sperm whale Mb +++++++VLSEGEWQLVLHVWAKVEAOVAGHGQDILIRLFKSHPETLEKFORFKH 60 70 80 90 10 0 Trema Hb +SPl+PLEQNPKLKPHAMTVFVMTCESAVQLRKAGKVTVRESNLKRLGAIHFKHG Parasponia Hb +SPV+PLEQNPKLKPHATTVFVMTCESAVQLRKAGKVTVKESDLKRIGAIHFKTG Casuarina Hb +SNE+IPENNPKLKAHAAVIFKTICESATELRQKGHAVWONNTLKRLGSIHLKNK Soybean Lb +GVD+P++TNPKLTGHAEKLFALVRDS�GQLKASGTVVADAA++++LGSVHAQKA Sperm whale Mb LKTEAEMKASEDLKKHGVTVLTALGAILKKKGH+++++HEAE+LKPLAQSHA1KH 110 120 130 . 140 150 160 Trema Hb Parasponia Hb VVNE+HFEVTRFALLETIKEAVPEMWHFEVTRFALLETIKEAVPEMWSPESPEMKNAWGEMKNAWGVAAYOYD LVAAIKSFEMKPSSTEMKPSST++ Casuarina Hb ITOP+HFEVMKGALLGTIKEAIKENWSOEMGQAWTEAYN ILVATIKAEMKE+++++ Soybean Lb VTOP+QFVVVKEALLKTIKAAVGOKWSOELSRAWEVAYO LAAAIKKA++++++++ Sperm whale Mb KIPIKYLEFISEAIIHVLHSRHPGOFGADAQGAMNKALELFRKOIAAKYKELGYQG c:::0 vi u

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 557 several families? Or was the haemoglobin gene an integral and functional part of the genetic make-up of all plants and, in a few NUCLEUS different groups, had helped facilitate the independent development of nitrogen fix­ ation? Researchers were steered towards the latter scenario by studies in evolutionary CELL biology that indicated it was unlikely that nitrogen fixation was a primitive charac­ teristic. Morphological evidence on the structure of nodules and the biology of � the different nitrogen-fixing groups' sym­ biotic relationships with bacteria also sup­ �OTEINSAND ported the independent evolution of . nitrogen fixation throughout the plant ----.__.__,.,, fJ L_J =::::::;. kingdom. And so the search for the plant GENE PRODUCTS haemoglobin gene widened to include non-nodulating plants-those without the ability to fix nitrogen. Dr Dennis' team started in the elm family, which had both Genes are segments of DNA. There are about 100,000 different genes in a typical plant or nodulating and non-nodulating species. A animal cell, each a set of coded instructions for the production of a different protein. The functional haemoglobin gene was soon instructions are picked up by messenger RNA and carried to the cell's 'protein factories' found in species of Trema, a genus (ribosomes) where the instructions are translated and the corresponding proteins produced. closely related to Parasponia but which does not nodulate. This was followed by the discovery of a haemoglobin gene in species of the non-nodulating Celtis, an­ other genus in the elm family. And there were indications that species of Ulmus, another non-nodulating related genus, also contained haemoglobin genes. It is on the basis of these discoveries that Dr Dennis and her colleagues at the Division of Plant Industry believe it possible that all plants have a haemoglobin gene. (The search to trace the gene through the plant kingdom is continuing.)

HE NEXT STEP WAS TO ISOLATE WHERE the haemoglobin gene was 'expressed' Tin non-nodulating plants. In most cases, every cell of a plant or animal will contain an organisn']'s full complement of differ­ ent genes. However, not every gene will have an active role to play in every cell of the organism; that is, they will not be 'expressed' in every cell or tissue. For example, in a mammal the genes that produce the proteins that make up a woolly coat would be expressed only in skin cells, not in the cells of the animal's eyes. Dr Dennis' team checked the stems, roots and leaves of non-nodulating Trema species for this non-symbiotic plant hae­ moglobin (haemoglobin not associated with nitrogen fixation). The protein and messenger RNA from the gene was found only in the roots. The fact that the gene was expressed in one tissue type and not randomly throughout the plant suggested the protein had a specific role to play in these plants. To determine more about the struc­ ture of the gene responsible for non­ symbiotic plant haemoglobin, the analyses were taken further using genetic engi­ neering techniques. Haemoglobin genes from non-nodulating Trema and nodulating Parasponia species were Dr Liz Dennis, from the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, identifies the DNA code for the transferred separately into tobacco, the haemoglobin gene found in the elm tree genus Trema. genetic engineers' model plant. Tobacco

558 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY does not produce nodules and in both cases expression of the foreign genes ap­ peared to be mainly confined to the roots of the transgenic tobacco plants. The experiments continued with inves­ tigations concentrating on the mecha­ nisms that dictate the expression of plant haemoglobin genes. When, where and to what extent a gene is expressed in an organism is directed by control 'switches', known as gene promoters. These are coded chemical sequences (a series of nucleotides) usually located up­ stream from the gene on the DNA mole­ cule. Dr Dennis' researchers isolated the promoters controlling the Parasponia and Trema haemoglobin genes and in each case hooked them up to 'reporter' genes-benign laboratory genes that are readily traceable using microscopy tech­ niques. These gene complexes were engi­ neered into tobacco with the result that the reporter genes, whether under the control of either Parasponia or Trema promoters, were expressed in the roots of the transgenic tobacco. The tobacco plant appeared to be fully equipped with the necessary mechanisms to cope with the haemoglobin genes and their pro­ moters that had developed in the elm family, both in nodulating and non­ nodulating species. Possibly tobacco has its own haemoglobin gene, highly homolo­ gous to those inserted by genetic engi­ neering. The experiments continued in the nitrogen-fixing legume Lotus.When intro­ duced into Lotus, both the Parasponia and Trema promoters directed ex­ pression mainly in the cells in the centre of the root nodules where the symbiotic bacteria are concentrated. There was also expression, to a much lesser degree, in the roots of Lotus. Obviously, the pro­ moters that controlled expression of the haemoglobin gene in the roots of the non­ nodulating Trema also contained the cor­ rect mechanisms to control expression in nodules. The results from this series of experi­ ments suggest the control of expression in the nodules of plants developed from an existing mechanism that regulated ex­ pression in plant roots before the evol­ ution of nodulation. This was supported by a previous finding that, in Parasponia, its own haemoglobin gene is expressed to a large extent in its nodules and to a lesser extent in the plant's roots. It was beginning to appear that there were at least two components to the promoters of plant haemoglobin genes: one that di­ rected expression in nodules and one that directed expression in the roots. The preliminary results from other ex­ periments by Dr Dennis' team indicate how these shifts in sites of expression may have come about. In Lotus, pro­ Trema moters from the non-nodulating A 'reporter' gene is attached to promoters ('switches') from the haemoglobin gene of a had directed the expression of a reporter species of the non-nodulating genus Trema and engineered into a species of the nitrogen­ gene in the centre of nodules. The re­ fixing legume Lotus (top). The reporter gene, under the control of the Trema switches, shows moval, however, of an extremely small up in the centre of the nodules (shown in blue). Repeating the experiment with Parasponia part of the regulatory sequence in the switches produces similar results (bottom).

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 559 Isolating a cloned Parasponia haemoglobin relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria for the protein to perform as an oxygen gene: the DNA is bound to a dye that fluo­ in different plant groups, facilitating the transporter as it does in nodules. It was resces under ultraviolet light making it easy development of the nitrogen fixation suggested that it might function as an to locate. mechanism. oxygen sensor, playing a role in some feedback mechanism that transmits infor­ Trema promoters led to expression of F NO '-SYMBIOTIC HAEMOGLOBIN HAS mation to other genes that respond to the reporter gene in the outer edges of I been retained in plants, seemingly periods of low oxygenation, for example the Lotus nodule where no bacteria occur. across vast distances in time, it must during waterlogging. However, it has re­ Perhaps small natural changes in pro­ have some function. Until recently, it was cently been shown that the expression of moter sequences coincided with the de­ thought the concentrations at which hae­ haemoglobin in roots tends to be concen­ velopment of nodulation and symbiotic moglobin occurred in roots were too low trated in particular cells-those that are

560 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY • Haemoglobin present

A Haemoglobin possibly present a: UJ • z nodules present; not yet examined UJ a: Dicotyledons a: � _,_,z z < Piecing together the jigsaw. The diagram shows orders of flowering plants in blue. Orders in which haemoglobin has been found are shown in red with the relevant genera indicated.

bryos of the transgenic plants. Haemo­ may run even deeper. The biochemical globin may ensure the sustained supply of pathways that produce energy in living oxygen needed by the rapidly dividing things are far more efficient in the pres­ cells of plant embryos. ence of oxygen than in its absence: the It now seems likely that the primitive transition from aerobic to anaerobic pro­ condition in plants is that there is a hae­ cesses exposed vast reservoirs of energy moglobin gene in the genome, the protein and represented an enormous step in the it produces having one or more functions evolution of life on Earth. Was haemo­ in specific plant tissues. Small changes in globin, in a form very similar to that seen nucleotide sequences in haemoglobin on Earth today, one of the vital develop­ gene promoters may have helped nitro­ ments that allowed life on the planet to gen fixation evolve in some plant groups. evolve beyond the primordial slime, the The link between plant and animal hae­ gene responsible for the protein playing a moglobin genes remains a little less clear role in selection ever since? • but the relationship may extend back to the 'primordial slime'. In a recent over­ Suggested Reading seas development, haemoglobin was found in the bacterium Vitreoscilla. The Appleby, C.A., Dennis, E.S. & Peacock, structure of the haemoglobin gene in this W.J., 1990. A primeval origin for plant and organism displays a degree of similarity animal haemoglobin. Aust. Syst. Bot. 3: that relates it to both animal and plant 81-89. haemoglobin genes. The discovery has Bogusz, D., Llewellyn, D.J., Craig, S., Dennis, E.S., Appleby, C.A. & Peacock, W.J., sparked suggestions that the genes in 1990. Non-legume haemoglobin gene ex­ both kingdoms originated in a common pression. The Plant Cell (in press). ancestor, perhaps a primitive archae­ Khosla, C. & Bailey, J.E., 1988. The bacterium, some 3.5 billion years ago. Vitreoscilfa haemoglobin gene: molecular The implication is that, in haemoglobin, cloning, nucleotide sequence and genetic ex­ evolution developed a successful molecu­ pression in Escherichia coli. Molec. Gen. lar strategy to transport oxygen during Genet. 214: 158- 161 . growing and rapidly dividing at the root one of the earliest periods of life on the Wakabayashi, S., Ma tsubara, H. & planet and has steadfastly conserved it. It Webster, D.A., 1986. Primary sequence of a tips. So it is still possible that non­ dimeric bacterial haemoglobin from symbiotic haemoglobin acts as an oxygen appears that this gene has been retained, Vitreoscilla. Nature (Lond.) 322: 481-483. earner. across billions of years, in what are now some of the most diverse life forms on This could also explain new reports of Ms Karen McChee is a science writer and com­ haemoglobin in plant embryos. There Earth with only comparatively minor municator for the CS/RO Division of Plant In­ have been accounts of the protein in the structural alterations arising in response dustry. Researchers from the CS/RO Division of seed of the winged bean. And recently Dr to the developing needs of different or­ Plant Industry involved in recent discoveries Dennis' researchers found that haemo­ ganisms. about plant haemoglobin include Cyril Appleby, globin genes engineered into tobacco also But the significance of this developing Didier Bogusz, Stuart Craig, Liz Dennis, Jorg show expression in the developing em- theory on the evolution of haemoglobin Landsmann, Danny Llewellyn and Jim Peacock.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 561

564 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY folding mechanisms. Dragonflies rest with load-bearing. There is no magic involved. tively, also illustrates another advantage their wings fully extended but they nor­ What has happened is that, as a result of of pleat-like folding: the ability to pack mally select a spot clear of immediate the creation of the pleats the stresses away a large membrane with the least foliage that might damage the wings on imposed by the load have now been taken use of space (see diagram). But the main take-off. By the end of the season it is not up by tension in the plane of the paper. advantage must surely be in the fact that unusual to see individuals patrolling their Although a sheet of paper cannot resist this delicate, lace-like membrane is territory but sporting one or two bat­ bending, it can have great tensile thereby given the strength to resist ex- tered and torn wings. Of course having strength as you can easily testify by four wings helps since two or three fully trying to stretch it between fingers and intact wings can compensate for one or thumbs. two that have been torn or completely How can this analogy be applied, for broken. example, to insect wings? The diagram Most insects, with their customary in­ shows that, if a system of parallel pleats genuity, have devised a variety of wing­ is drawn together at one end to form a folding mechanisms, ranging from simply fan, the structure achieves even greater closing the wings flat or roof-wise over bending strength, and this principle can the back of the abdomen, to the ex­ be seen at work in the expanded hind tremely elaborate methods used by bee­ wing vanes of large insects such as grass­ tles to carefully fold and tuck the wings hoppers, bush-crickets, cockroaches, beneath their protective wing cases or stick-insects and mantids. The vane is elytra. Often this fastidious process is constructed exactly along the lines of a helped by the presence of special lines of lady's fan, with pleats radiating out from flexibility or creases along which the wing the base. The comparison is obvious from folds more easily. the moment the vane opens up at the A cross-section of a grasshopper's body (B) beginning of flight, as can be seen in high­ reveals how the stiffer front wings (FW) roof Wing closure is just one rather obvious over and protect the membranous hind facet of a much more general phenom­ speed photographs of mantids unfolding wings (HW), the pleats of which are folded enon recognisable among insects: the use their wings as they leap into the air. Inci­ together like a closed fan. The summits of of strategic folding patterns to assist dentally, the fan-like opening and closing the pleats are occupied by the primary tubu­ movements of the various articulated ap­ of the vane above the body, when it is lar veins, the troughs by smaller secondary pendages that characterise this class of raised into action and laid to rest respec- veins. animals. The biomechanical and indeed the ergonomic implications of surface­ A sheet of paper and a weight illustrate the structural properties of pleating. An unfolded folding techniques in joint-bodied animals sheet will buckle without resistance when a force is applied either parallel to or at right angles to its surface (A and B). The pleats confer the ability to bear weight like a column (C) or like a have not even begun to be examined in a horizontal beam (D). In the latter case, pinching the folds together at the base to form a fan coherent manner by biologists, but the further increases the bearing strength (E). widespread incidence of folding suggests that important design principles may be at work. You do not have to search far in the man-made world to find examples of such strategic folding: the crease in a pair of trousers, the arrangement of pages in a book or a newspaper, the opening and closing of an umbrella. These designs did not happen by accident, but have proved to be the best solutions to tricky folding problems, following centuries of trial and error. There is no reason why similar principles should not also be identifiable in insect body design.

NE OF THESE DESIGN PRINCIPLES MUST surely be the fact, well known to en­ gineers,O that the introduction of a simple fold or pleat into a thin flexible mem­ brane, like a sheet of paper or indeed an insect wing, can instantly create a struc­ ture that possesses unexpected strength and resistance to bending. The point can easily be demonstrated using a sheet of foolscap paper and a 500-gram weight (see diagram). While a flat sheet has no resistance whatever to loads applied either at its free edges or at right angles to its surface, the incorporation of a few parallel folds into the paper transforms it into a corrugated structure capable of Inset: the soldier beetle c.antharis sp. in prep­ aration for flight. The wing cases or elytra have been raised but the tips of wings have not yet unfolded from the position in which they were held at rest. Main photo: a fraction of a second later thewings are fullyextended and theinsect launchesinto flight.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 565 566 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY CLF

C a: UJ �z ::,....J i'.l: z Transwrset Flexlon :;!; This illustrates how a single oblique fold (the claval furrow CLF) near the base of the mantis front wing prevents a flexural wave from spreading to the base. In the top draw­ ing the wave is progressing inwards from the tip of the wing and the dotted line shows that the wing section profile is flat; that is, the fold is not in operation. In this case, as shown in the middle drawing, the wave pro­ gresses without restriction to the base and creates dangerous shearing stresses. In the bottom drawing, the front part of the wing has rotated backwards around the claval furrow, creating a fold that now resists spread of the wave to the base and avoids injury to the wing attachment. The start of the upstroke reveals the part cessive bending and buckling under the played by the folds in the mantis wings. forces generated by the air impacting Downward flexure of the hind wing is seen in upon the wing surface during flight. the tips, but is resisted by the inner part of It was Dr Robin Wootton of Exeter the wing where pleating is stronger. Strong University who pointed out the full downward flexure occurs in the front wing marvel of the design of these fan-like but this is prevented from invading the wing attachments by the claval fold or furrow, wings. As the fan extends its area during which crosses the wing obliquely near its the downstroke, the rim of the trailing base. edge becomes pulled taut but the inner part of the wing remains pleated. Further upstroke the base of the wing is pulled, extension then forces both the trailing causing the inner part of the wing to edge and the veins that run along the move upwards, but because of its inertia, crests of the pleats to bend downwards the outer section of the wing continues elastically. The pleats therefore become its downward movement. The result is partially flattened to create a highly ef­ that the tip of the wing becomes strongly ficient cambered aerofoil. The effect is flexed downwards and a wave of flexion remarkably similar to the opening of an runs inwards towards the base. The wave umbrella. gathers energy as it moves and the The forewing of a mantis or locust is danger is that it will swamp the base and not pleated in the same way as the hind rupture the more delicate parts forming but it does have a single large fold run­ the broad attachment of the wing to the ning obliquely across the basal region. body. This is where the claval fold comes This claval fold or furrow, as it is called, into play. Very rapidly the leading section is present in almost all insect wings and of the wing is flipped backwards around therefore must be important in flight. the claval fold, instantly forming a corru­ High-speed photographs show that in the gation that halts the progress of the mantis the claval fold is flattened out wave. Instead of invading the base, the during the downstroke, and it is only at wave then expends itself by causing an (Notonecta glauca) the start of the upstroke that the curious even stronger downward deflectionof the This Water Boatman has just opened the wings after leaping into the function of the fold becomes apparent. outer section of the wing (see diagram). air using the oar-like hind legs. Leaping By normal standards· the forewing is Because the wing is flexible, this powerful allows the insect to keep the wings folded quite thick and heavy but it is also flexible deflection can be tolerated without harm until the body is clear of the ground, thereby like an elastic beam. At the start of the to the wing fabric. avoiding the risk of damage during take-off.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 567 ORTUNATELY, AS FAR AS THE MANTIS IS The kink in the spar resulting from the HE FI 'AL EXAMPLE OF WHAT MIGHT concerned, the front wings are far less presence of the flexure line must, one well be referred to as 'natural de­ importantF in producing the lift that keeps might assume, weaken it. The line Tsigner folding' in the insect world can be the insect aloft than the hind wings, and crosses the outer section of the wing and found in tiny, wingless insects called strong flexure may not be a severe disad­ its function is to allow the wing to be springtails or collembolans, ignobly rele­ vantage to flight. But many insects have folded lengthwise when it is stowed away gated by taxonomists to the status of only one pair of serviceable wings and at the end of flight. 'primitive arthropods'. How ironic, then, this includes the beetle family in which The main disadvantage of this fold is to findthat the springing mechanism that the front wings do not beat during flight that it causes an additional delay in take­ gives these insects their name is based on but simply function as a protective case off at the start of flight since the insect an ingenious arrangement of folds be­ for the hind wings when at rest. As in must hesitate momentarily until the tip is tween elastically stressed, sclerotised most fully functional wings, the leading unfolded and locked into line with the rest plates. The late Dr S.M. Manton of edge of the beetle hind wing is braced by of the wing. London University devoted a lifetime to a specially thickened sclerotised rod Interestingly in this context, many bee­ the study of these and similar 'primitive' formed by the fusion of two or three tles (and many true bugs or hemipterans, arthropods, and came to the conclusion longitudinal veins. This rod is the source which also have a kink in the leading edge that in many cases virtually the entire of most of the bending strength of spar) leap into the air during take-off, anatomy of the body has been evolved unpleated wings, acting rather like the using the leg muscles to gain initial speed towards the efficient functioning of the spar at the edge of a sail. How curious, and acceleration. This allows them, as it springing organ: an extreme case of then, to findthat the leading edge spar of were, to overcome the 'cold spot' in the specialisation if there ever was one! the hind wings in beetles is interrupted engine while the wings become fully ex­ The tail is a remarkable organ repre­ by a flexure line. panded. senting the fused appendages of the fourth abdominal segment. Manton's pro­ digiously detailed morphological studies enabled her to identify the main struc­ tural components of the spring, but its true functional affinities are only now being recognised. Like the fetlock joint of a horse and the light-switch, the collembolan spring belongs to a category of mechanisms collectively labelled 'bistable devices'. The common feature of all these devices is that the moving part (switch lever, horse's foot or collembolan tail) can snap between two stable posi­ tions but cannot remain in between. Like the blade of a jack-knife, the collembolan tail is spring-loaded and has only two stable configurations: open or closed. When the tail is 'sprung' it is in the open position (see diagram). When it is drawn back into the groove on the underside of the abdomen it is in the closed position. Once the tail is released, it springs out of the groove, strikes the ground and pro­ pels the body into the air. The tail gains its energy from the sudden buckling of a curved elastic plate to which the base of the tail is connected. With the benefit of Manton's anatomical description the main elements can be readily identified and it is a simple matter to twiddle the tail with a pair of watch­ maker's forceps in order to demonstrate its bistable properties. But it is a much more difficult conceptual task to relate these movements to the folded nature of The mechanism of tail extension in the springtail is based on the sudden recoil of an elastic the tail articulation with the body. When I plate against which the tail is folded at rest. The tail has two stable positions: at rest and when fully extended, and it will click into either one or the other. In the drawing at top left the first began to ponder this problem in tail is stowed away in a groove on the underside of the abdomen. The base (B) of the tail is 'insect origami' I could find no obvious triangular in section and the apex of the triangle is connected by rods (R) to an elastic guidance from the various locomotory horseshoe-shaped plate (P), which surrounds the abdomen but is open at the bottom. At the mechanisms found in other animals and I beginning of tail extension pressure build-up inside the fluid within the body cavity begins to turned instead to the nearest man-made force the tail out of the groove (top centre). As the base of the tail rotates outwards, the analogy. This was a classic example of connecting rods push against the jaws of the plate (P) forcing it to store energy. When the tail late 20th-century 'applied origami': the has swung out beyond a critical point the jaws of the horseshoe-shaped plate suddenly snap humble paper milk carton. The spout of closed, forcing the tail out at high velocity (top right). Closure of the tail is simply the reverse such a carton is made from a series of process: a small muscle inside the abdomen draws the tail inwards to the mid-position and it then snaps into the groove. The mechanism can easily be reproduced on a model consisting of folded paper plates that can be made to a piece of card folded into three plates, representing the tail base and the two connecting buckle against one another so that the rods, connected to a piece of clock-spring metal bent into a horseshoe-shape. This is shown in spout snaps either in (closed) or out the middle line of drawings. The bottom line of drawings shows how the spout of a paper (open). The principle is precisely the milk carton snaps into the 'open' position once the plate (B) has been pulled out to the critical same as that controlling the inward and point shown in the middle drawing. outward movements of the structures at-

568 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY leaping in the tiny springtails (Tomocerus engineering construction. In this brief Suggested Reading sp.) is brought about by the lightning-fast survey alone we have identified entomo­ Alexander, R. McNeil!, 1988. Elastic unfolding of the forked tail, which is nor­ logical equivalents of the concertina-like mechanisms in animal movement. Cam­ mally stowed away in a groove on the under­ fan, the mechanical switch, the jack-knife bridge University Press: Cambridge. side of the abdomen. The force for tail and the umbrella. An engineer with a Manton, S.M., 1977. The Arthropoda. unfolding is developed by an elastic, keen eye towards future developments Clarendon Press: Oxford. horseshoe-shaped plate against which the Schmidt-Nielsen, K., 1984. Scaling. Whyis tail is folded under tension when at rest. could do worse than spare an hour or two peering down a biological microscope. He animal size so important? Cambridge Uni­ tached to the springtail's tail. This ap­ might even spot (with a pinch of lateral versity Press: Cambridge. thinking!) designs that had never even Wootton, R.J ., 1981. Support and pears to be yet another unwitting deformability in insect wings. J. Zoo/. Lond. example of art imitating nature. been thought of. Could the way in which 193: 447-468. There may well be lessons to be learnt a moth folds and extends its proboscis here for modern design engineers. In­ inspire a novel design for remote sensors Dr John Brackenbury is a zoologist and lecturer sects have had millions of years to experi­ carried on a future roving 'Moon buggy'? in the Sub-department of Veterinary Anatomy at ment with the art of folding and many of In an era of light-weight structure design the University of Cambridge, UK. His main re­ the patents they have developed could be who knows what doors could be opened search interests are in exercise physiology and applied, after suitable upward scaling, to by teasing ajar a mayfly's wings? • animal locomotion.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 569

VIEWS FROM THE FOURTH DIMENSION Unlike her modern descendant who "Out of Tharalkoo 's eggs marched underwent evolutionary change towards 'gummy-hood' (Platypuses lose their rudi­ things from a duck's worst mentary teeth within a few months after nightmare-miscegenetic monsters birth and thereafter chew with horny with a duck's bill and webbed feet pads) and many cranial specialisations, this Riversleigh platypus maintained a full but the fur and four feet of a Water Rat. " set of well-developed choppers through­ out her life and sported a much less­ specialised skull. That startling find at Riversleigh was THARALKOO'S CHILD: number three in a series of discoveries illuminating the history of the modern Platypus. The first began with a tooth AN UGLY Mike Woodburne (University of California at Berkeley) and I found in the dull green 25 million-year-old clays of Lake DUCKLING STORY Palankarinna, South Australia. It popped into view late at night as we sorted the BY MICHAEL ARCHER day's screen washings-a bright but SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES bizarre tooth begging to be rescued from a sea of fossil fish bones. At about the same time 375 kilometres to the south­ ONG BEFORE EUROPEANS GAWKED IN Tharalkoo's grandchild to this unique east in similar-aged clays at Lake Namba, disbelief at their first sight of a gathering of palaeontologists, molecular South Australia, Dick Tedford (American Platypus ( Ornitho r hynchu s biologists and systematists. Museum of Natural History) and his crew anatinL us), long before they laughed at My charge was already a very experi­ of palaeontologists stared at a comparable the supposed absurdity of the "Natives' enced traveller in space as well as time. tooth in their screen boxes and were just belief that these creatures laid eggs", the Her first memories were of life in a tur­ as puzzled. It took another two years of Aborigines of the Wiradjurie Tribe of quoise pool in the dark, green rainforests head-scratching before Mike and Dick New South Wales had an intriguing of north-western Queensland 15 million produced a paper ascribing these two iso­ answer to the 'big' question about this years ago. Then, weary with life's course lated teeth to the Platypus' family as the anomalous bag of biological bits: " What is or perhaps stampeded by the ambitions of new genus and species, Obdurodon a Platypus?" Their answer is an 'Ugly her peers, the dappled light of that young insi gni s. Duckling' Dreamtime legend far more in­ Second to be discovered in the pageant triguing than the declaration of funda­ of prehistoric platypuses was Steropodon mentalist creationists that God made galmani. A brilliant flash of fiery colour these suckers, bills, spurs and all, on a heralded the resurrection of the precious sunny Tuesday, 6,000 years ago. jaw of this 110-million-year-old According to the Wiradjurie legend, an monotreme from the opal fields of Light­ attractive girl duck named Tharalkoo ning Ridge (see ANH vol. 21, no. 9, failed to heed the warnings of family and 1985). Steropodon has several claims to friends about what might happen if she isfame. It Australia's first-known strayed too far from home. To cut a fas­ Mesozoic mammal and it is a contempor­ cinating long story short, she was caught ary of the dinosaurs. It was also one of by Biggoon, a sex-crazed, far-sighted the largest Mesozoic mammals known She Water Rat. feigned tolerance for her from anywhere in the world and it lived loony lover but constantly watched for a within the Antarctic Circle where, at the chance to escape. Finally, as the time of time, the annual average temperature 0 year came for ducks to Jay eggs, she man­ was less than 5 ° C. And, after the Austra­ � aged to beat a hasty retreat to duck city lian Museum raised $80,000 for the pur­ � while the contented Biggoon snored in chase of the collection of which it was a :E the noonday sun. Although enthusiasti­ part, it became the world's most valuable � cally welcomed back in time to join her Mesozoic mammal! When opal miners z friends' egg-laying frenzy, to their horror, Dave and Alan Galman showed the jaw � out of Tharalkoo's eggs marched things V :S·-:... fragment to Alex Ritchie (Australian from a duck's worst nightmare­ Reconstruction of the Riversleigh Obdurodon Museum), he immediately called our lab miscegenetic monsters with a duck's bill in its rainforest habitat of north-western suspecting, as I was delighted to confirm and webbed feet but the fur and four feet Queensland (from a forthcoming book on over champagne, that it was this conti­ of a Water Rat, the world's first Platy­ Riversleigh to be published by Reed Books). nent's first Mesozoic mammal-not to puses. mention the world's oldest monotreme. In June 1990, sitting belted into the world went out for her until 1985 when a Although most of the details of the seat next to me on her way to the Amer­ serendipitous blow from a sledge hammer Platypus' family tree undoubtedly remain ican Museum of Natural History was the jettisoned the rear half of her skull into obscure, with only three glimpses avail­ world's first flying fossil platypus, the harsh light of Riversleigh's stark, able between its roots and its last-living Obdurodon dicksoni, a vital part of the spinifex-covered hills. Still half wrapped in branch, these three represent 200 per palaeontologist's answer to the 'big' ques­ her limestone shroud, this venerable flat­ cent more than palaeontologists had 20 tion and a guest of honour at a confer­ foot was given a seat of her own on the years ago. Further, they invite us to con­ ence where the interrelationships of pla·ne back to Sydney where Henk nect the different morphologies of the mammals would be the focus of partici­ Godthelp (University of New South three through time, providing the vital pants from all over the world. As the. Wales) spent four weeks of skilled prep­ fourth dimension that inseparably links fossil platypus' chaperone, I had been in­ aration removing the last of the rock that ends to beginnings, thens to nows, vited to present our version of imprisoned her most remarkable head. Steropodon to Obdurodon and Obdurodon

574 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY Adding to this rather gloomy im­ pression of a lineage in its dotage, teeter­ ing on the brink of phylogenetic suicide, is the radical decline in the distribution of platypuses. Following the loss of central and northern Australia's lush forests as Australia began to dry out ten million years ago, platypuses gradually became restricted to river systems along the east­ ern coast. In itself this might not be a worry but, with fewer and less wide­ spread populations, local environmental disasters such as floods and pollution pre­ sent an even greater threat to the sur­ vival of the Platypus. It also seems ironic, considering the Wiradjurie attribution of Platypus father­ The opalised jaw of Steropodon galmani, the hood to Biggoon the Water Rat, that the 110-million-year-old monotreme from Light­ arrival of Water Rats (Hydromys ning Ridge, New South Wales. chrysogaster) into Australia, sometime this side of four million years ago, proba­ to Ornithorhynchus. And what do our bly led to a further garotting of the al­ glimpses of the chain of bills and flat-feet ready declining Platypuses. Water Rats tell us about the comings and goings of are also Platypus-sized, aquatic mamma­ platypuses? lian carnivores and so the two are likely The teeth of Steropodon and Ob­ to compete when they overlap. Now durodon clearly indicate that monotremes wherever the Platypus struggles to per­ were a mixed bag of primitive mammal sist, Water Rats are their constant com­ See and derived monotreme features-that is, panions. But Water Rats also persist in classic missing links between more primi­ many river systems where Platypuses are tive mammals and the modem Platypus. no longer found, perhaps a silent testi­ more Our tentative suggestion at the American mony to ecological battles that prehistoric Museum conference was that they might platypuses fought and lost. have descended from a group of South On balance, the once vibrant light in of the American dryolestoids, primitive the crystal ball provided by the platy­ Gondwanan mammals (recently described puses' fossil record is clearly dimming. by Jose Bonaparte, Buenos Aires, Argen­ Without our role as administrators of the country tina) whose molar teeth exhibited a few coup de grace to the Platypus' last strong­ distinctive features also found in our most holds via pollution, fertilisers washed into primitive platypus teeth. While the mag­ streams and increased flooding following nificence of the Riversleigh princess cer­ forest clearance from watersheds, per­ tainly dazzled and enthralled the room-full haps these enchanting remnants of the Meet of lovers of prehistoric biodiversity, the age of dinosaurs might not be stampeding suggestion of possible dryolestoid rela­ quite as quickly towards life's last exit. tionships was received with much less en­ As palaeontologists, we must call the more thusiasm. So, armed with this cards as we see them and in this case international community's wider experi­ sound the warning bell. For conservation­ ence to draw on, we will explore other ists the same evidence of decline and vul­ of the possibilities and seek more data-such as nerability should be a rallying cry to the comparative enamel ultrastructure of ensure that everything humanly possible our debutante's teeth-before presenting is done to cherish and secure the last people the final conclusion for publication as part precious remnants of Tharalkoo's chil­ of the book that will arise from this con­ dren.• ference. For more information mail this p Looking upwards from the tree's roots, Suggested Reading cou on to, a lot more can be said with certainty. First, we have in this record a rather Archer, M., Flannery, T.F., Ritchie, A. & TOURISM Molnar, R.E., 1985. First Mesozoic mammal disquieting crystal ball because it is clear from Australia-an early Cretaceous AUTHORITY that, since 15 million years ago, in terms monotreme. Nature 318: 363-366. OF THAILAND of specialisation (for example, loss of Bonaparte, J.E., 1990. New late Creta­ 12th FI, Pitt St teeth, diminutive size and much more ceous mammals from the Los Alamitos For­ 56 specialised snout), platypuses have been mation, Northern Patagonia. Natl Geog. Res. Sydney NSW 2000 creeping dangerously far out on their ev­ 6: 63-93. olutionary limb. If the last 3.5 billion McKeown, K.C., 1938. The land of Name, ______years of biotic history teach us anything Byamee: Australian wild life in legend and Address, ______fact. Angus & Robertson Ltd: Sydney. at all about the comings and goings of Woodburne, M.O. & Tedford, R.H., 1975. beasts, it is the gloomy fact that extinc­ The first Tertiary monotreme from Australia. ______P /C.___ _ tion rarely fails to overtake animals that Amer. Mus. Novit. 2588: 1-11. Phone: 247 7549 become as specialised as the living Platy­ Fax: 251 2465 pus. It's as if they give up their long-term Professor Michael Archer lectures in biology at capacity to adapt when they opt for short­ the University of New South Wales. Most of his Send a copy if you don't want to cut term success as a specialist. Perhaps this non-teaching hours are devoted to the study of the che ma�a21nc lesson is one we should all take to heart. fossil faunas of Rivers/eigh.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 575 pears, the sperm carrying the normal version of the gene die. So only the t "There is more to genes than being form is transmitted to offspring.Why this mutant affects only sperm and not eggs is just passive 'books' in the not known. cell's archives. " By eliminating its 'competitor' (the normal form) during the formation of the sperm, the t version guarantees that it will remain common, regardless of its damaging effect on the individual carrying it. In this way the t mutant gets around THE DRIVE OF THE the action of natural selection. If this can happen with chromosomes, what about genes? Gabriel Dover, of the GENES University of Cambridge, proposed a mechanism called 'molecular drive'. This he believes may be an important factor in BY RALPH MOLNAR & GLEN INGRAM evolution, because it "homogenises the VERTEBRATE FOSSILS, QUEENSLAND MUSEUM genotype" (the total complement of VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY, QUEENSLAND MUSEUM genes carried by an individual). That is, it results in the replacement of all the vari­ ant forms (alleles) of a gene by only one or a few forms. NA IS THE LIBRARY OF THE ORGAN­ gene.) Because the t form is harmful we It is not really a single mechanism for, ism; . the repository of information might expect that natural selection would as Dover readily admits, at least five pro­ used'to create a new individual. It quickly remove it. But it isn't removed. cesses are involved. Among these are comesD as genes that code for proteins, Ninety-five per cent of the litter sired by 'transposition' and 'gene conversion'. among other things, which in turn inter­ a male carrying the t form will also carry During transposition a gene generates a act to construct a cat, mushroom, palm or that form. This is because, for some un­ second copy of itself, which then migrates human. If an essential gene is defective, known reason(s) when the t mutant ap- to a new location. If this new location the organism dies or fails to reproduce, and thus the gene 'responsible' also per­ Meiosis acts to divide the chromosomes, and the genes carried on them, equally among the ishes. To spread, such a gene must en­ daughter cells (gametes). In meiotic drive this equal apportioning fails and certain chromo­ hance the prospects of survival and somes (and genes) are 'forced' on the offspring regardless of their value. The photo shows reproduction for 'its' organism. After all, meioticdivision during anaphase, the mostdistinguishing phaseof meiosis. genes are not directly exposed to natural selection and can only spread through the multiplication of their organism, can't they? Well, no. There is more to genes than being just passive 'books' in the cell's archives; just as organisms are actors in the environmental theatre, so genes act and react in the cell's nucleus. Not only can some genes spread regard­ less of whether they are harmful to 'their' organism, thus avoiding natural selection, but they can also be directly exposed to selection just as organisms are. Genes are carried on chromosomes, and in sexual organisms chromosomes are paired (except for one, which codes for maleness). When eggs and sperm (that is, gametes) form, one chromosome from each pair goes into each of the two result­ ing cells. If the parent carries two forms of a gene, 50 per cent of the offspring will have one form and 50 per cent the other. Usually ... but not always. Occasionally something happens to one of the chromo­ somes or to the gamete that inherits it, so that certain genes or chromosomes are consistently not passed on. Geneticists call this 'segregation distortion' or 'meiotic drive'. One instance of meiotic drive, discov- ered by L.C. Dunn of Yale University in the 1950s, concerns the homely mouse. �c.:; The T gene of the House Mouse has a c5 mutant form (t) that either kills or a: sterilises the individual inheriting it on � 0 both chromosomes. (The T gene is re- =! lated to the formation of the vertebral � column-especially in the tail, hence T

576 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY happens to be on another chromosome, that can produce more often leave more the gene can eventually spread through copies of themselves than others. RICELESS all the chromosomes and become more But there is evidence that some DNA ENTERTAINMENT common in the genome. This increases may multiply simply at random. William P its chances of being inherited. Loomis and Michael Gilpin from San ORSUBTLE ') Sometime during the formation of ga­ Diego (California) have suggested that metes, the gene on one chromosome is processes (like transposition) that dupli­ LEARNING • replaced by a copy of the gene on the cate genes will create considerable 'junk' other. This 'gene conversion' can occur or 'nonsense' DNA. Unlike parasitic DNA ur trips are both! Our during cell division and, if it favours one this DNA-like an unreadable book­ Oacademics can take you form ('biased gene conversion'), sooner doesn't code for its own replication, or for or later the favoured form will replace the anything else; and it isn't harmful enough to fascinating places only we others. It is as if the Sherlock Holmes to the organism to be exposed to natural know intimately and explain stories in your library were to all become selection. Loomis and Gilpin ran compu­ nature's patterns in simple copies of The hound of the Baskervilles. ter simulations in which the 'genes' could words. Molecular drive decreases the variation be duplicated or dropped out at random. among the genes in an organism. Dover These produced proportions of coding to We can show you the has suggested that this is how the diag­ non-coding (akin to nonsense DNA) natural history of: nostic features of a species come to be 'genes' similar to those actually found in • The 300 million-year-old possessed by all its members. He con­ organisms. Yerranderie Volcano (we found tends that molecular drive explains 'con­ Gene conversion occurs in fungi; trans­ it)• Lord Howe Island (we've certed evolution'. This is evolution in position is known in the fruitfly collected on Ball's Pyramid!) which the genes of individuals belonging Drosophila, as well as inflowering plants; to related species differ more than the and nonsense DNA is known in many or­ • Deserts and gorges and their corresponding genes of individuals be­ ganisms. Despite their relative common­ secrets • Architect's Greece longing to the same species. Further­ ality, the significance of these factors in • Italian volcanoes • 200- more, molecular drive provides a evolution is still debated. m ill ion-year-old environments mechanism of evolution that is neither 'at But there is more to all this. Natural recorded in sandstone the whim' of the environment, as is selec­ selection at the level of organisms is well • Hawksbury River biology, tion, nor random, as is genetic drift known, and selection has also been pro­ (change in organisms by chance). Instead, posed at higher levels, like extended geology and history • Iceland it (and meiotic drive) could provide an family groups and even species. But we • Hawaii • Newfoundland internal mechanism directing evolution, of now know that selection, and random • Galapagos • Cherry the kind suggested by Wiley and Brooks processes akin to the genetic drift that blossom time in Japan in their study of evolution and entropy occurs among populations, also function • Prince Edward Island (Ann (see ANH vol. 23, no. 4, 1990). Both at the lower levels-at the level of the meiotic drive and molecular drive are pro­ genes. Therefore, just as organisms of Green Cables home) cesses that 'force' the inheritance of cer­ evolve in relation to their environment, tain genes (or chromosomes) regardless so do genes evolve in relation to their why not let us: of their survival value. environment-the nuclei of cells. All of Many organisms have large numbers of these phenomena bear out the hierarchi­ • Explain the real Blue Moun­ genes that seemingly do not contribute cal interpretation of evolution and pro­ tains crossing problem (we either to the development or the every­ vide a framework for the understanding solved it)• Walk you (no pack) day 'running' (maintenance) of the organ­ that, while we are clearly individuals, we through the Blue Mountains/or ism. How did such genes originate? Could are also-at the level of genes-com­ a week • Trek you to where some genes code only for their own repli­ munities. • cation and do nothing for the organism? Asia joins India (we mapped it) • Raft you through the Grand This is like a book that spells out in detail Suggested Reading how to make another copy of itself. Ford Canyon with a geologist ex­ Doolittle, W.F. & Sapienza, C., 1980. Self­ Doolittle and Carmen Sapienza, at ish genes, the phenotype paradigm and plaining the sweep of geological Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia genome evolution. Nature 284: 601-603. time • Dive with you on the (Canada), propose that there are such Dover, G., 1982. Molecular drive: a cohe­ outer Barrier Reef from a re­ genes. They term the phenomenon 'para­ sive mode of species evolution. Nature 299: sitic DNA'. 111-117. search station • Follow the An example is the F factor of the well­ Lewin, R., 1982. Molecular drive: how autumn colours through Nova known colon bacillus Escherichia coli. real, how important? Science 218: Scotia. The F factor is a double-stranded circular 552-553. Lewin, R., 1986. 'Computer genome' is asy or hard, long or short DNA molecule (a plasmid) including at full of junk DNA. Science 232: 577-578. least 30 genes. Some F plasmid genes Loomis, W.F. & Gilpin, M.E., 1986. Etrips, we'd love to take induce a bacterium to grow a thread-like Multigene families and vestigial sequences. you there as part of a small projection. When another bacterium is Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 83: 2143. contacted, a process takes place by which Vines, G., 1982. Molecular drive: a third group. Write, phone or fax a daughter F plasmid is placed in the force in evolution. New Sci. 9 Dec. 1982: for trip details to: other cell. Thus a set of genes that pro­ 664-665. Dr David Roots vides no (at least no obvious) benefit to Sturdee Lane, the host organism can multiply and Dr Ralph Molnar is Curator of Palaeontology Elvina Bay, spread. In this instance the 'parasitic' at the Queensland Museum. His research has NSW 2105, Australia DNA transfers itself from cell to cell; as been directed towards filling the vast gap in knowledge of Australian vertebrate history be­ Ph. (02) 997 6894 originally proposed by Doolittle and tween the Devonian and Miocene. Dr Glen Fax (02) 979 5561 Sapienza it would remain in the same cell Ingram is interested in evolution and the philos­ but come to occupy more sites on the ophy of science. In 1987 he received a special chromosomes. This is natural selection at commendation from the BBC Wildlife Nature the level of genes, where certain genes Writing Awards.

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 577 THE ENOUIIIIN ' MIN O I A Deadly Quandary Can you please resolve for Q. • me the correct zoological name for Australia's Fierce QUESTIONS & Snake, also known as the Inland or Western Taipan. Consensus suggests the name is Oxyuranus microlepidotus but Dr Cogger ANSWERS puts a strong case for COMPILED BY JENNIFER SAUNDERS Parademansia microlepidota. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Also, can you suggest which are currently thought to be the world's deadliest snakes? If the African Black Mamba is not in­ Bent Fish Double-yolkers cluded, how would you rate this I've read somewhere that Double-yolked chicken snake? Q.• deep-sea fishes suffer from Q.• eggs are not that uncom­ -Tony Hughes decompression when brought to mon, but I have never heard of Dingley, Vic. the surface and this is why they two chickens hatching from one often explode or distort. Yet the egg. Why? A• As Dr Cogger stated in recent article in ANH (vol. 23, -Thomas Cobcroft . .1987, "groupings of spe­ no. 5, 1990) mentions that the Ipswich, Qld c1_es must always require an ar­ cells of these fishes are filled with bitrary decision about the fluid rather than air and so they boundaries of the group" do not have a problem with A�cording to the CSIRO (Faun a of Australia 18, A• D1v1s1on_ of Animal Pro­ p. pressure. Could you please clarify 269). The decision, therefore, this for me? duction, the presence of a scutellatus second yolk disrupts the to group and -John Simms microlepidot a in the genus Carlton, NSW normal development of the Oxyuranus egg, making it inviable. This or to consider The article on deep-sea revents the egg from reach­ them representatives of separ­ A• p ate genera, O:cyuranus and • whalefishes dealt specifi­ mg the �atching stage, except Parademansia, cally with midwater fishes perhaps m very rare instances. must be a sub­ that is, those fishes that live i� Deep-sea fishes can be affected In any case, commercial prac­ jective one. Zoological nomen­ by decompression when suddenly clature (the application of the water column above the brought to the surface. tice 1s to remove double­ bottom. The deep-sea fishes yo l ked eggs from the scientific names to animals) is designed, amongst other pur­ t�at suffer from decompres­ metres. Deep-sea midwater production line and not give s10n are bottom fishes that them the opportunity to hatch, poses, to reflect the evolution­ fishes have typically lost the ary relationships of animals have their swimbladder or swunbladder, or it has become regardless of their viability. airbladder expanded with de­ ouble-yolked eggs are almost and t�s is accomplished by th� fi�ed with fat, and there is no p _ allocation of species to genera. creasing pressure as they are a r space to cause decompres­ mvanably the product of young brought to the surface. This ! hens and their frequency de­ There is general agreement s10n problems. amongst scientists that expansion can be great enough -John Paxton creases with age: by a bird's to push the stomach out of the the Taipan ( Oxyuranus Australian Museum twelfth week of laying usually scut ellatus) mouth, thus causing the distor­ only single-yolked eggs are and the Fierce t on. This type of decompres­ Snake ( 0. microlepidotusor \ Double-yolked eggs are rarely al­ produced. Parademansia microlepidot a) �1on can also affect fishes living lowed to get to the hatching -Walter Boles m water as shallow as ten stage. Australian Museum are more closely related to each other than to any other snake. They are similar in scalation, general biology and venom composition. There are, however, considerable dif­ ferences in the skull which �ome biologists consid�r more important than the above char­ acteristics when deciding the degr�e of relationship between spe�1�s. Venom yield, venom tox1c1ty, fang length, head shape, colour pattern, habitat and geographical distribution also differ considerably be­ tween the two species . . The Fierce Snake superfi­ cially resembles the Western Brown ?nake (Pseudonaja n�ch_alz�)-which occurs wit hin it s geographical range-more closely than it does _the Taipan. The geo­ graphical restriction of the Fierce Snake to ashy downs country in the Lake Eyre Basin of south-western Queensland and north-eastern

578 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY South Australia contrasts average and maximum venom strongly with the coastal dis­ yields are considerably smaller tribution of the Taipan, which than those of the Taipan, extends from the Kimberleys Tiger Snake, Death Adder, of Western Australia to far King and Indian Cobras and north-eastern New South Eastern Diamondback Rattle­ Wales. snake. The predicted lethality Dr Cogger considers the index proposed by J. Morrison, lumping of the Fierce Snake University of Queensland, and and the Taipan into one genus colleagues to combine toxicity masks these differences, which and yield, places the Fierce could be of medical, conser­ Snake at the top of the list, vation and evolutionary signifi­ followed by the Taipan, Tiger cance. The consequences of Snake and Death Adder ( Clin. this grouping would be even Toxicol. 21: 373-385; 1984). greater if a subspecies of the If, however, fang length, Taipan, 0. s. canni (which temperament and frequency of occurs in Papua New Guinea) bite were weighted equally were elevated to specific rank with the first two factors, the as has been suggested. The sequence of deadliness would grouping of these three spe­ alter. For example, the Fierce cies into one genus would dis­ Snake's fangs are shorter than guise the much closer those of the Taipan, Death relationship of canni and Adder and Mulga Snake, its scutellatus. temperament has been de­ In short, if you think the dif­ scribed as 'placid', and it ferences between the Fierce occurs in a very sparsely popu­ Snake and the Taipan warrant lated region of Australia so the their being placed in separate actual and potential frequency genera, then the correct scien­ of its bite is extremely low. In tific name of the former is P. contrast to this, some species microlepidota. If, however, of viper in Africa and Asia are STRINGING ALONG Aboriginal Woven Images Commences December for a limited time only! Free admission The New Discovery Space

you think they belong in the Fierce Snake. same genus, the correct name is 0. microlepidotus. responsible for killing thou­ In regards to the second sands of people each year. Hours of interactive fun, focussingon the query, the 'deadliness' of a The toxicity of the Black species of venomous snake Mamba (Dendroaspis environment. Opens December 1990 should be judged by a number polylepis), according to P.A. of factors (venom toxicity, Christensen in Venomous ani­ venom yield, fang length, tem­ mals and their venoms (1968), perament and frequency of lies between that of the Tiger bite). The most significant of Snake and Death Adder. It has these are venom toxicity and a high venom yield and would FRAMEWORKS FOR SURVIVAL venom yield. The Fierce Snake make the list of the 'world's has the highest toxicity of any ten most deadly snakes' if you snake venom measured (in equate deadliness with australian terms of the quantity sufficient Morrison's lethality index. to kill a standardised sample of -Liz Cameron laboratory mice), although its Australian Museum museum 6 College St, Sydney 3398111 Open 7 days 10am-5pm

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 579 consumer decision-making a step further, The non-buyers' guide is recommended. This work has been available for REVIEWS several years and it reveals which products (green or not) are made by companies also in­ COMPILED BY JENNIFER SAUNDERS volved in rainforest destruc­ EDITORIAL ASSISTANT tion, arms manufacture, the nuclear fuel cycle, and so on. Handy cards to assist at the supermarket and updates are also provided. needs to change", "What you All of these guides offer can do" and "Who benefits". advice on how to reduce indi­ This structure clearly identi­ vidual environmental impact, MARGARET O • GEE'S fies the issues and appropriate which is essential if we aspire THE actions required. The infor­ after a sustainable society. REENll'eQJ mation would have been more Nevertheless such action will ONSUMER � accessible, however, if the be little more than a salve for book had an index like The the conscience in the absence �1J.J.��� green buyer's guide or, better of achievements in the area of . ,.. still, a comprehensive index population control. While some like The green consumer authors try to provide a guide. The green guide of the broader perspective, there is darkest hue is How to be green. an implicit notion that per­ Whereas the other two guides vades many green guides: "we allocate ' greenie points' (some­ can shop our way out of our A Run-down on ing track of Australian peoples' times too freely) to supermar­ environmental problems". The Environmental Lifestyle water consumption and kets for changes to their concept of the green citizen, Guides Australia's contribution to the operations (such as switching who challenges the policies How to be Green greenhouse effect, they cover to photodegradable bags), and structures that support By J. Button. Random the issues and offer an easy-to­ Button argues against our the unsustainable activities of Century Hutchinson, Sydney, read guide with useful advice. centralised system of food pro­ our species, should subsume 7989, 280pp. $74.95. Interestingly, this is also one duction, processing and distri­ that of the green consumer, of the few guides to propose bution. His book treats not be peripheral to it. The Green Consumer Guide specific native replacements recycling and plastics well and, -Alan Watterson By J. Elkington & J. Hailes. Australian Museum Penguin Books, Victoria, for our high-maintenance, if you think you need it, there 7989, 326pp. $74.99. water-guzzling lawns. is a sizeable section on food Shop safe exemplifies a fun­ and health in How to be green. The Green Buyer's Guide damental consumer concern­ Some however, may find the By M. Gee. 5. & W. it's cheap, but is it a bargain? didacticism in this section a bit Information Guides, Victoria, There are plenty of sound rec­ wearing. An inventory of the 7989, 263pp. $72.95. ommendations in this booklet evils of alcohol, for instance, is It's Easy Being Green but it is odd that few are con­ probably less deservii,� of a By R. Gell & R. Beeby. cerned with shopping. There place in such a publication than McCulloch Publishing, are also promotions of decid­ are the whereabouts of pro­ Victoria, 7 989, 13 7 pp. edly 'un-green' products such ducers of 'organically grown' $72.95. as photodegradable plastic wine (which can be found in The Green Cleaner bags and aerosol sprays. A po­ the other two guides). The in­ By B. Lord. 5. & W. Books, tentially useful service is the formation in The green con­ Victoria, 7989, 82pp. $7.95. Shop Safe Green Hotline but, sumer guide and The green at the time of writing, I was buyer's guide is in general well Australian Cicadas Shop Safe puzzled to hear recorded bas­ presented and preference for By Max Moulds. New South By M. Gore & C. Smeeton. ketball scores. The main weak­ one or the other will partly be Wales University Press, CenturyMagazines, Sydney, ness of Shop safe, however, is a matter of taste, but The Kensington, 7 990. 27 ?pp. 7990, 96pp. $3.95. that it is largely composed of green consumer guide seems $39.95. The Australian Non-buyer's nutritional information that is to be more thoroughly re­ Guide readily available elsewhere­ searched. Although Australia has one By Australian Non-Buyer's such as on the sides of cereal If you're conc�rned about a of the richest cicada faunas in Guide Collective, 2nd ed., packets. household hoard of chemical the world, until now there has 7990, 40pp. $6.00. How to be green, The green cocktails in the guise of clean­ not been a reference book de­ consumer guide and The green ers, pesticides, deodorisers tailing it. Cicadas are im­ There is no shortage of buyer's guide are more com­ etc., then The green cleaner is mensely popular among school advice on how to be environ­ prehensive and have varying a good investment. While the children, particulary in the men tally responsible. The degrees of usefulness as both other publications provide eastern States where school­ above books are just a few of guides and references. All some recipes for substituting boys might have a cicada in the better, or better known, three provide the reader with proprietary chemicals with their pocket instead of the tra­ putative guides for the 'green comparable lists of contact biotic products and simple low ditional frog. With the publica­ way of life'. organisations and suggestions toxic chemicals, The green tion of this book, there is no It's easy being green is a for further reading. Each sec­ cleaner is comprehensive in reason why such childhood in­ good green primer. Although tion in How to be green is di­ this regard. terest in these fascinating the authors had trouble keep- vided into "The facts", "What For those who want to take creatures should not blossom

580 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY into a more scientific adult definitive reference work on study, as has happened so this popular group of insects often with butterflies. for years to come. This is not Max Moulds is probably to say that there are no gaps Australia's best known insect in our knowledge of cicadas. collector and has the rare dis­ Max frequently points out tinction of having species in where more information is SYDNEY nine orders named after him. needed. It is expected, how­ Max is currently a Research ever, that this work will pro­ Associate in the Entomology vide sufficient stimulus among Department of the Australian insect workers of all levels of Museum and has been inter­ expertise to take a productive SYMPHONY ested in cicadas since he was a interest in these lively insects. teenager. -M.J. Fletcher In this book, Max presents a Biol. & Chem. Research Inst. review of all the information NSW Agriculture & Fisheries available on Australian cicadas. ORCHESTRA The text is divided into two parts. The first, the Introduc­ tion, includes nine chapters covering such topics as life his­ tory, sound production and re­ 1991 ception, collection and Stuartf Challender preservation, structure and Chie Conductor function, and classification. The second part of the book details the Australian cicada fauna. For each species a map of known localities and infor­ mation on habitat, distribution, behaviour, morphological fea­ Human Evolution: An tures of adults, song and life Illustrated Introduction history is presented in a clear By Roger Lewin. Blackwell and concise fashion. A glos­ Scientific Publications, 2nd sary, lists of abbreviations and ed., Melbourne, 7 989, 7 53 reference works used, and a pp. $39.95. comprehensive index com­ pletes the publication. There has long been the Max's style is readable and need for a clear, inexpensive easy to understand, even when introduction to human evol­ dealing with highly complex ution, accessible alike to first­ subjects such as sound pro­ year university students, high­ In 1991, the Sydney Symphony duction. Particular attention school students, and the Orchestra will offer eight different has been paid to recording the interested general public. Too concert Series; offering morning, common names applied to each often we have textbooks of afternoon, twilight and evening species and this book will help physical anthropology that performance-times; to stabilise the plethora of cover too much ground too names applied, frequently hap­ cursorily and with too much ranging from as few as three to as hazardly, to cicada species. jargon. Roger Lewin's book, many as nine performances. The 24 colour plates include especially in its updated second The Series include those with photographs of the species de­ edition, neatly fills this gap. concerts showcasing great classical scribed in the text and one What makes Lewin so well Masterworks, one which plate shows the known qualified to write such a book nymphal exuviae. is that he is a science journalist highlights Mozart's composition, Despite the obvious appeal of a special kind: he has taken a compelling 'mixed' series of to the popular market, there pains to adopt a 'hands-on' ap­ concerts and recital - including a has been no compromise in the proach, having dug with Rich­ performancefrom one of the great scientific content with much ard Leakey at Koobi Fora, sat European orchestras which is visiting information new to science at the scanning electron micro­ being presented in the appro­ scope with Alan Walker and Sydney, an exploration of the priate scientific manner. The examined computer printouts excitement of new composition, quality of production is first with Bernard Wood. His writ­ Family concerts, and an exciting class, as exemplified by the ap­ ing, moreover, has not been new hour-long Friday morning Series parent lack of errors and the for the newspapers or the we've called clarity of the colour plates. It popular science magazines, but Tea and Symphony. is a fitting tribute to the effort for one of the most widely re­ Our full-colour 1991 subscription Max has invested in this pro­ spected professional journals, brochure tells you everything you 'II ject that Australian cicadas Science. This means he has ac­ want to know. For your free copy, has been awarded a 1990 quired the knack of explaining just telephone us NOW, Whitley Book Award medal. certain kinds of science to on0'2/3391614. This book should sell well other kinds of scientists, and because of its subject matter so maintains a high standard of Principal Sponsor alone, but it will also be the rigour without talking down to EPSONCO'4Pl'TEftS 6 PMINTEM5 L\11 VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 581 his readers. He also remains are precisely what would be the market can support. greeny-yellow", "bark dark about as jargon-free as it is expected in a geographically This book focuses on the grey, rough" or "seeds small, possible to be in such an enter­ and temporally dispersed spe­ use of plants as medicines, kidney-shaped". The amount prise. cies". The second part of the rather than on a broad range of technical information within The book begins with chap­ statement is perfectly true but of plant uses or on plants as the text and the appendixes ters on the history of evolu­ has no bearing on the first. traditional sources of food. In combined with the photo­ tionary thought, evolutionary After all this, I am bound to fact, its subtitle An Aboriginal graphs give the impression of theory today, the concept of say that the treatment of the pharmacopoeia gives it the air a coffee-table book designed neoteny (misspelt "neotony"), fossils is very thorough and of an authoritative, technical for technicians. and a little geological back­ gives a good feel of a dynamic book. According to The A handy summary chart at ground, including the relatively field with lively debate and Macquarie dictionary (1981), the beginning of the book pro­ new field of taphonomy (the constant rethinking of para­ a pharmacopoeia is a book con­ vides a quick reference and the study of burial and fossilisation digms. Theoretical discussion taining a list of medicinal drugs glossary of botanical and phar­ processes). I would have liked on the origin of modern with their preparation, proper­ macological terms, plus the to see a chapter on dating humans, contrasting regional ties, uses etc. The book's pref­ general glossary, can fill in the methods included here. Next is continuity ('candelabra') and ace mentions the importance gaps any reader may have. an introduction to systematics, replacement ('Noah's Ark') of ritual, social obligations and Traditional bush medicines with a discussion of phenetic models' is followed by a re­ seasonal factors as integral was produced as a Northern and cladistic philosophies. It counting of the mitochondrial parts ensuring the efficacy of Territory Health Department appears his sympathies seem DNA evidence, which is unfor­ plant use by Aboriginal people, bicentennial project. It should to lie more with the non­ tunately headed "Mitochon­ but then excludes the "eso­ be mentioned that this was not cladists, and when he writes drial Eve" and so perpetuates teric power and mysticism of without some criticism being that "Classification should also a common misconception. The deeply held beliefs" from its directed at both the product reflect the very drastic eco­ two final sections have over­ analysis. Perhaps this book (that is, the book itself) and logical shift that has occurred views of the origin of cultural should not have been called an the processes involved in ac­ in the hominid line compared items, including language, art, Aboriginal pharmacopoeia, for quiring the information, the ac­ with its ape cousins, they con­ dispersal to the Americas and I can't imagine an Aboriginal knowledgrnent and recognition tend", it is with obvious ap­ Australasia, and the beginnings project not including aspects of Aboriginal expertise, and proval. He does not bring out of settled life. that are part of the essence of the high profile and control of the subjectivity that this is So this book has, in my Aboriginal plant use. the non-Aboriginal people in­ bound to entail-what does it opinion, some drawbacks but it Traditional bush medicines, volved in the project. A reader mean, for example, to recog­ is, after all, meant as an intro­ like most large-format books in might argue it's not the place nise a family Pongidae, united duction; if it is read as such this genre, is well presented­ of the book reviewer to cover as it is by primitive retentions (and not as if it were the last in fact it has so many well­ the controversy surrounding alone? Or a genus Austral­ word), it fills its chosen niche produced photographs the original project and its end opithecus full of robust and admirably. In fact, it has al­ interspersed throughout the result, but the reviewer might gracile species of admittedly ready been set as the textbook text that one might wonder respond by saying the book, diverse lineage affiliations? But for a couple of courses at the how this affected the price of isolated from its context and there, my own prejudices are Australian National University the book. Photographs show intent, is only part of its func­ hanging out. and has proved useful. If you plant detail, habitat and occa­ tion. Its impact and usefulness After a brief survey of the want to find out about human sionally people involved in can only be diminished if the living Primates, especially as evolution, this is certainly the gathering and manufacturing Aboriginal people involved models for human evolution, place to start. plants. One disturbing feature have been, or are seen to have and the fossil 'anthropoids', -Colin Groves about the photographs is the been, excluded from the area Lewin turns to the human Australian National University anonymity of the Aboriginal where their expertise is undis­ fossil record. I mentioned ear­ people in them. This appears puted. lier his non-cladistic stance to be even more odd when, on -Anne Skates (not exactly anti though; I page 9, a photograph showing Australian Museum don't think he has thought a non-Aboriginal botanist with enough about it for that) and his back to the camera is how it leads him into an un­ named and an Aboriginal com­ Aliens From Inner Space thinkingly 'trad' treatment of munity adviser half facing the The Fastest Claw in the such fuzzy concepts as catch­ camera remains unnamed. West call Australopithecus. This The layout of the text and BBC Wildlife Specials, crops up again when he dis­ the inclusion of line drawings distributed by Hoyts cusses Homo erectus, which he showing fruit, flowers, leaves Polygram Video, 7 988, treats as just a segment on the and an illustration of the typi­ Sydney, 24 minutes each. ascending human lineage. He cal form of the plant, make for $29.95. does cite the cladistic analyses easy identification. The de­ of Andrews, Stringer and Traditional Bush Medicines: scription of the plants in the This videotape, from the Wood, which suggest that the An Aboriginal text, however, is of no use to a famous BBC production, con­ Asian H. erectus have their Pharmacopoeia reader without background to tains two stories on two totally down-derived features that are By the Aboriginal formal descriptive jargon used unrelated animals. The first is not "on the way to modem Communities of the Northern in botanical identification titled Aliens from inner space. humans", but dismisses them Territory, Greenhouse (unless one were to continually Anyone who has had the op­ in a way that suggests he has Publications, Victoria, 7 988, refer to the glossary at the portunity to observe a live really not quite understood 265pp. $80.00. end of the book). If words like cephalopod (cuttlefish, squid or their importance. "T he "phyllodes glabrous", "inflor­ octopus), either in captivity or counter to this cladistic analy­ Another book on the Abor­ escence densely villious" or in. the sea, has never failed to sis", he writes on page 102, iginal use of plants you ask? "peduncles terete" leave you be amazed at the beauty of "is that anatomical differences Well, yes it is. That in itself none the wiser, then you this animal and its ability to of this sort seen among Homo might cause one to ask how should focus on the bits of the change colour. This short pro­ erectus as traditionally defined many of these kinds of books description that say "flowers gram is a brief introduction to

582 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY this fascinating and unlikely The fastest claw in the west. (but true) relative of snails and What has the speed of 10 mussels. Using superb pho­ metres per second and the tography the program shows impact of a .22 calibre bullet? the viewers the tremendous A new weapon? No! Incredible range and often ever-changing as it may sound, it is the speed colour patterns in cephalopods, and power of a strike delivered the fast and accurate strike ac­ by a mantis shrimp. tions of tentacles and arms in Mantis shrimp, so named For Specialist catching prey, the egg-caring because the front part of its behaviour of the octopus, and body resembles that of a pray­ Natural History the hatchlings of octopus and ing mantis, is an unusual squid. I particularly liked the member of the Crustacea. It is sequence showing a large oc­ exclusively marine and pre­ Books topus escaping through a small dominantly found in the warm hole-a phenomenon known waters of the Indian and Pa­ to anyone who has ever tried cific Oceans. It is carnivorous to keep octopuses in an aquar­ and hunts for prey by means of ium, but rarely observed. Re­ its characteristic raptorial grettably, a small flaw does claws (the modified second occur within one of the se­ thoracic appendages). quences on cuttlefish where a This program shows how short segment showing a squid scientist Dr Roy Caldwell cap­ giving off ink is included. tures and studies this unusual Sepia latimanus, a giant and fascinating creature. Using cuttlefish growing to 50 superb photography it illus­ centimetres in body length, is trates how the mantis shrimp common in the coral reefs of hunts for its food, and defends Order form for books including some of the Indo-West Pacific region. and maintains its burrow. To those reviewed in this issue The success of rearing them in study the animal's ability to aquaria provides opportunities learn, Caldwell used a plastic Quantity Title Price$ not only for the public to view cube containing food with one this fascinating creature but glass-plated side. The mantis Collins Eyewitness also for scientists like Roger shrimp was shown to be Guides: Shell 19.00 Hanlon of the University of capable of learning where to Collins Eyewitness Texas to study it in captivity, strike so it would smash the Guides: Rock and Mineral as there are no cuttlefish on glass and hence reach its meal. 19.00 either coast of the Americas. To smash a thick-shelled snail Collins Eyewitness The ability of cephalopods it takes a mantis shrimp four Guides: Butterfly and to change colour rapidly is ef­ or five strikes but, for a large Moth fected by minute organs call snail, the mantis shrimp may 19.00 chromatophores. These con­ work for an hour or more and Australian Cicadas 39.95 sist of a sac-like cell filled with deliver up to 500 strikes to pigment granules surrounded reach the edible soft part. Mammals of New Guinea 79.95 by a series of nerve-controlled With a strike speed of 36 Green Buyer's Guide 12.95 radial muscle fibres. The con­ kilometres per hour, the tractions and relaxations of the mantis shrimp can indeed live How to be Green 14.95 radial muscle fibres change the up to the program's title of the The Green Consumer shape of the pigment-filled cell, fastest claw! thus changing the colour This two-program videotape Guide 14.99 shown by the cell. The combi­ contains informative introduc­ The Green Cleaner 7.95 nation of three different pig­ tions to two fascinating marine ments and varying degrees of animals. Its superb photogra­ Human Evolution: An expansion of the many pig­ phy together with the clear Illustrated Introduction 39.95 ment cells gives the animal 'in­ narration of David Atten­ finite' colour patterns. borough make it absorbing Please add $6.00 for postage and handling 6.00 But what does this pattern viewing. TOTAL $ of colour mean? Are these Of course with the limitation creatures signalling to one an­ of time the descriptions are other? Although evidence sometimes overly simplistic. Please charge to: exists that these colour pat­ But perhaps this will whet the D Bankcard D Mastercard D Visa D American Express ters, together with body sur­ appetite of the viewers who Card Number Expiry Date / / face textile patterns, are used want to know more about the 1 in confusing prey and preda­ subjects. The programs are anu.· tors. Hanlon cautions that we educational and can be rec­ Adcln:ss are only beginning to under­ ommended to anyone who is stand the range of complexi­ interested in marine animals. ties of these patterns, and we "Beautiful, fabulous", claims Signature are even further away from Roger Hanlon at the beginning Post to: The Australian Museum Shop. understanding what they mean of the tape, and I cannot help P.O. Box A285, Sydney South. NSW 2000, and how they are used. "Alien but echo this. 6-8 College St. Sydney. Phone: (02) 339 8150 from inner space"? You bet! -C.C. Lu The second story is titled Museum of Victoria �nd a letll'rwith theSt" details if yuu don't want to cut tht:" ma�azme

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 7, SUMMER 1990-91 583 various steps in manufacture, and of the "At the risk of reducing forces of nature that can produce things that might look like artefacts but that are archaeological reasoning to some sort clearly not tools. of religious faith, it is clear that at Humans are purposive beings: actions some elemental level the identification are done to achieve specific results. The formation of an artefact or tool reflects a of a specific tool rests solely on the regularity of purpose and intention, and perception ofthe observer." thus the tool reflects the regularity of both purpose and the regularity of the process of formation. Out of the set of all forms that might be suitable for use as a tool, only some will fit the mental image WHEN IS A STONE the maker had in mind. By identifying and combining the patterns inherent in the maker's choice of raw material, manufac­ A TOOL? turing technique, and the context of those patterns within the larger cultural and BY TOM H. LOY ecological setting, it is one of the aims of RESEARCH SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE & PACIFIC STUDIES archaeology to reconstruct aspects of the AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY intention and purposes of action that lie behind the fact of the tool. 1------1 But the examination of tools at this N THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, RAIN tools, we must have some idea of the large, object-oriented scale is not always pouring down and the river rising by tasks that people in the past performed. sufficient to discriminate between the centimetres a minute, a gust of wind They cut things, so some tools must have 'tool' and the debris that results from its ripsI up one of the metal pegs holding physical attributes that facilitate cutting. manufacture. And it is a truth that form down a corner of my tent's rain fly. Similarly, they pounded things; so some does not always specify function. An ar­ There is not time to fetch the mallet must have physical attributes that facili­ rowhead is defined partially by its form, before the fly is tom away by the wind so tate pounding. The process of tool identi­ but that form does not preclude its use as I quickly grab a nearby cobble, bang in fication is one of subdivision and a knife, scraper, or strictly ceremonial the peg and go back to bed. I have just classification of attributes that suit spe­ object. Examination of objects at a created a stone artefact. cific tools to certain tasks. smaller scale than we can see with the How might some future archaeologist Not all sharp-edged objects are cutting naked eye reveals the presence of the recognise my hammerstone as a tool? For tools. On my first archaeological dig I traces of the tool's use. The use history that particular tool-one of a hundred found a leaf-shaped, thin, ragged-edge of the tool is evidenced by residues of cobbles along the river and used once for blood, tissue, starch, resins, feathers and a job that involved 30 bangs on the peg­ hair, for example; as well as the smear­ it would be difficult without some other ing, dragging, striations and edge damage clues. First, there would be some evi­ " that give testimony to the mode of use dence that the patch of ground where I stone tool and number of times the tool had been camped had been occupied; my hearth­ used. A close look at my ad hoe stones for example, or the remains of the function is a key to hammerstone would reveal traces of me­ wallaby I cooked and ate. Perhaps the tallic iron in addition to the less diagnostic pocket knife I lost might be found by a 99 per cent of patterns of pitting, size and shape. keen-eyed field worker. human history... The combination of shape, manufactur­ At some point an experienced archaeol­ " ing technique and suitability for specific ogist would begin to look at less obvious functions, when integrated with the evidence; the top of a rusted tent peg identification of residues and other traces sticking out of the dirt, and eventually a of use, can ultimately yield a definitive hand-sized cobble that had impact pitting piece of quartzite near a firehearth. I was answer to the question: is this thing a on one face. But would the archaeologist convinced I had found an arrowhead (it tool? But is it worth the effort? Yes, be­ recognise that cobble as a tool? Perhaps fitted the imaginary arrow shaft, was cause stone tool function is a key to 99 he would merely look at the small pits, pointy and certainly could cut). My pro­ per cent of human history; and by em­ classify them as entirely natural and fessor patiently explained the process of ploying science to understand how people throw the cobble into the creek. heat spalling of rock; repeated thought through and solved problems in At the risk of reducing archaeological freeze-thaw, or hot fires and cold rains the past we are not only resolving an reasoning and analysis to some sort of can easily fracture a thin flake from the archaeological problem but also revealing religious faith, it is clear that at some surface of a rounded cobble and it would our own thought processes. Our inquiries elemental level the identification of a spe­ look just like the one I had found. into the past expand our knowledge of cific tool rests solely on the perception Rocks break in specific and predictable human history and define more precisely and thought processes of the observer. ways depending on the type and nature of our own minds and the nature of know­ Museum curators are constantly en­ the breaking force. Bashing one stone ledge itself. Science and knowledge are treated to verify dubious artefacts collec­ against another creates distinctive pitting peculiarly human-as renowned cosmolo­ ted by people who have no training or but could be formed by natural or human gist Carl Sagan observed "We are the experience in prehistory and whose sole forces; flaking rock using another stone way the cosmos knows itself." • criterion for giving an object the status of (or bone, or antler, or hardwood) as a 'tool' is based on the fact that the rock hammer leaves distinctive fracture marks Dr Tom H. Loy is a visiting fellow in the Depart­ 'fits the hand'. and features on both the core (the orig­ ment of Prehistory, Research School of Social To classify an object as an artefact or inal rock), the flake (the piece that was Sciences and Pacific Studies, Australian tool requires two lines of inquiry: what detached) and the hammer. So tool recog­ Natio11Gl University. The last ten years of his constitutes the set of things we call tools, nition and identification relies on an un­ research has been directed towards blood residue and what things are not tools? To define derstanding of the physical results of the analysis.

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