THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM SWIMWITH SHARKS ... PLAYWITH GORILLAS I I I HUNT WITH TIGERS I I I Experience allthe danger, excitementand advenh.Jreof life in the wild! I • Rare and archival footage I • Endangered species • A living library of natural history to delight all ages! \'IDE 0 Availablefrom all leadingretailers SELECTl<l� W/ROADSHOW and videostores. �. HOME VIDEO i....--�--,�� WANTED: , ; Summer 1989-90 Volume 23 Number3 EXTINCTOR ALIVE?� 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 XT!NCTlON IS A NATURAL PART OF which case each species maintains equal MuseumDirector: Desmond Griffin life. Like death, it is inevitable but its billing, extinct or living. The argument EDITOR effect on the ecosystem is perma­ here is not to ignore the extinct, but to look Fiona Doig E at yield for effort. The money put into the nent. It is like turning off a genetic tap. Ex­ SCIENTIFIC EDITOR tinction of one species creates a new niche Thylacine searches could have, in the long Georgina Hickey, B.Sc. into which another can evolve. Un­ run, saved many more living species. CIRCULATION MANAGER fortunately, one singularly successful The same argument applies to Cathy McGahey species, Homo sapiens, has been respon­ cryptozoology, a branch of research dedi­ CIRCULATION ASSISTANT sible for so many recent extinctions that cated to finding mythical beasts of Kathy Rockwell gaping holes have been created. And many rumoured existence, like yetis, yowies, ART DIRECTION living species are extremely endangered. Loch Ness monsters and abominable Run Run Run Design PtyLtd One would think that, given the current snowmen. Interesting stuff and maybe they PRODUCTION ASSISTANT level of concern and support for the en­ do exist. But again, with many known Jennifer Saunders vironment, work to improve the survival species on the brink of extinction it seems TYPESETTING chances for those on the brink is urgent. like so much hypocrisy. Excel Imaging Pty Ltd Apparently this isn't the case. There are Of course there are dedicated people in­ PRINTING peoplededicated to pouring endless money, tent on creating a better future for these Dai Nippon Printing Co., Tokyo, Japan energy and time into the hopeof fmding liv­ animals. The strength and courage this ADVERTISING ing relics of extinct species. For example, takes is to be applauded. But somewhere Fiona Doig Lisa Rawlinson $250,000 was spent on one expedition along the way we have lost sight of the play (02) 339 8234 alone in 1984 in search of the Thylacine, and are concentrating on the star players. which has been extinct on the mainland for Millions of dollars have been poured into SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual subscription(4 issues) 2,000 years and no confirmed sightings in Koala research, yet piddling amounts have Within AustraliaSA30.00 Tasmania since 1936. Between then and been relegated to other, more threatened Other CountriesSA42.00 now, many other Australian animals have marsupials. What about extremely rare ani­ Two-yearsubscription (8 issues) headed towards extinction, yet remained mals like the Bilby, Tuatara, Norfolk Island Within Australia SASS.00 largely ignored. Owl and Hastings Mouse? Does a tiny rat­ Othercountries SA 78.00 Why put so much into rediscovering one like marsupial stand a chance-or will it Pleaseuse the subscription card species when the same input could have only be elevated to hero worship once ex­ in the back of the magazine. lf it has saved so many others? Perhaps there is a tinct? Are koalas more important than rats? beenremoved, forwardcredit card authority greater challenge in the 'impossible' -cer­ Whales more than fish? Not to say that the or cheque made payable to: tainly species getting money and public attention The Australian Museum anyone who had bona fide evidence of P.O. BoxA285 Sydney South a live Thylacine would reap fame and for­ don't deserve it-I'm questioning pri­ NSW 2000, Australia tune. Or maybe it is through the guilt our orities. Because if our intention is to sal­ Subscribers from other countries please ancestors brought to bear onus by elimin­ vage the environment so that it can stabil­ note that money must bepaid in ating so many species that we feel obliged ise, then surely our priorities should come Australian currency. to rediscover them. Extinction is the end. from that stand and be set by need, not pulr All material appearing in Australian Final. No curtain calls. Yet we wait with lie interest or commercial value. Natural History is copyright. baited breath hoping to lure a species back Just ask yourself these questions: in the Reproduction in whole or in part is not from its fate. If science hasn't found a way queue for salvation, what takes priority? Do permitted without written authorisation of waking the dead, what hope is there of our endangered species have to become ex­ from the Editor. exhuming the extinct? tinct before they rate a mention? Opinions expressed by the authors are At the heart of species salvation is the their own and do not necessarily necessity to maintain biological diversity, in Thylacine:let 'dead dogs'lie. represent the policiesor views of the Australian Museum. The Editor welcomes articles or photographsin any field of Australian natural history. Published 1989 ISSN-0004-9840 111111111 Australian Natural History is audited by the Audit Bureau of afjc Circulations. Front Cover An Indonesian perahu glides over the turquoise waters at Ashmore Reef, off Australia's north-west coast. Does the practice of traditional fishing harm the reef? Seethe article on page 210. Photo by B.C. Russell. V O L U M E 2 3 N U M B E R 3 , S U M M E R 1 9 8 9-90 181 C O N T E N T S Articles IN THISISSUE GEORGINA 1-IlCKEY SCIENTIACEDITOR -----------------------------, THE DAINTREE DILEMMA The Daintree area attracts thousands of people from all over the world, wishing to experience this unique and exciting OR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE YEAR, ecosystem. There is 1zo ANH has received the NSW Zoological questioning the factthat we need tourists. But is the area Society's Whitley A ward for Best accommodated to receive them, NaturalF History Periodical (1989). We hope without unwanted destnictio11 of the veryplace they come to that the great array of articles in this and experience? future issues will help get us a fourth! BY SUE Md TYRE, BERT Last April, Bert Jenkins came JENKI S & ROSEMARY LOTT bounding into the ANH office, having just 200 The ANH team with the latestWhitley Award, from left to right: Georgina returnedfrom an expeditionto the Daintree Hickey, Fiona Doig and Cathy region. He believes that tourism is one of McGahev. the most pressing problems for the area. Thousands flock there each year, but often return without getting a good look at the rainforest. And those that do invariably leave some di­ rect or indirectmark on the region. Together with colleagues from the University of New England, they addressthis problem and launch their concept of 'eco-tourism'. Another problem, still up north but much further west, concernsthe traditionalIndonesian practice of fishing in Australian waters. A survey was conducted in the area of Ashmore Reef to study the effects of the INDONESIANFISHERMEN fishery. Lyle Vail and Barry Russell from the NT Museum of Artsand OF AUSTRALIA'S NORTH-WEST Science report. Traditionalfishing /)y And soils. The fact that our precious soil is being blown or eroded Indonesians around Ashmore Reef has continued forseveral away is well known. Less well known is how to reverse, or at least halt, centun·es. Recently, however, new the destruction process. Maura Boland, from the SCS, explains how to regulationshave been introduced, banning all fishingfrom most 'make up for lost ground'. areas of the reef The result? Also in this issue are articles on the latest methods of dating Aborigi­ Illegalfishing. A surveywas therefore undertaken to assess the nal rock art, the reasons behind the relatively recent extinctions of impact of traditional Indonesian medium-sized Australian mammals, and rainforest snails. Robyn fishingactivities 011 and around Williams discusses the trap that historians of science oftenfall into; Ian the reef BY LYLE VAIL & BARRY RUSSELL Lock the rich story behind a pink bivalve in the Museum's malacology 210 collection; and Mike Archer the view of rainforests as biological ware­ houses. The complimentary poster in this issue is an 18th-century FABIANS OF THEFOREST coloured engraving of an Eastern Blue-tongue Lizard by John White. Rainforestsnails are a diverse lot: small, large, cryptically coloured, brightly patterned, and some even heading towards slugdom. BY BRONWEN SCOTT 220 182 AUSTRALIAN NATURAL HISTORY THE LAST WORD MAKINGUP FOR LOST GROUND ANTARCTICA: WILDERNESS It's all verywell to relate horror FROM THE ARCHIVES OR GOLDMINE? stories of land degradation, /Jut Australia and France have taken we need to be told how to halt the A STRANGE TALE a stance against a Convention problems and avoid futureones. Among the specimens in the that would allow mining in the What can the average land­ Australian Museum's mollusc last (relatively) untouched region holder do? collection is a pink bivalve. Its of the globe. history is related,from the time BY MAURA BOLAND BY LYN GOLDSWORTHY of its collection byFrederick 226 Strange in 1854from Percy 264 Island, just before his death by Aboriginesthere. BY IAN LOCH 194 LETTERS Competition: Hard or Soft?; Drongo; Mounted Pictures; P H O T O A R T Australian Native Plants; COMPOSmONIN BARK Response to Roxburgh. A seasonal study in strips and 184 scribbles and flakes and curls from Australia's woody wilds. The European introduction of BY IAN BROWN 'superior', competitive placental 248 mammals to this continent has been blamed for the string of mammal extinctions since white RARE & ENDANGERED settlement.