Australian Museum Research Articles

Productive Nation? Museums, Cultural Policy and Australia’s Productivity Narrative

This article traces the emergence of productivity as a central theme in Australia’s national cultural policy, and discusses some implications of this development for the Australian museum sector. The analysis focuses on two texts – Australia’s two national cultural policies, Creative Nation (1994) and Creative Australia (2013) – to highlight changing policy rhetorics through which cultural heritage and cultural pluralism lose traction, and productivity, innovation and creativity find favour. The article argues that the government’s concern to boost sources of economic growth in twenty-first century Australia focus cultural policy on the arts and creative industries, seen as the locus of innovation and the wellspring of creative activity. The article argues against this narrow construction of productivity and its sources, showing why museums are important contributors to a productivity policy agenda in a culturally diverse and globalized society. Key words: cultural policy, Australia, creative industries, productivity, diversity

Short-range phenotypic divergence among genetically distinct parapatric populations of an Australian funnel-web spider.

Speciation involves divergence at genetic and phenotypic levels. Where substantial genetic differentiation exists among populations, examining variation in multiple phenotypic characters may elucidate the mechanisms by which divergence and speciation unfold. Previous work on the Australian funnel‐web spider Atrax sutherlandi Gray (2010; Records of the Australian Museum 62, 285–392; Mygalomorphae: Hexathelidae: Atracinae) has revealed a marked genetic structure along a 110‐kilometer transect, with six genetically distinct, parapatric populations attributable to past glacial cycles. In the present study, we explore variation in three classes of phenotypic characters (metabolic rate, water loss, and morphological traits) within the context of this phylogeographic structuring. Variation in metabolic and water loss rates shows no detectable association with genetic structure; the little variation observed in these rates may be due to the spiders’ behavioral adaptations (i.e., burrowing), which buffer the effects of climatic gradients across the landscape. However, of 17 morphological traits measured, 10 show significant variation among genetic populations, in a disjunct manner that is clearly not latitudinal. Moreover, patterns of variation observed for morphological traits serving different organismic functions (e.g., prey capture, burrowing, and locomotion) are dissimilar. In contrast, a previous study of an ecologically similar sympatric spider with little genetic structure indicated a strong latitudinal response in 10 traits over the same range. The congruence of morphological variation with deep phylogeographic structure in Tallaganda's A. sutherlandi populations, as well as the inconsistent patterns of variation across separate functional traits, suggest that the spiders are likely in early stages of speciation, with parapatric populations independently responding to local selective forces.

A forewing of the Jurassic dragonfly Austroprotolindenia jurassica Beattie & Nel (Odonata: Anisoptera) from the Talbragar Fish Bed, New South Wales, Australia

Nel, A., Frese, M., McLean, G. & Beattie R., May 2017. A forewing of the Jurassic dragonfly Austroprotolindenia jurassica from the Talbragar Fish Bed, New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 41, 532–535. ISSN 0311-5518.The discovery of a well-preserved dragonfly forewing in the Upper Jurassic Talbragar Fish Bed near Gulgong and attributed to Austroprotolindenia jurassica Beattie & Nel allows this taxon to be placed in Protolindeniidae. It extends the palaeogeographical distribution of this family, previously known only from the Jurassic of Europe, to Australia.André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr], CNRS UMR 7205, CP 50, Entomologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 45 rue Buffon, F-75005, Paris, France; Michael Frese [michael.frese@canberra.edu.au], University of Canberra, Institute for Applied Ecology and Faculty of Education, Science, Technology and Mathematics, Bruce, ACT 2601, Australia; Graham McLean [mcleangg@bigpond.com], The Australian Museum, 1 William St., Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia; Robert Beattie [rgbeattie@bigpond.com], The Australian Museum, 1 William St., Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain of a Monotreme, the Short-Beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)

We used magnetic resonance imaging to study the anatomy of cortical regions, nuclear groups, and major tracts in the brain of a monotreme, i.e., the short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). Our specimens were from a collection held at the Australian Museum in Sydney and had been stored in formaldehyde solution for at least 70 years. Despite this, we were able to detect fine detail in the nuclear divisions of structures as well as in fiber tracts. In particular, we could detect the medial lemniscus as it approached the ventral posterior thalamic nucleus, subdivisions within the ventral posterior thalamic nucleus, lamination and subdivisions within the hippocampal formation, components of the olfactory pathways, and nuclei within the temporal amygdala. We were able to map the topography of subcortical white matter and relate it to cortical regions determined on the basis of physiology, as well as chemical and cytoarchitecture. As expected, dense aggregations of fibers were noted in association with the primary sensory areas of the isocortex (somatosensory, visual, and auditory) and connecting primary olfactory regions (intrabulbar anterior commissure and associated fibers). We found longitudinal fibers in the basal forebrain (medial forebrain bundle) and brainstem (corticopontine and corticospinal tracts), as well as a dense array of fibers associated with the vermal and paravermal zones of the anterior lobe of the cerebellum. We also observed previously unrecognized fiber systems, i.e., commissural connections between the paired frontal isocortical fields (dorsal Fr1), dense fibers to the retrosplenial association cortex, and prominent, paired longitudinal fiber bundles in the dorsal forebrain (longitudinal fasciculus) that intersected the dorsal anterior commissure. The connectome results are consistent with the known neuroanatomy of this monotreme and they extend our knowledge of the fiber topography within this unusual brain. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using this sort of imaging of archived brains to analyze the neuroanatomy of rare, endangered, and evolutionarily significant species.

The genus Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818 (Annelida: Syllidae: Syllinae) from Australia (second part): four new species and re-description of twelve previously described species.

Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818, the type genus of Syllidae, is the largest and most diverse within the family. This genus presents many taxonomic and phylogenetic problems due mainly to the lack of molecular data and morphological synapomorphies for many of the species, but also to poor or inadequate descriptions. In order to improve the knowledge of the genus, we have undertaken a morphological revision of Australian species, based on type material and material from the Australian Museum. Sixteen species are herein described, of which four are new and twelve are redescriptions of alreadyknown species, with six new combinations: Syllis boggemanni, n. sp.; S. joaoi, n. sp.; S. karlae, n. sp.; S. marceloi, n. sp.; S. albanyensis (Hartmann-Schröder, 1984) n. comb.; S. erikae (Hartmann-Schröder, 1981) n. comb.; S. krohnii Ehlers 1864; S. lunaris (Imajima, 1966) n. comb.; S. lutea (Hartmann-Schröder, 1960); S. macrodentata (Hartmann-Schröder, 1982) n. comb.; S. monilaris Savigny in Lamarck, 1818; S. nigropunctata Haswell, 1886; S. pectinans Haswell, 1920; S. rosea (Langerhans, 1879); S. warrnamboolensis (Hartmann-Schröder, 1987) n. comb.; and S. yallingupensis (Hartmann-Schröder, 1982), n. comb.

Late late Albian (Early Cretaceous) shark teeth from Annopol, Poland

Siversson, M. & Machalski, M., February 2017. Late late Albian (Early Cretaceous) shark teeth from Annopol, Poland. Alcheringa 41, 433–463.Screen washing of the condensed phosporite-bearing sands at the top of the Albian succession at Annopol, Poland, produced 789 selachian teeth of which 264 are determinable to at least genus level. The sediment type and methods of processing prevented recovery of small-toothed taxa, resulting in an assemblage comprising 13, mostly large-toothed taxa. Lamniformes dominates with Dwardius sp. being, by far, the most common taxon. Observations on vertical distribution and preservation of the teeth (with focus on the adhered phosphatic matrix), coupled with biostratigraphic ranges of co-occurring ammonites, indicate that the majority of the shark material is attributable to the Mortoniceras rostratum or, more probably, M. perinflatum Zone (late late Albian; mid-‘Vraconnian’). This is compatible with the composition of the shark assemblage, characterized by the co-occurrence of Paraisurus sp. aff. P. compressus, Cretoxyrhina vraconensis and Squalicorax teeth with strong serrations on the cutting edges. The tightly curved basal edge of the root in lateral teeth of C. vraconensis conforms to that of teeth from the Pawpaw Formation of Texas (M. rostratum Zone) and differs from the more divergent root lobes in younger specimens from the uppermost Albian and/or lowermost Cenomanian of Kolbay, Mangyshlak. Some specimens in the studied assemblage are probably older, within the range from the middle to earliest late late Albian. The strong numerical dominance of either Cretoxyrhina or Dwardius in late late Albian to early Cenomanian selachian faunas indicates competitive exclusion in these similar-sized, apex predatory sharks.Mikael Siversson* [mikael.siversson@museum.wa.gov.au], Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, Western Australia 6106, Australia; Marcin Machalski [mach@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland. *Also affiliated with: Department of Environment & Agriculture, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.

New host records for ticks (Acari : Ixodidae) from the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) revealed in Australian museum survey

A nationwide survey was conducted for ticks (Ixodidae) removed from echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus (Shaw, 1792), that had been previously collected between 1928 and 2013, and archived within Australian national (Australian National Insect Collection, Australian Capital Territory) and state (Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia) natural history collections. A total of 850 ticks from 89 T. aculeatus hosts were morphologically identified to determine instar, sex and species. Seven larvae, 349 nymphs and 494 adults were identified; 235 were female and 259 were male. The most common tick species was Bothriocroton concolor (Neumann, 1899) (89.2%). In addition, ticks previously recorded from T. aculeatus were identified, including Amblyomma australiense Neumann, 1905 (1.8%), Amblyomma echidnae Roberts, 1953 (0.1%), Bothriocroton hydrosauri (Denny, 1843) (1.4%), Bothriocroton tachyglossi (Roberts, 1953) (1.5%) and Ixodes tasmani Neumann, 1899 (1.2%). For the first time, 22 Amblyomma fimbriatum Koch, 1844 (2.6%) and 19 Amblyomma triguttatum Koch, 1844 (2.2%) ticks were recorded from T. aculeatus. This is the first survey to utilise archived Australian tick collections for the purpose of acquiring new data on tick species that parasitise T. aculeatus.

Aspects of reproduction, and morphology of the penis, of Pseudantechinus woolleyae (Marsupialia : Dasyuridae)

Woolley’s Pseudantechinus, P. woolleyae, has remained virtually unstudied in the 30 years since its recognition in 1988 as a species distinct from P. macdonnellensis. It has a wide distribution in arid regions of Western Australia. What little is known of its biology comes largely from studies carried out over the years 1988–91 on one wild-caught female and her offspring, and a few specimens held in the collection of the Western Australian Museum. P. woolleyae is a seasonal breeder and young are born from late July to early October. They mature when ~7 months old. Both males and females are potentially capable of breeding in more than one year. Males have accessory erectile tissue that does not form an appendage on the penis.

Dudley Bulmer’s Artefacts as Autobiography

During a visit to Yarrabah in 1938, Norman Tindale, then working for the South Australian Museum, collected and documented a number of artefacts given to him by Dudley Bulmer, who was originally from Starcke River, north of Cooktown. This paper uses Tindale’s notes on these artefacts to show how Bulmer sometimes inscribed aspects of himself into his artefacts by combining events from his life with representations of Ancestral beings that were important in ceremony. Partly reflecting the power of the state to restrict his freedom, a feature of Bulmer’s presence in his artefacts is his absence from his homeland. I argue these elements make some of Bulmer’s artefacts inscriptive equivalents to the life story genre of Indigenous writing.

Revision of the types of male Sciaridae (Diptera) described from Australia by F.A.A. Skuse.

A total of 27 male sciarid types described by Skuse (1888 and 1890), held in the Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra, and the Australian Museum, Sydney, were remounted and examined microscopically. Of these, 25 species were described as Sciara Meigen, one as Zygoneura Meigen and one as Trichosia Winnertz. Revision of these species revealed the following: 13 species belong to the genus Bradysia Winnertz (B. amabilis, B. conjuncta, B. crassicornis, B. exsequialis, B. frequens, B. froggatti, B. luctifica, B. maesta, B. mastersi, B. ornatula, B. pernitida, B. pictipes, B. unica), 1 species to the genus Corynoptera Winnertz (C. minutela), 4 species to the genus Austrosciara Schmitz & Mjöberg (Aus. infrequens, Aus. montivaga, Aus. spectabilis, Aus. winnertzi), 2 species to the genus Pseudolycoriella Menzel & Mohrig (Psl. cavatica, Psl. ignobilis), 1 species to the genus Pseudozygomma Mohrig (Pseudoz. maculipennis), 1 species to the genus Sciara Meigen (Sc. tryoni), and 1 species to the genus Scythropochroa Enderlein (Scyth. macleayi). In total 26 species were new combinations. Eight species names were declared as new synonyms: Bradysia pictipes (Skuse, 1888) = Sciara notata Skuse, 1888 syn. n. and = Bradysia seticornis Vilkamaa, Hippa & Mohrig, 2012 (from New Caledonia) syn. n.; Bradysia conjuncta (Skuse, 1890) = Sciara serenipennis Skuse, 1890 syn. n.; Pseudolycoriella cavatica (Skuse, 1888) = Sciara familiaris Skuse, 1888 syn. n. and = Sciara festiva Skuse, 1888 syn. n.; Bradysia luctifica (Skuse, 1888) = Bradysia planistylata Vilkamaa, Hippa & Mohrig, 2012 syn. n.; Sciara tryoni Skuse, 1890 = Sciara insulana Vilkamaa, Hippa & Mohrig, 2015 syn. n. (both species are from New Caledonia); Austrosciara winnertzi (Skuse, 1888) = Sciara rufulenta Edwards, 1927 syn. n. (from New Zealand). Lectotype specimens were designated for 17 species in order to fix the names.

Patterns of Sponge Biodiversity in the Pilbara, Northwestern Australia

This study assessed the biodiversity of sponges within the Integrated Marine and Coastal Regionalisation for Australia (IMCRA) bioregions of the Pilbara using datasets amalgamated from the Western Australian Museum and the Atlas of Living Australia. The Pilbara accounts for a total of 1164 Linnean and morphospecies. A high level of “apparent endemism” was recorded with 78% of species found in only one of six bioregions, with less than 10% confirmed as widely distributed. The Ningaloo, Pilbara Nearshore and Pilbara Offshore bioregions are biodiversity hotspots (>250 species) and are recognised as having the highest conservation value, followed by North West Shelf containing 232 species. Species compositions differed between bioregions, with those that are less spatially separated sharing more species. Notably, the North West Province bioregion (110 species) exhibited the most distinct species composition, highlighting it as a unique habitat within the Pilbara. While sponge biodiversity is apparently high, incomplete sampling effort for the region was identified, with only two sampling events recorded for the Central West Transition bioregion. Furthermore, only 15% of records in the dataset are presently described (Linnean) species, highlighting the continuing need for taxonomic expertise for the conservation and management of marine biodiversity resources.

How diverse were early animal communities? An example from Ediacara Conservation Park, Flinders Ranges, South Australia

Coutts, F.J., Gehling, J.G. & García-Bellido, D.C., August 2016. How diverse were early animal communities? An example from Ediacara Conservation Park, Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518Fossils of the Ediacara biota record the earliest evidence of animal communities and, as such, provide an invaluable glimpse into the abiotic and biotic processes that helped shape the evolution of complex life on Earth. A diverse community of Ediacaran macro-organisms is preserved with high resolution in a fossil bed recently excavated from north Ediacara Conservation Park (NECP) in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Many of the commonly described Ediacaran taxa from the Flinders Ranges are represented on the bed surface and include: Parvancorina, Rugoconites, Spriggina, Dickinsonia, Tribrachidium, Kimberella, Charniodiscus and Yorgia, including two new taxa. Numerous additional fossil-bed fragments from the same locality were analysed that preserve a similar suite of taxa and shared sedimentology. On all surfaces, preserved microbial mat appeared complex, both in topography and in texture, and the unique combination of fine grainsize, high diversity and trace fossils provide insights into the palaeoecology of the ancient organisms that lived during the Ediacaran Period some 550 Ma. Several trace fossils are overlapped by body fossils, indicative of successive events, and complex organismal behaviour. The complexity of this fossil surface suggests that the primordial community was relatively mature and possibly at late-stage succession.Felicity J Coutts [felicity.coutts@adelaide.edu.au], School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5000, South Australia, Australia. James G Gehling [jim.gehling@samuseum.sa.gov.au], South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia. Diego C. García-Bellido [diego.garcia-bellido@adelaide.edu.au], South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia.

Tracking a syntype of the Australian skink Anomalopus leuckartii (Weinland, 1862): 'lost' treasures in the Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden highlight the importance of reassessing and safeguarding natural history collections

We here report the rediscovery of a type specimen of the Australian skink Anomalopus leuckartii (Weinland, 1862) in the Museum of Zoology (Museum für Tierkunde), Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden (accession number MTKD 10205), heretofore presumed lost during World War II. Eidonomic data for the specimen conform to the original species description, and combined with the specimen’s history, we are able to unequivocally identify it as part of the original syntype series. Weinland’s description was based on two specimens, one of which does indeed appear to be lost. Consequently, MTKD 10205 is designated as lectotype of A. leuckartii. This find invalidates the subsequent designation of AM R 44677 (Australian Museum, Sydney) as neotype for the species. The rediscovery highlights the importance of maintaining natural history collections, not merely as static archives but rather as dynamic and lively databases. This in combination with optimal taxonomic expertise as bedrock guarantees an environment, in which new discoveries are not impeded but actively promoted, thereby inevitably advancing modern biodiversity research.

The Australian Sugar Industry Museum

Steam, fire and hard yakka created the successful sugar cane industry!<br />There is more to the sweet tropical grass than the addictive sweet taste, however, and there is more to the Australian Sugar Museum, on the corner of the Bruce Highway and Peregrine Street, Mourilyan, south of Innisfail in far north Queensland, than a collection of old farming equipment.<br />Within its celebration of the sugar industry and the workers whose sweat watered the cane fields, there is an ongoing celebration of learning and art that is affecting not only Queensland but Australia as a whole.

Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats

Wilson, L.A.B., Hand, S.J., López-Aguirre, C., Archer, M., Black, K.H., Beck, R.M.D., Armstrong, K.N. & Wroe, S., July 2016. Cranial shape variation and phylogenetic relationships of extinct and extant Old World leaf-nosed bats. Alcheringa 40, 509–524. ISSN 0311-5518The leaf-nosed bats in Hipposideridae and Rhinonycteridae currently have an Old World tropical to subtropical distribution, with a fossil record extending back to the middle Eocene of Europe. The Riversleigh World Heritage fossil site in northwestern Queensland constitutes a particularly rich archive of faunal diversity for Old World leaf-nosed bats, having yielded more than 20 species. We used 2D geometric morphometrics to quantify cranial shape in hipposiderids and rhinonycterids, with the aim of referring unallocated fossil species, particularly from Riversleigh, to each family within a phylogenetic framework, and using a quantitative approach to reconstruct cranial shape for key clades in these Old World radiations. Our sample comprised 21 extant hipposiderids and rhinonycterids, 1 megadermatid and 1 rhinolophid, in which 31 landmarks were placed in lateral and ventral views, and five measurements were taken in dorsal view. The phylogeny used as the framework for this study was based on an analysis of 64 discrete morphological characters from the dentition, cranium and postcranium scored for 42 extant and fossil hipposiderids and rhinonycterids and five outgroup taxa (rhinolophids and megadermatids). The phylogenetic analysis was conducted using maximum parsimony, with relationships among selected extant taxa constrained to match the results of recent comprehensive molecular studies. Our phylogenetic results suggest that the Riversleigh leaf-nosed bats probably do not represent an endemic Australian radiation, with fossil species spread throughout the tree and several with sister-group relationships with non-Australian taxa. Discriminant analyses (DA) conducted separately on each dataset resulted in cross-validated classification success ranging from 61.9% for ventral landmarks to 71.4% for lateral landmarks. Classification of the original grouped cases resulted in success of 81% for each dataset. Of the eight fossil taxa included as unknowns in the DA, six were found to be assigned to the same group as recovered by the phylogenetic analysis. From our results, we assign the Riversleigh Miocene species Archerops annectens, Brachipposideros watsoni, Brevipalatus mcculloughi, Rhinonicteris tedfordi and Xenorhinos halli to Rhinonycteridae, and Riversleigha williamsi and Hipposideros bernardsigei to Hipposideridae. Our results support Pseudorhinolophus bouziguensis, from the early Miocene of Bouzigues in southern France, as belonging to Hipposideridae, and probably Hipposideros. The reconstructed ancestor of hipposiderids was distinguished from that of the rhinonycterids by having a shorter rostrum, and less of a distinction between the rostrum and braincase.Laura A.B. Wilson [laura.wilson@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au], Camilo López-Aguirre [c.lopez-aguirre@unsw.edu.au], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], PANGEA Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052; Robin M.D. Beck [r.m.d.beck@salford.ac.uk], School of Environmental & Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK; Kyle N. Armstrong* [kyle.armstrong@adelaide.edu.au], Department of Genetics and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia. *Also affiliated with South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia; Stephen Wroe [swroe@une.edu.au], School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, Australia.

Steamships to Suffragettes

ABSTRACTSince 1985 the shipwreck site and related artifacts from the steamship SS Xantho (1872) have been key elements in the Western Australian Museum Maritime Archaeology Department’s research, exhibition, and outreach programs. This article describes a continually evolving, often intuitive, synergy between archaeological fieldwork and analyses, as well as museum interpretations and public engagement that have characterized the Steamships to Suffragettes exhibit conducted as part of a museum in vivo situation. This project has centered on themes locating the SS Xantho within a network of temporal, social, and biographical linkages, including associations between the ship’s engine and a visionary engineer (John Penn), a controversial entrepreneur (Charles Broadhurst), a feminist (Eliza Broadhurst), and a suffragette (Kitty Broadhust), as well as to Aboriginal and “Malay” divers and artists. Achieved with few funds, the project may be a valuable case study at a time when funds allocated to museums and archaeological units are rapidly diminishing.

The genus Uromunna (Crustacea: Isopoda: Munnidae) in New South Wales, Australia, with a key for all known species

ABSTRACTThe invertebrate collection of the Australian Museum revealed the existence of three new species of the genus Uromunna (family Munnidae) from New South Wales, Australia. Uromunna tenagoika sp. nov. from Batemans Bay has the head anterior margin concave, without simple setae; eyes with few ommatidia, eye lobes with both margins parallel, in male posterior margin directed forward; pereonite 7 as wide as pereonite 6, subequal to pleotelson width; pleotelson distal margin pointed, suburopodal shelf present; mandible palp absent; pereopod I propodus robust setae absent; pereopods relatively short; pleopod IV exopod distal tip with one pappose seta. Uromunna rhamnda sp. nov. from Batemans Bay has a head anterior margin concave, without simple setae; eye lobes with both margins parallel, in male posterior margin parallel to frontal margin; pleotelson distal margin pointed, suburopodal shelf absent; mandible palp present; pereopod I propodus robust setae absent; pleopod IV exopod distal tip with one pappose seta. Uromunna eora sp. nov. was found at Southern Creek, located north of Sydney and is the first species of the genus described from a fully freshwater environment with no marine water input. It has a relatively elongate body (length 3.4× width), anterior margin concave, eye lobes with both margins converging distally, in male posterior margin directed forward; pereonite 7 as wide as pereonite 6, wider than pleotelson width; pleotelson distal margin truncate, suburopodal shelf present; mandible palp present; pereopod I propodus robust setae present; pleopod IV exopod distal tip with two pappose setae. This work raises the number of Uromunna species found in Australia to a total of six.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:D877FC47-BC6E-4827-BA89-3A75AFDE1124

On some types of birds (Aves) from the Solomon Islands named by Edward Pierson Ramsay

In the years 1879–1882 the Curator of the Australian Museum, Edward P. Ramsay, named 15 bird taxa largely based upon specimens collected in the Solomon Islands by James F. Cockerell in 1878. Investigations based upon the original correspondence and examination of the specimens determined that the specimens used by Ramsay to describe these taxa were dispersed to at least six museums. The number of types collected by Cockerell is larger than previously thought, with only 40 of the 93 known extant type specimens being held by the Australian Museum. The dates of publication of these taxa, the journals of original publication and related nomenclatorial issues are discussed.

Looking back: the story of a collection. The Papunya Permanent Collection of early Western Desert paintings at the Australian Museum

Looking back: the story of a collection. The Papunya Permanent Collection of early Western Desert paintings at the Australian Museum

South polar greenhouse insects (Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera) from the mid-Cretaceous Tupuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, eastern Zealandia

Stilwell, J.D., Vitacca, J. & Mays, C., April 2016. South polar greenhouse insects (Arthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera) from the mid-Cretaceous Tupuangi Formation, Chatham Islands, eastern Zealandia. Alcheringa 40, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518 Rare insect body fossils have been discovered for the first time after 175 years of research on the Chatham Islands, eastern ‘Zealandia’. The coleopteran (beetle) insects, dated to ca 95 Ma and extracted from fine-grained, upper delta plain facies in the lower Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian–lowermost Turonian) Tupuangi Formation at Waihere Bay on the remote Pitt Island, represent the most southern, polar-latitude (ca 70–80°S) faunal assemblage from the Cretaceous recorded to date. Three species are represented in the insect fauna: a portion of a segmented abdomen of a probable carabid? ground beetle and two distinct coleopteran elytra, one preserved with a brilliantly iridescent carapace upon discovery, comparable with Cretaceous taxa within the Buprestidae (metallic wood borers), but identification with the Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) or Tenebrionidae (darkling beetles) can not be discounted entirely. Another specimen has more weakly preserved greenish iridescence and has a morphology consistent with Carabidae; given the preservational deficiencies and rarity of material, the specimens are attributed to Buprestidae? genus et species indeterminate and Carabidae? genus et species indeterminate A and B, respectively. These coleopteran fossils represent the only recorded iridescence in Mesozoic invertebrates from Zealandia. Importantly, these mid-Cretaceous insects existed in South Polar forests near the height of the ‘hothouse’ phase of relatively warm, alternating intervals of full daylight in the summer months and total darkness during the winter, before eastern Zealandia diverged at ca 83 Ma from the Marie Byrd Land region of West Antarctica, as part of the final break-up of Gondwana. Jeffrey D. Stilwell* [ jeffrey.stilwell@monash.edu ], Jesse V. Vitacca [ jesse.vitacca@gmail.com ] & Chris Mays [ chris.mays@monash.edu ], School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia. *Also affiliated with the Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia.