Australian Museum Research Articles

Review of the hyperiidean amphipod family Lycaeidae Claus, 1879 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyperiidea)

This is the first comprehensive taxonomic review of the family Lycaeidae. This study is based primarily on the extensive collections of the Natural History Museum, Denmark (NHMD, formerly ZMUC) and the US National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA (USNM), and on additional material from the South African Museum (SAM) and in the South Australian Museum (SAMA). The two currently recognized genera in the family, Lycaea Dana, 1852 and Simorhynchotus Stebbing, 1888, are maintained with the latter still regarded monotypic with S. antennarius (Claus, 1871). Characters used to distinguish species in the past are re-evaluated in order to determine their validity. There are 15 nominal species of Lycaea in the literature, excluding Pseudolycaea pachypoda Claus, 1879 and Metalycaea globosa Stephensen, 1925. Pseudolycaea Claus, 1879 is regarded a synonym of Lycaea, as confirmed by this study, and M. globosa is a junior synonym of L. serrata Claus, 1879, as demonstrated by an examination of the type material. Of the remaining nominal species many have been synonymized with L. pulex Marion, 1874 in the past, often based on erroneous literature references. Thus, the taxonomic status of all nominal species was redetermined by the examination of type material or from the original literature reference if type material could not be found. In conclusion, ten species of Lycaea are recognized as valid, including three described as new. Lycaea bovallii Chevreux, 1900 is determined to be a valid species with the following as junior synonyms, L. gracilis Spandl, 1924, L. bajensis Shoemaker, 1925 and L. bovallioides Stephensen, 1925. It seems to be widely distributed and relatively common in the tropical regions of all the world’s oceans, including the Mediterranean Sea. The other species recognized as valid are L. lilia Volkov, 1982; L. nasuta Claus, 1879; L. pachypoda (Claus, 1879); L. pulex Marion, 1874 (L. robusta Claus, 1879, L. similis Claus, 1879 and L. pauli Stebbing, 1888 regarded junior synonyms); L. serrata Claus, 1879 and L. vincentii Stebbing, 1888 (Amphipronoe longicornuta Giles, 1888 a junior synonym). In addition, three species are described as new to science; L. intermedia sp. nov., L. proserrata sp. nov. and L. osbornae sp. nov. All were found in the tropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; the former two are relatively common and widespread. All species are described and illustrated and a key is provided to facilitate their identification.

The Influence of Collaborative and Multi-Modal Mixed Reality: Cultural Learning in Virtual Heritage

Studies in the virtual heritage (VH) domain identify collaboration (social interaction), engagement, and a contextual relationship as key elements of interaction design that influence users’ experience and cultural learning in VH applications. The purpose of this study is to validate whether collaboration (social interaction), engaging experience, and a contextual relationship enhance cultural learning in a collaborative and multi-modal mixed reality (MR) heritage environment. To this end, we have designed and implemented a cloud-based collaborative and multi-modal MR application aiming at enhancing user experience and cultural learning in museums. A conceptual model was proposed based on collaboration, engagement, and relationship in the context of MR experience. The MR application was then evaluated at the Western Australian Shipwrecks Museum by experts, archaeologists, and curators from the gallery and the Western Australian Museum. Questionnaire, semi-structured interview, and observation were used to collect data. The results suggest that integrating collaborative and multi-modal interaction methods with MR technology facilitates enhanced cultural learning in VH.

Demon Monsters or Misunderstood Casualties?

Demon Monsters or Misunderstood Casualties?

The first fossil scorpion from Australia

The fossil record of scorpions in Australia is effectively non-existent. This lack of data is striking as there is evidence for other euchelicerates including eurypterids, spiders, and xiphosurids. Here, we describe a euarthropod from the Middle Triassic Hawkesbury Sandstone of Sydney, New South Wales, and attribute it to the Order Scorpiones. Due to lack of other diagnostic features, we are unable to assign the specimen to a higher-order classification. Nonetheless, this discovery confirms that scorpions were present in Australia since at least the mid-Triassic. Russell D. C. Bicknell* [rdcbicknell@gmail.com], Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, 2351, Australia; Patrick M. Smith [patrick.smith@australian.museum], Palaeontology Department, Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia, and Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia.

Alexander William Robert Bevan, July 25, 1951–February 11, 2021

Alexander William Robert Bevan, July 25, 1951–February 11, 2021

Egyptian funerary boat model in the Australian Museum: dating and analysis

Egyptian funerary boat model in the Australian Museum: dating and analysis

Phyllozoon and Aulozoon: key components of a novel Ediacaran death assemblage in Bathtub Gorge, Heysen Range, South Australia

AbstractThe recognition of fossiliferous horizons both below and above the classical Ediacara levels of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, significantly expands the potential of this candidate World Heritage succession. Here we document a small window into the biology and taphonomy of the late Ediacaran seafloor within the new Nilpena Sandstone Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in Bathtub Gorge, northern Heysen Range. A 1 m2 slab extracted from the gorge, now on permanent display at the South Australian Museum, has a death assemblage dominated by the erniettomorph Phyllozoon hanseni Jenkins and Gehling 1978 and a newly named macroscopic tubular body fossil – Aulozoon soliorum gen. et sp. nov. – on its fine sandstone bed sole. The orientations and juxtaposition of these taxa suggest overprinting of an in situ benthic Phyllozoon community by sand-filled tubes of Aulozoon carried in by a storm wave-base surge. Phyllozoon hanseni is a widespread species that is restricted to the Nilpena Sandstone Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite, whereas Dickinsonia costata ranges from the underlying Ediacara Sandstone Member into the Nilpena Sandstone Member. Fundamental differences in the ways these two vendobiont taxa are constructed and preserved may provide insights into their biology and phylogenetic affinities. In the Nilpena Sandstone Member, D. costata is joined by Dickinsonia rex Jenkins 1992, which appears to be confined to the member, and is here re-described to clarify its taxonomic status and stratigraphic distribution.

Foundational photographs

Abstract Overlooked among the collections of the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery, opened in Perth in 1895, is a large cross-disciplinary photograph collection. Tracing the accumulation and use of this collection through the archival record reveals its integral role in the developing institution’s interaction with global social, intellectual and administrative centres. These interactions demonstrate the value of the photograph in the propagation of modernist ideas of progress within an institution geographically isolated from contemporary Western centres of knowledge and empire, and in the promotion and recognition of the burgeoning potential and identity of a developing state. The evidence of use within the institution demonstrates the integral, but often overlooked, role of photographs within early collecting institutions, and places them squarely as foundational to Western Australia’s collections.

Use of anthropogenic-related nest material and nest parasite prevalence have increased over the past two centuries in Australian birds.

Global plastic production has increased exponentially since the 1940s, resulting in the increased presence of anthropogenic debris in the environment. Recent studies have shown that birds incorporate anthropogenic debris into their nests, which can reduce nest ectoparasite loads. However, we know little about the long-term history of interactions among birds, anthropogenic debris, and ectoparasites. Our study took a unique approach to address this issue by determining the prevalence of anthropogenic debris and ectoparasitic nest flies (Protocalliphora and Passeromyia spp.) in 893 bird nests from 224 species between 1832 and 2018, which were sourced from Australian museum collections. The prevalence of anthropogenic material increased from approximately 4% in 1832 to almost 30% in 2018. This change was driven by an increase in the incorporation of synthetic rather than biodegradable anthropogenic debris (by 2018 ~ 25% of all nests contained synthetics), with the first synthetic item being found in a nest from 1956 in the city of Melbourne. Nest parasite prevalence increased over time but contrary to other studies, there was no relationship between habitat type or anthropogenic material and parasite presence. Our study is the first to use museum specimens to quantify temporal and spatial impacts of anthropogenic material on birds, the results of which justifies contemporary concerns regarding the ubiquitous nature of human impacts on terrestrial wildlife.

Proviviparus talbragarensis gen. et sp. nov., the first viviparid snail from the Late Jurassic of Australia

Extinct freshwater snails of the family Viviparidae can be found on all continents with the exception of Madagascar and Antarctica. These snails are usually thought to have evolved in the Early Jurassic of Laurasia. Our findings suggest that viviparids may have achieved an almost worldwide distribution by the Late Jurassic. Here we report viviparid snails from the Upper Jurassic Talbragar Fish Bed in New South Wales, Australia, and describe them as a new genus and species. This represents the first reliable record of the family Viviparidae from the Jurassic of Gondwana. One specimen shows a thin operculum and in another there is evidence of brooding. Michael Frese [ michael.frese@canberra.edu.au ], Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia and Australian Museum Research Institute, College Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia; Winston Ponder [wponder@bigpond.net.au ], Australian Museum Research Institute, College Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia.

Mammal type specimens in the Macleay Collections, University of Sydney.

Type material of 12 mammal taxa originally proposed as species or subspecies are housed in the former Macleay Museum (now Macleay Collections, Chau Chak Wing Museum), University of Sydney and consist of seven holotypes and 12 syntypes. These were published from 1875 to 1887, five by N.N. Miklouho-Maclay and seven by E.P. Ramsay, of which six are currently considered valid taxa. Six type specimens are identified in the Collection for the first time. This includes rediscovery of the holotype skull of the New Guinean forest wallaby Dorcopsis chalmersii Miklouho-Maclay not reported since its description in 1884, a likely syntype of the bandicoot Perameles macroura torosa Ramsay, and three additional syntypes of the flying fox Pteropus (Epomops?) epularius Ramsay. The holotype of the dasyurid Antechinus (Podabrus) froggatti Ramsay, housed at the Australian Museum since before 1959, is also discussed. Limited specimen data currently prevents validation of an additional six specimens identified here as suspected syntypes of four further names: the macropodoids Halmaturus mastersii Krefft, Halmaturus crassipes Ramsay and Hypsiprymnodon moschatus Ramsay, and the bandicoot Perameles moresbyensis Ramsay. Individual accounts are given for a total of 21 proposed names. Type material of four of these remain unlocated in world collections and it is not known if they were ever in the Macleay Collections: the bandicoot Brachymelis garagassi Miklouho-Maclay, 1884; the wallaby Macropus tibol Miklouho-Maclay, 1885; the cuscus Cuscus chrysorrhous var. goldiei Ramsay and the giant rat Hapalotis papuanus Ramsay. The nomenclatural status of the possum Phalangista pinnata Ramsay, 1877, a possible nomen nudum, is also discussed. No nomenclatural actions are taken in this paper.

On the Mysid crustacean genus Heteromysis (Mysidae: Heteromysinae) of the Tasman Sea, with notes on the tribe Heteromysini

The mysid fauna of the Tasman Sea and its Australian coast, in particular, is barely known. The first special study of the subfamily Heteromysinae (family Mysidae) in the waters of New South Wales, based on the collections in the Australian Museum, yielded seven species of the genus Heteromysis (tribe Heteromysini). The Tasman Sea species of Heteromysis are distributed among three subgenera: Heteromysis s. str., Gnathomysis and Olivemysis. New species of Heteromysis include H. (H.) keablei, sp. nov. and H. (O.) murrayae sp. nov. The Tasman Sea members of the subgenus Heteromysis s. str., together with a number of other congeners, form a group of species with a particular structure of the pereopod 1 endopod and antennulae. Comparative review of the species of Heteromysis resulted in species rearrangement of another Heteromysini member, the genus Heteromysoides (for which a type species is fixed herein), with its species divided between Heteromysis, Platyops and Deltamysis (the tribe Mysidetini). Platyops is transferred to Heteromysini.

Papuan Gulf spirit boards and detecting social boundaries: a preliminary investigation. In From Field to Museum—Studies from Melanesia in Honour of Robin Torrence, ed. Jim Specht, Val Attenbrow, and Jim Allen

This paper is an exploratory investigation of Papuan Gulf spirit boards. These ceremonial items and their designs were owned by clans and other patrilineal groups and comprised an important aspect of traditional ceremonial life. During the early contact period, they were intensively collected by Europeans and now appear among world-wide museum holdings of Papua New Guinea material culture. The Australian Museum has an extensive collection of spirit boards that provide the primary data for this study. Here spirit board design elements are analysed to understand how they are distributed between or only retained within cultural groups living in the east-central Papuan Gulf. The paper also examines ways to analyse spirit board designs.

The Longgu community time capsule: contemporary collecting in Solomon Islands for the Australian Museum. In From Field to Museum—Studies from Melanesia in Honour of Robin Torrence, ed. Jim Specht, Val Attenbrow, and Jim Allen

The Longgu Community Time Capsule was a collaborative project to acquire a contemporary collection from the Longgu community in Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands for the Australian Museum, Sydney. It built upon an earlier engagement of Longgu community representatives, Steward Bungana and Florence Watepura, with the Ian Hogbin collection from Longgu made in 1933. Bungana and Watepura reported back to their community and through the Longgu Community Time Capsule project, Longgu people formulated the subject and methodology for the creation of a contemporary collection. This paper describes aspects of their engagement with the Museum, its collections, and researchers, which formed the basis for making ceremonial feasting bowls for the Museum. Through interaction with the historical collection the Longgu decided that carving manifested cultural knowledge but carving skills were endangered. The project provided an example of the process of value production described by Howard Morphy in which museum collections are continually re-contextualised, re-examined, and made relevant in the present. The project also supported the view that museum collections are cultural resources that allow for distinctive collaborative methodologies for interrogating both the past and the present in a process described by Nicholas Thomas as the “museum as method.”

A Terrestrial Vertebrate Palaeontological Reconnaissance of Lord Howe Island, Australia

Lord Howe Island, situated 790 km northeast of Sydney in the Tasman Sea, was first encountered in February 1788, and one of the last islands discovered by humans. Apparently, Polynesians were unaware of the island. At the time of discovery, seabirds dominated the island, with a terrestrial avifauna comprising five endemic species and eight subspecies. The island was initially a whaling refurbishment station until establishment of a settlement in 1834, which resulted in the extinction of three endemic birds due to over-hunting. The accidental invasion of black rats in 1918 resulted in another wave of extinctions, with the loss of five passerines, followed by an endemic owl c. 1940. Museum skins represent all but one of these species, but almost no skeletal remains exist. Here, we present the results of a palaeontological survey that explored subfossil depositaries on Lord Howe Island, including analysis of hitherto unstudied Lord Howe bird subfossil collections held in Australian museums. Our discoveries include the first known skeletal elements of six extinct species, five recorded in context, and a particularly fossil-rich sand dune site on Lord Howe Island that contained hundreds of terrestrial bird subfossils.

Trilobites from the mid-Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) of the Amadeus Basin, central Australia

Sixteen species of trilobites are described from the Middle Ordovician (mid-Darriwilian, Da2) Stairway Sandstone and Stokes Siltstone at multiple spot localities from the Amadeus Basin, Northern Territory, central Australia. New trilobite taxa described include two new genera: Ghanaspis gen. nov. and Iridis gen. nov.; as well as five new species; Eisarkaspis jonesi sp. nov., Ghanaspis ritchiei gen. et sp. nov., Iridis schoonorum gen. et sp. nov., Lycophron titan sp. nov., and Norasaphus (Norasaphus) patersoni sp. nov. Of these, Lycophron titan sp. nov. is the largest species of trilobite so far documented from Australia and possibly the third largest in the world. Also redescribed is Basilicus thorntoni [=Asaphus (Megalaspis?) thorntoni] based on the recently rediscovered type material and additional specimens from elsewhere in the basin. *P.M. Smith [Patrick.Smith@austmus.gov.au], Palaeontology Department, Australian Museum Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, 2010, Australia and, Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia; J.R. Laurie [john.r.laurie@gmail.com], Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia.

The Triassic insects of Denmark Hill, Ipswich, Southeast Queensland: the creation, use and dispersal of a collection

Type and additional fossil insects from the Late Triassic Denmark Hill locality in Southeast Queensland, Australia, are held in the collections of the Queensland Museum (Brisbane), the Australian Museum (Sydney) and the Natural History Museum of the United Kingdom (London). The history of these collections shows that they were the product of a concerted effort in the first two decades of the twentieth century to extract the fossils by Benjamin Dunstan, Queensland’s Chief Government Geologist, and to describe the fossils by Dunstan and Robin Tillyard, the foremost Australian entomologist of the time. They collaborated closely to document the late Triassic insects of Australia, at the same time as Dunstan carefully curated and organised both the official government collection of these insects for the Geological Survey of Queensland, and his own private collection. The death of the two men in the 1930s led to the sale by his widow of Dunstan’s private fossil collection (including type and type counterpart specimens) to the British Museum, and the donation of Tillyard’s by his widow to the same institution, in addition to some material that went to the Australian Museum. This paper documents the locations of all of the published specimens. The history of the Denmark Hill fossils (a site no longer accessible for collection) highlights the problems for researchers of the dispersal of holdings such as these, and in particular the separation of the part and counterpart of the same insect fossils. It also raises ethical questions arising from the ownership and disposal of private holdings of important fossil material collected in an official capacity.

Wildlife crime in Australia.

Wildlife crime is on a massive scale by whatever metric is used. The illegal trade in wildlife and related products is leading to the decline and extinction of many iconic species from rhino to tigers. Almost all countries are signatures to CITES and therefore should enforce national legislation if alleged infringements of trade of wildlife occur. No country is immune from this illegal trade although countries like Australia have their own specific wildlife crimes. Australia is home to many reptilian, amphibian and avian species that are highly prized, predominantly as pets. Collection of protected species from the wild is illegal in all jurisdictions yet policing remote areas of the outback, where so much of the native endemic fauna and flora lives, is nearly impossible. The illegal international trade in these species is highlighted by two case studies provided in this review. A further case highlights the issues of each of the six states of Australia having separate legislation, which is compounded when wildlife crime can be inter-state crime. Australia is one of the few countries having an institute, based at the Australian Museum, with an accredited wildlife forensic science laboratory and therefore the capability to undertake forensic testing of seized samples. One way to reduce wildlife crime may be by educating those who buy illegally seized products that there is a direct connection between the dead animal from which it came and the devasting effect this purchase has on the environment.

Reflections on Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in a Chinese Australian Community Museum

ABSTRACT The cultural and linguistic heritage of Chinese Australians is complex and often poorly understood by Australian communities. It can be challenging for GLAM sector organisations to both understand and share the complexity of Chinese culture in Australia in a meaningful and coherent way. Using the Chinese Museum in Melbourne, Australia as a case study, this paper reflects on how this diversity shaped the work of the Museum. Drawing on personal experience as the curator of the Museum, the author argues that communities are evolving, our understandings of them imperfect and so learning about cultural complexity is an ongoing iterative process.

Upper Oligocene–lower-Middle Miocene peramelemorphians from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations of South Australia

The oldest fossils referable to the marsupial order Peramelemorphia (which includes modern bandicoots and bilbies) stratigraphically date from the upper Oligocene of Australia. Here we describe new ancient peramelemorphian remains from the Etadunna, Namba and Wipajiri formations, which fill gaps in the documented evolutionary history of the clade spanning some 10 million years. The identified taxa include three new species of Bulungu that incorporate the oldest stem peramelemorphian known to date from Faunal Zone A of the Etadunna Formation. We also report a new genus and species of potential thylacomyid, which pushes back the divergence of bilbies by ∼10 million years. Finally, we present a phylogenetic analysis that clarifies the evolutionary relationships of these new taxa with a reassignment of the genus Bulungu to Yaraloidea. Kenny J. Travouillon* [Kenny.Travouillon@museum.wa.gov.au], Western Australian Museum, Collections and Research, 49 Kew Street, Welshpool, Western Australia, 6106, Australia; Robin M. D. Beck [R.M.D.Beck@salford.ac.uk], Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, UK; Judd A. Case [jcase@ewu.edu], Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, 99004, USA.