Macleay Museum Research Articles

Using mitochondrial DNA to identify the provenance of 19th century Kākāpō skins held in Australia’s oldest natural history collection, the Macleay

ABSTRACT Museum specimens of endangered species are important to determine pre-decline population structure and to characterise loss of diversity in surviving populations. Kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), the critically endangered New Zealand ground parrot, suffered massive population declines in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries resulting in a genetic bottleneck and adverse inbreeding effects. The University of Sydney Chau Chak Wing Museum (formerly the Macleay Museum) holds several Kākāpō study skins in the Macleay Collections (Australia’s oldest natural history collection), obtained in the mid1800s prior to population declines, but with unknown provenance. Here, we used ancient DNA (aDNA) methods to sequence mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from nine Macleay skins and compared them to published sequences of North and South Island Kākāpō to establish the provenance of each skin. Phylogeography suggests the skins were collected on the southern west coast of the South Island, excluding the North Island as a source. Genetic results corroborate historical records of scientific field trips in the mid1800s taken by museum directors Sir James Hector and Sir Julius von Haast, who sent the skins to the Macleay from New Zealand. All nine Macleay specimens yielded unique mtDNA genome sequences consistent with previous findings of high mtDNA haplotype diversity in pre-decline Kākāpō, especially within southern South Island populations. The Macleay Collection’s skins are some of the oldest historical museum specimens of Kākāpō to have been genetically analysed and are an important genetic resource for future studies of Kākāpō genomic diversity.

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.

Taxonomic changes resulting from a review of the types of Australian Anoplognathini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) housed in Swedish natural history collections.

The type material of Australian Anoplognathini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) housed in Swedish natural history collections is reviewed, concerning three genera: Anoplognathus Leach, 1815, Amblyterus MacLeay, 1819, and Repsimus MacLeay, 1819. The species were described by G.J. Billberg, J.W. Dalman, L. Gyllenhal, C.J. Schönherr, O. Swartz, and C.P. Thunberg. The contemporary type material of W.S. MacLeay in the Macleay Museum, Sydney, is also examined as it has been overlooked by previous researchers. In total, type specimens for 12 species described between 1817 and 1822 were found in the Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet in Stockholm the Evolutionsmuseet in Uppsala and the Macleay Museum. Five of these species are valid: Anoplognathus brunnipennis, (Gyllenhal, 1817); A. olivieri (Schönherr Dalman, 1817); A. porosus (Dalman, 1817); Amblyterus cicatricosus (Gyllenhal, 1817); and Repsimus manicatus (Swartz, 1817). The other seven species are junior synonyms, as follows (senior synonym first): A. brunnipennis = Rutela chloropyga Thunberg, 1822 (new synonym); A. olivieri = Rutela lacunosa Thunberg, 1822 (new synonym); A. viridiaeneus (Donovan, 1805) = A. latreillei (Schönherr Gyllenhal, 1817); A. viriditarsus Leach, 1815 = Rutela analis Dalman, 1817; and R. manicatus = Anoplognathus brownii W.J. MacLeay, 1819 = A. dytiscoides W. J. MacLeay, 1819 = Rutela ruficollis Thunberg, 1822 (new synonym). Authorship of A. latreillei and A. olivieri is corrected, as noted above. Anoplognathus brunnipennis has been misidentified for the last 60 years at least, leading to the synonymy noted above. Anoplognathus flavipennis Boisduval, 1835 (revised status), is reinstated as the oldest available name for the misidentified A. brunnipennis and the types of A. flavipennis in the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, are illustrated. Lectotypes are designated for: Anoplognathus brownii, A. flavipennis, A. dytiscoides, Melolontha cicatricosa, Rutela analis, R. brunnipennis, R. lacunosa, R. latreillei, R. manicata, R. olivieri, R. porosa, R. ruficollis, and R. chloropyga. Photographs of all type specimens examined are presented for the first time.

Researching the natural history trade of the nineteenth century

ABSTRACT The archives of the Australian Museum and the Macleay Museum are deployed to analyse the global trading networks of two important Australian natural history collectors in the mid-nineteenth century. The evidence reveals much about the challenges they faced transacting in heterogeneous specimens over long distances. It also uncovers some of the solutions they pursued, particularly in choosing the appropriate type of transaction, forging trust-based trading networks, obtaining up-to-date scientific information, and drawing on the infrastructure of existing, regular commodity trades.

Collaboration with the Past, Collaboration for the Future: Joseph Neparrŋa Gumbula’s Makarr-garma Exhibition

AbstractThe Yolŋu elder and academic Joseph Neparrŋa Gumbula curated the exhibition, Makarr-garma: Aboriginal Collections from a Yolŋu Perspective (Makarr-garma), staged at the University of Sydney’s Macleay Museum from 29 November 2009 to 15 May 2010. This article describes this exhibition’s development and curatorial rationale. A product of his 2007 Australian Research Council (ARC) Indigenous Research Fellowship at the University, Makarr-garma reflected Gumbula’s Yolŋu philosophies as applied to collections in the Gallery, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector. Employing artworks, cultural objects, historic photographs, natural history specimens and his own manikay (songs), he framed this show as a garma (open) ceremonial performance that spanned an archetypal Yolŋu day. The exhibition was immersive and “culturally resonant” (Gilchrist, Indigenising), and provides intellectual and practical insights for the GLAM sector’s representation and management of Indigenous collections.

Matjabala Mali’ Buku-ruŋanmaram: New Pathways for Indigenous Cultural Survival through Yolŋu Explorations of the University of Sydney Archives

AbstractThis article was adapted by Aaron Corn from a lecture presented by Joe Gumbula at the Koori Centre at the University of Sydney on 5 April 2007. The day before, Joe had been admitted to the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa at the University, and had only recently started work at the Koori Centre on his first Australian Research Council (ARC) project as an ARC Indigenous Research Fellow. Called “Elder Assessments of Early Material Culture Collections from Arnhem Land and Contemporary Access Needs to them among their Source Communities” (DI0775822) and including Aaron Corn as a nominal Mentor, this was the first ARC project to be led by a Yolŋu Chief Investigator. It enabled Joe to undertake detailed research into the Yolŋu heritage collections held in the University of Sydney’s Archives and Macleay Museum. Eighteen members of Joe’s family from Miliŋinbi (Milingimbi) and Galiwin’ku, who were visiting Sydney to attend his graduation ceremony, were present at this lecture. Joe’s assured and impassioned delivery on this occasion aptly demonstrates his exemplary knowledge of Yolŋu heritage, his mastery in applying Yolŋu law to its interpretation, and his ability to engage others in the process and significance of collections research. All University of Sydney materials that Joe presented in the lecture were later published in his 2011 book, Matjabala Mali’ Buku-ruŋanmaram: Images from Miliŋinbi (Milingimbi) and Surrounds, 1926–1948, and, in this article, are cross-referenced to this source, which remains available for purchase from Sydney University Press.

F.L. de Castelnau's Norman River fishes housed in the Macleay Museum,University of Sydney.

Type specimens were located in the Macleay Museum for five species described by F.L. de Castelnau: Kurtus gulliveri (syntype), Pseudoambassis macleayi (lectotype and two paralectotypes), Pseudoambassis elongatus (lectotype and paralectotype), Acanthoperca gulliveri (syntype) and Engraulis nasutus (syntypes). The last-named is shown to be a senior subjective synonym of Anchovia aestuaria Ogibly 1910, and is referred to the genus Thryssa Cuvier 1829.

Eighteenth-century West African insects in the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney

Henry Smeathman (1742–1786), best known for his essay on the west African termites, travelled to Sierra Leone in 1771 to collect naturalia for a group of wealthy sponsors. One of these sponsors, Dru Drury (1724–1803), was keen on African insects. Drury later described and illustrated many of these in the third volume of his Illustrations of natural history (1782). Two years after Drury died, his collection was auctioned in London. A key purchaser at this sale was Alexander Macleay (1767–1848), later appointed Colonial Secretary to New South Wales. His insects travelled with him to Sydney and are now in the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney. A number of these insects, collected by Smeathman and despatched from Sierra Leone, appear to be extant in the Macleay Museum. Chief of our discoveries is the type specimen for Goliathus drurii originally figured by Drury in Illustrations of natural history, volume 3, plate XL (1782). By matching other extant insects to the text and illustrations in the same volume we believe we have found type specimens for Scarabaeus torquata Drury, 1782 , and Papilio antimachus Drury, 1782 .

Dr William H. James 1852–76: medical doctor and naturalist

Dr William Hughes James (1852–76), commonly known as Dr James, was an American citizen, originally from Virginia, USA. He travelled with William Macleay's Chevert Expedition to New Guinea in 1875, assuming dual roles as the ship's surgeon and as a collector / taxidermist. The expedition collected in northern Queensland, the Torres Strait Islands and New Guinea. At the conclusion of the expedition Dr James returned to New Guinea and continued collecting, and while doing so he was murdered by natives. While many of his specimens were never recorded against his name, at least 99 birds, three mammals and some invertebrates were. They are now in the Natural History Museum, Tring, and the Macleay Museum, Univ. of Sydney. Very little has ever been published about Dr James despite his participation in an important and historic international expedition. This paper presents what is known based on published and unpublished sources.

Botany, GIS and archives combine to assess the provenance of historical Kakapo study-skins stuffed with New Zealand bryophytes

Museum specimens are a portal to the past, offering unique opportunities for improving knowledge of endangered species and the practices of past scientists. The Macleay Museum holds twelve Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) skins received in 1877 from Sir James Hector of the New Zealand Colonial Museum. Unfortunately beyond this, the provenance of the Macleay Kakapo is unknown, limiting their value. Somewhat unusually, the 140 year-old skins are stuffed with bryophytes. Here we attempt to resolve where the Macleay Kakapo were collected by synthesising distributional data for the mosses and liverworts with which the Kakapo are stuffed with archival evidence. We developed the hypothesis that Dr Hector himself may have collected the birds in Fiordland. Our study demonstrates that through careful examination, ornithologists can learn more about specimen history, and potentially solve the common unknown provenance problem of 19th Century museum bird specimens.

South American mummy trafficking

Nineteenth-century fascination for the exhibition of mummies from around the world promoted the trafficking of cultural objects from remote places including, as reviewed here, the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. While well-funded and organized expeditions travelled the world seeking this material, independent sailors and traders also returned to Europe and beyond with items of exotica for sale. The Macleay Museum, at the University of Sydney, has the well-preserved remains of a human female in its collection, with no record of its provenance. The remains may correspond to two Peruvian mummies brought to Australia by Captain George Duniam in 1851. Besides mummies, his worldwide enterprises included the trafficking of slaves from Polynesia to the coast of South America, and camelids out of Peru – practices still current in the twenty-first century.

The lectotype of Goliathus drurii Westwood, 1837 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) in the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, Australia.

The lectotype of Goliathus drurii Westwood (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) has been located to the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, Australia. Collected in 1775, this specimen represents the second species of Goliathus to be illustrated in European literature, however eluding a proper species description until 1837. This important specimen, overlooked by previous curators, represents another portion of the Dru Drury collections purchased by Alexander McLeay now held in the Macleay Museum.

Dodo, Raphus cucullatus, in the Macleay Museum, The University of Sydney, Australia

Dodo, <i>Raphus cucullatus</i>, in the Macleay Museum, The University of Sydney, Australia

Museum: The Macleays, Their Collections and the Search for Order.

STACEY and Hay have previously collaborated on the volume Herbarium (Stacey and Hay 2004) regarding collections held in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Ashley Hay has published two books of narrative non-fiction. Her essays, short stories and journalism have appeared in various periodicals including The Bulletin where she was a literary editor. Robyn Stacey is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Western Sydney. She is an acclaimed photographer, in Australia, with her photography shown in Australia and internationally. This book is about the history, collectors and collections of The Macleay Museum at The University of Sydney. Its aim is to bring the reader closer to the collectors and collections by breathing life into the characters and selected specimens in the collection; according to the dust-jacket’s hyperbole, to throw open the doors of the museum and its rich collections. The authors develop the book with their individual skills, one of writing and one of photography. The second is facilitated through its aesthetic appeal, its folio size and large photographic reproductions of strikingly coloured specimens. The whole is a coffee-table-style-book with a text that digs deeper developing the background to the personalities and collections, intertwining them with the history of early systematists/collectors, which provides the backbone of the text.

Dufaycolor: materials, techniques and deterioration

This paper investigates the materials and techniques of the additive colour screen process known as Dufaycolor. The focus of the paper is on Dufaycolor as used in still photography, with only brief mention of its use in cinematography. Included is a description of the general principles of additive colour processes; a brief comparison of the Autochrome and Paget processes with Dufaycolor; a history of Louis Dufay’s processes, culminating in Dufaycolor; the technical composition of Dufaycolor transparencies; manufacturing techniques; and how the photographic image was formed and viewed. Transparency types and sizes are also described. In addition, the paper provides a visual description of a number of Dufaycolor transparencies held in Australian collections, giving characteristics that can aid in the identification of this unusual photographic process. This description includes a brief discussion of possible causes of deterioration. Information was sourced from literature and an inspection of original materials from three Sydney cultural institutions: the Lucy Osburn–Nightingale Museum at the Sydney Hospital, the State Library of NSW and University of Sydney Macleay Museum.

Range extension of two invasive crab species in eastern Australia: Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus) and Pyromaia tuberculata (Lockington)

Relatively few introduced crabs are presently known from Australian waters. The present report significantly extends the documented range of the European Shore Crab Carcinus maenas (Linnaeus) and the Fire Crab Pyromaia tuberculata (Lockington) in eastern Australia, based on recently collected specimens now deposited in the Australian museum, Sydney (AM), and old collections in the Macleay museum, University of Sydney (MM) (Appendix). Carcinus maenas is well known as an invasive and destructive species (Behrens Yamada, 2001). The species is native to the northeastern Atlantic but is now established in southern Australia, South Africa, the northern Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America (Carlton and Cohen, 2003). Carcinus maenas was first reported in Australia in 1900 from Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, and is believed to have arrived on hull fouling on ships or amongst discarded, solid, marine ballast (Fulton and Grant, 1902). Owing to the busy shipping trade between European ports and Port Phillip Bay in the 19th century, it is likely that Port Phillip Bay was the original site of introduction (Proctor and Thresher, 1997). Carcinus maenas has since been reported from the Swan River, Western Australia, Gulf St. Vincent and the Coorong, South Australia, eastern Tasmania and Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, to Narooma, southern New South Wales (Furlani, 1996; Proctor and Thresher, 1997) (Fig. 1(A)). The present new eastern Australian records of C. maenas from Jervis Bay, Lake Conjola, and the Sydney area extend the documented range in New South Wales from Nangudga Lake, near Narooma (36°15'S), northwards by almost 300 km. Aside from the listed specimens, C. maenas was also sighted in the littoral zpne by the present author at the following localities on the

Australian university museums and the Internet

Two different approaches have been used in Australia to make data and images from university museums and collections available on the Internet in a meaningful, user‐friendly way. Vanessa Mack is director of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, and formerly senior registrar at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. She is on the editorial board of Archives and Museum Informatics: Cultural Heritage Informatics Quarterly (Kluwer Academic Publishers), chair of the Movable Cultural Heritage Reference Group of the Heritage Council of New South Wales, and member of various University of Sydney Heritage and Museum committees. In 1997 she acted as co‐ordinator of the federally funded pilot project to create Australian University Museums on Line (AUMOL), a combined catalogue‐with‐pictures of the holdings of university museums. She is also on the co‐ordinating committee of the National Teaching and Learning Data Base project which grew out of AUMOL. Richard Llewellyn was formerly senior registrar of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. In 1997 he became the project manager for AUMOL, and has since been instigator and project manager of the National Teaching and Learning Data Base project and other similar Web‐based collection projects.

Type specimens of New Zealand fishes described by Captain F.W. Hutton, F.R.S. (1836–1905)

Captain F. W. Hutton F.R.S. (1836–1905) was one of New Zealand's most able and prolific nineteenth century naturalists. His numerous contributions to zoology included 19 ichthyological papers published between 1872 and 1905, containing descriptions of 40 new species. Hutton worked successively at the Colonial Museum, Wellington (NMNZ) (1871–1873); Otago Museum, Dunedin (OM) (1877–1879); and the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch (CMC) (1887–1905) and most of his type specimens were originally deposited in these institutions. Many of Hutton's specimens were subsequently disposed of, some being sent on exchange to the British Museum (Natural History) (BMNH); Smithsonian Institution (USNM); University College, Dundee; Macleay Museum; and the Australian Museum. Examination of archival records and the collections of these institutions has revealed the following Hutton types to be still extant: Trygon brevicaudata Hutton, 1875 [= Dasyatis brevicaudata (Hutton)], holotype (OM); Argentina elongata Hutton, 1879, holotype (BMNH); Galaxias bollansi Hutton, 1902 [= Galaxias brevipinnis Günther], holotype; Phosichthys argenteus Hutton, 1872 [= Photichthys argenteus (Hutton)], lectotype, paralectotypes (BMNH); Calloptilum punctatum Hutton, 1873 [= Auchenoceros punctatus (Hutton)], holotype (BMNH); Trachelochismus guttulatus Hutton, 1872 [= Trachelochismus pinnulatus (Forster)], holotype (BMNH); Crepidogaster simus Hutton, 1896 [= Trachelochismus pinnulatus (Forster)], holotype (CMC); Trachichthys trailli Hutton, 1875 [= Paratrachichthys trailli (Hutton)], holotype? (USNM); Stigmatophora longirostris Hutton, 1872 [= Stigmatopora macropterygia Duméril], syntypes (BMNH); Psychrolutes latus Hutton, 1875 [= Neophrynichthys latus (Hutton)], holotype (BMNH); Therapon (?) rubiginosus Hutton, 1875 [= Plagiogeneion rubiginosus (Hutton)], holotype? (BMNH); Latris aerosa Hutton, 1877 [= Latridopsis forsteri (Castelnau)], holotype (OM); Labrichthys cincta Hutton, 1877 [= Notolabrus cinctus (Hutton)], holotype (OM); Notothenia arguta Hutton, 1879 [= Paranotothenia magellanica (Forster)], holotype (BMNH); Notothenia parva Hutton, 1879 [= Paranotothenia angustata (Hutton)], lectotype? (BMNH), syntype? (NMNZ); Percis gilliesii Hutton, 1879 [= Parapercis gilliesii (Hutton)], holotype (BMNH); Tripterygium jenningsi Hutton, 1879b [= Grahamina capito (Jenyns)], syntypes? (OM), lectotype (NMNZ); Sticharium rubrum Hutton, 1872 [= Ericentris rubrus (Hutton)], syntypes? (NMNZ).

Two bird lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) collected during Captain Cook's 2nd voyage around the world

One male and one female of the feather louse Harrisoniella hopkinsi Eichler, 1952, collected in October 1772 from a Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans Linnaeus, 1758) by J.R. Forster and G. Forster during Captain J. Cook's 2nd voyage, have been found in the Invertebrate Unit of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, Australia. The history of these lice and the published references to them are discussed. Photographs of the two specimens as they were found and after their slidemounting are included.

Type specimens of birds in the Australian Museum

The Australian Museum's collection of avian types holds approximately 340 specimens of about 180 taxa. The majority of these were named by E.P. Ramsay and A.J. North. Hindwood (1946) compiled a type list for Australian taxa in the collection, however it contained a number of errors and omissions, which are corrected here. The types listed by Stanbury (1969) for the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney, have been incorporated in the Australian Museum collection. This list also includes extralimital avian type material, most of which originated from New Guinea and the South Pacific.