An introduction to the mammals of Australia

Title page and preface. p. i-xii.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MAMMALS OF AUSTRALIA.

BY JOHN GOULD, F.R.S. ETC. ETC.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 26 CHARLOTTE STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE, BY TAYLOR AND FRANCS, RED LION COURT. FLEET STREET.

Introduction. p. 1-23.

INTRODUCTION.

In the foregoing Preface I have glanced at the principal groups of Mammals inhabiting the great country of Australia. It will now, however, be necessary to enter into greater detail respecting this division of its fauna; and I conceive that it will not be out of place if I commence with a retrospective view of the gradual discovery of countries and their zoological productions from the earliest historic times. Such a retrospect will not, I think, be deemed unnecessary, especially since my intention is to show to the general reader, rather than to the scientific naturalist, that each great division of the globe has its own peculiar forms of animal life, and that the fauna of Australia is widely different from that of every other part of the world. By a mere glance at the zoological features of the globe as at present existing, it will be perceived with what precision the animal life of each country has been adapted to its physical character; the absence of certain great families of birds and quadrupeds in some countries will also be apparent. To account for this on any scientific principle would be very difficult, when we cannot say why the Nightingale is not a summer visitant to Devonshire, or why the Grouse is not found south of Wales; why the aerial Swifts, Swallows, and Martins are numerous in Australia, and absent in New Zealand; or why Woodpeckers, which occur in nearly every other part of the globe, are not found in Australia, New Guinea, or any of the Polynesian Islands. The ancient Egyptians appear to have been little acquainted with the natural productions of any other country than their own,—at least, we have no evidence that they were; for neither so conspicuous a bird as the Peacock, nor even the Common Fowl, are represented on their lasting monuments. Of the eastern countries Alexander's expedition doubtless greatly increased the knowledge of the Greeks, furnishing materials for the philosophic mind of Aristotle, and certainly extending the knowledge of Pliny, as is evidenced by his 'Historia Naturalis,' the only work which has come down to us of the latter great naturalist. Pliny, standing out as a bright star in zoological science at the period he lived, was doubtless tolerably acquainted with the natural productions of Eastern Europe, Arabia, North-eastern Africa, slightly with those of Persia, and still less so with those of India.

It may be fairly said, that the earliest dawn of natural history commenced with the Christian era,—Aristotle living just before, and Pliny soon after, the advent of our Saviour. This early dawn, however, was for a long period obscured by the dark ages which succeeded; for it was not until the commencement of the 17th century that Aldrovandus, Piso, Marcgrave, and Willughby wrote their works on this branch of science. At this comparatively late period, the productions of Europe were better known; Africa had been for a long time circumnavigated, and its southern fauna partially brought to light; India also in like manner furnished her quota, though sparingly, to the stock of human knowledge. What Alexander's celebrated expedition did for the naturalists Aristotle and Pliny, the discoveries of Columbus did by shedding a new light upon zoological science, and furnishing fresh food to the modern writers above mentioned. Linnaeus, the greatest of all systematists, had a very extended knowledge of the natural productions of the globe, and the information this great man has left behind him in his numerous writings is considerable. Still, the southern land which we designate Australia (the mammalian products of which this work is intended to illustrate) was a sealed book to him. As regards this great country, it may be said that its most highly organized animals, if we except the Seals, are the various species of Rodents, and the equally numerous insectivorous and frugivorous Bats, both of which rank among the lowest of the Placentals. In America the Marsupialia are but feebly represented; in Africa and India none of this form exist. On the other hand, Australia is the great country of these pouched animals; they are universally distributed throughout its entire extent, from north to south, and from east to west; and they are not even absent from the neighbouring islands. Their presence in Tasmania on the south, and New Guinea on the north, testifies that these countries were formerly united to the mainland, and constituted a great natural province, characterized by a similar fauna and flora. It will be unnecessary for me to state that none of the Quadrumana, or Monkeys, are found in Australia; and that neither the Lion, the Tiger, the Leopard, nor any other of the Felinæ, roam among its forests, to disturb the harmony of its generally peaceful quadrupeds.

The great groups of the Bovinæ, or Oxen, the Equinæ, or Horses and Zebras, the stately Elephant, the huge Rhinoceros, as well as the Cervidæ, or Deer-kind, and the Antelopes, are totally unknown in Australia; yet the great grassy plains and other physical features of the country would appear to be well adapted for them and also for the smaller herbivorous quadrupeds, such as the Hare, the Rabbit, &c. Why there should occur so great a difference between the animals of Australia and those of the other countries of the world it is not for me to say. But I may ask, has creation been arrested in this strange land? and, if not, why are these higher types denied to it? Whatever opinion may be formed on this interesting subject, it is generally believed that no more highly organized animals than those which are now found there ever roamed over her plains or tenanted her luxuriant brushes. At the same time, the partially fossilized remains of distinct species of Kangaroos which have been disco in her stalactitic caves, and the huge skeletons, or parts of skeletons, which have been exhumed from her alluvial beds, testify that Australia must be of remote origin. It is scarcely necessary to remark that all these remains belong to Marsupial animals; nor must it be imagined that I am oblivious of the fact that the remains of members of this group have been found in the older tertiary and secondary strata of Europe. I merely glance at these things, and leave their consideration to those who pay special attention to the sister science of geology.

Although the more highly organized animals do not inhabit, and seem never to have inhabited Australia, it is not a little interesting to observe how completely the law of representation is manifested among her mammals—how one family typifies another in the higher groups of the Placentalia; or, to be more explicit, to note how the Herbivora are represented by the Kangaroos, the Felinæ by the Dasyures, the Jerboas by the Hapalotides, &c. When speaking of the wonderful fossil Diprotodon, in his work on Palaeontology, Professor Owen states—"Australia yields evidence of an analogous correspondence between its last extinct and its present aboriginal mammalian- fauna, which is the more interesting on account of the very peculiar organization of most of the native quadrupeds of that division of the globe. That the Marsupialia form one great natural group is now generally admitted by zoologists; the representatives in that group of many of the orders of the more exclusive Placental subclass of the Mammalia of the larger continents have also been recognized in the existing genera and species: the Dasyures, for example, play the parts of the Carnivora; the Bandicoots (Perameles), of the Insectivora; the Phalangers, of the Quadrumana; the Wombat, of the Rodentia; and the Kangaroos, in a remoter degree, of the Ruminantia. The first collection of mammalian fossils from the ossiferous caves of Australia brought to light the former existence on that continent of larger species of the same peculiar marsupial genera: some, as the Thylacine, and the Dasyurine subgenus represented by the D. ursinus, are now extinct on the Australian continent; but one species of each still exists on the adjacent island of Tasmania; the rest were extinct Wombats, Phalangers, Potoroos, and Kangaroos-—some of the latter (Macropus Atlas, M. Titan) being of great stature. A single tooth, in the same collection of fossils, gave the first indication of the former existence of a type of the Marsupial group, which represented the Pachyderms of the larger continents, and which seems now to have disappeared from the face of the Australian earth,—of the great quadruped, so indicated under the name of Diprotodon in 1838; and successive subsequent acquisitions have established the true marsupial character and the near affinities of the genus to the Kangaroo (Macropus), but with an osculant relationship with the herbivorous Wombat. The entire skull of the Diprotodon, lately acquired by the British Museum, shows in situ the tooth on which the genus was founded. This skull measures 3 feet in length, and exemplifies by its size the huge dimensions of the primeval Kangaroo. Like the contemporary gigantic Sloth in South America, the Diprotodon of Australia, while retaining the dental formula of its living homologue, shows great and remarkable modifications of its limbs. The hind pair were much shortened and strengthened compared with those of the Kangaroo; the fore pair were lengthened, as well as strengthened. Yet, as in the case of the Megatherium, the ulna and radius were maintained free, and so articulated as to give the fore paw the rotatory actions. These, in Diprotodon, would be needed, as in the herbivorous Kangaroo, by the economy of the marsupial pouch. The dental formula of Diprotodon was the same as in Macropus major: the first of the grinding series was soon shed, but the other four two-ridged teeth were longer retained; and the front upper incisor was very large and scalpriform, as in the Wombat. The zygomatic arch sent down a process for augmenting the origin of the masseter muscle, as in the Kangaroo. The foregoing skull, with parts of the skeleton of the Diprotodon australis, were discovered in a lacustrine deposit, probably pleistocene, intersected by creeks, in the plains of Darling Downs, Australia.

"The same formation has yielded evidence of a somewhat smaller extinct herbivorous genus (Nototherium), combining, with essential affinities to Macropus, some of the characters of the Koala (Phascolarctos). The writer has recently communicated descriptions and figures of the entire skull of the Nototherium Mitchelli to the Geological Society of London. The genus Phascolomys was at the same period represented by a Wombat (P. gigas) of the magnitude of a Tapir. The pleistocene marsupial Carnivora presented the usual relations of size and power to the Herbivora whose undue increase they had to check."

In another work, Prof. Owen represents an almost entire skull, with part of the lower jaw, of an animal (Thylacoleo) rivalling the Lion in size, the marsupial character of which is demonstrated by the position of the lacrymal foramen in front of the orbit, by the palatal vacuity, by the loose tympanic bone, by the development of the tympanic bulla in the alisphenoid, by the very small relative size of the brain, and other characters. "The carnassial tooth is 2 inches 3 lines in longitudinal extent, or nearly double the size of that in the Lion. The upper tubercular tooth resembles, in its smallness and position, that in the placental Felines. But in the lower jaw the carnassial is succeeded by two very small tubercular teeth, as in Plagiaulax; and there is a socket close to the symphysis of the lower jaw of Thylacoleo, which indicates that the canine may have terminated the dental series there, and have afforded an additional feature of resemblance to the Plagiaulax."

As might naturally be expected, the climate of a country which extends over more than 30 degrees of latitude is very much diversified. Cape York and Arnheim's Land are as near 11° south as possible, while Wilson's Promontory, in Victoria, reaches 39°, and the southern part of Tasmania 44½°. The parts of Australia approaching the Tropic differ very considerably from its southern portions; for, lying more to the north, the latter under the influence of monsoons, and rains more or less regular occur in their proper seasons. Speaking generally, however, Australia may be characterized as one of the driest and most heated countries of our globe; for, although an island in the strictest sense of the word, it is so extensive that the surrounding seas have little influence upon the distant interior, which must still be regarded as a great sterile waste, destitute of mountains sufficient to attract the moisture requisite to form navigable or other rivers. In writing this in 1863, when travellers have crossed the country and so many valuable discoveries have lately been made, I am willing to admit that this great desert is here and there relieved by higher lands which will ultimately become useful to the enterprising settler, and that, in all probability, many fine and extensive oases have yet to be brought to light; but, at the same time, I believe there will always be considerable uncertainty in the seasons of the interior of this great land. In southern latitudes we know that this is the case, while in the north a wet or a dry monsoon greatly alters the face of the country, and exerts a powerful influence on animal and vegetable life. Hence it is that the scanty fauna of this part of Australia is so organized that it is able to exist without water: the various species of Rodents, such as the members of the genera Mus and Hapalotis, and the Wombats, Lagorchestes, and Bettongias, and other Kangaroos, are thus constituted; and it will be recollected that, when speaking of the Halcyons and other large Kingfishers in the 'Birds of Australia' I stated that I believed they never partook of this element, their food consisting of lizards and insects, to which, in like manner, it was not essential. The Australian mammals must, however, be put to severe straits occasionally, not from the want, but from the superabundance of water,—a wet monsoon in the north, and the heavy rains which occasionally occur in the south, deluging the basin-like surface of the interior and rendering it untenable, and obliging them to retire to the higher ridges until the drought, which generally ensues, has restored it to its normal condition. The districts, or countries as I may call them, which constitute the other portions of Australia are very different, indeed completely opposite in character; I mean the rich lands which surround nearly the whole of the sterile centre. The mountain-ranges, of no very great elevation it is true, exert much influence upon the face of nature, constantly attracting rains, which, pouring down their sides, deposit a rich alluvial soil, favourable to the growth of gigantic trees and the most luxuriant vegetation. The forests of Palms which there occur are scarcely inferior to those of any other country, while the stately native Cedars and Fig-trees are wonders to every traveller. These giants of the forest are scarcely ever to be found in the interior; sterility is not suited to their existence; they do not occur in company with the Banksiæ, the Hakeæ, or the Casuarinæ, most of which are characteristics of land wherein the settler would not choose to risk his fortune. The great physical features of Australia then, as a whole, are the absence of high mountains and navigable rivers, its heated interior, its vast grassy plains, and its luxuriant brushes, particularly on its southern and south-eastern coasts. Over the whole of this extensive country, with its ever-varying climate, certain groups of animals are universally spread, while others, particularly the more isolated forms, are strictly confined to their own districts, each adapted for some special end and purpose,—as much as the long bill of the Humming-bird (Docimastes ensiferus) is evidently formed for exploring the lengthened tubular corollas of the Brugmansiæ, or the greatly curved bill of two species of the same family of birds (the Eutoxeres Aquila and E. Condaminei) is for insertion into the honey-cups of the Coryanthes speciosa and its allies,—or, to take a more striking instance, as the brush-like tongues of the numerous honey-feeding Parrakeets and Honeyeaters of Australia are constituted for obtaining the nectar from the flowers of the universally spread and equally numerous Eucalypti which form so prominent a feature in the flora of that country.

I will now give, as far as my knowledge of the subject will permit, an enumeration of Australian mammals, the extent of their range, &c. In doing this, I shall commence with the Monotrematous section of the Marsupiata, which includes the Ornithorhynchus and two species of Echidna; I shall then proceed to the genera Myrmecobius, Tarsipes, Chæropus, Peragalea, Perameles, Phascolarctos, Phalangista, Cuscus, Petaurista, Belideus, Phascogale, Sarcophilus, Dasyurus, Thylacinus, and Phascolomys; and these will be followed by the great family of Kangaroos, with remarks upon their structural differences and the especial object for which these appear to have been designed; next we shall come to the feebly represented Placentals, the Seals, and Rodents; and, lastly, to the species of Pteropus and other Bats.

I have considered that, in a large illustrated work like the 'Mammals of Australia,' it would be out of place to enter into the anatomy of the objects I have represented. I have therefore omitted all details of this kind; neither have I included therein a repetition of the generic characters and Latin descriptions which have appeared in general works on Mammalogy, where they may be easily referred to. Those who wish to enter more fully into the generic characters of the Australian mammals will find all the information they can wish for in Mr. Waterhouse's valuable work, entitled 'A Natural History of the Mammalia,' a publication of such great promise and merit, that it becomes a matter of surprise and regret to all interested in this branch of science that the publisher decided upon not continuing it to its completion.

It will be observed that I have entirely omitted the Whales, Porpesses, and Dugong, my reason for so doing being that I had not sufficient opportunities for studying those animals in a state of nature, and have not therefore attempted that which I did not understand, and consequently could not have accomplished in a satisfactory manner. With regard to the Dugong, I must not omit thanking my relative, Charles Coxen, Esq., of Queensland, for his attention in sending me a skin and part of the skeleton of this animal; but even with these materials I found I could not produce an accurate representation of it in the living state. Although I do not inflict upon my readers the characters and distinctions of genera, I must not pass over unnoticed the principal features which distinguish the Marsupiata from the Placental Mammalia. In the first place, the former are considered to be much less highly organized than the latter: according to Professor Owen, the brain is deficient in both the corpus callosum and the septum lucidum; the cerebrum is small in proportion to the animal, contracted in front, and its surface is smooth, or presents but few convolutions; the cerebellum is entirely exposed, and has a vermiform process large in proportion to the lateral lobes; the olfactory lobes are large. Two venæ cavæ enter the heart; "the right auricle has no trace of a fossa ovalis." In point of fact, the main characteristic of the Marsupials, as distinguished from the Placentals, is that much of the embryotic life in the former is carried on in what may be called a sort of external uterus.

On my return from Australia, the venerable Geoffroy St. Hilaire put the following question to me, "Does the Ornithorhynchus lay eggs?" and when I answered in the negative, that fine old gentleman and eminent naturalist appeared somewhat disconcerted. Now, this oviparous notion was nearly in accordance with the true state of things—somewhat akin to what is actually the case; and I consider the most striking peculiarity of this singular animal, and indeed of all the Marsupiata, to be the imperfectly formed state in which their young are born. The Kangaroo at its birth is not larger than a baby's little finger, which it is not very unlike in shape: in this extremely helpless state, the mother, by some means at present unknown, places this vermiform object to one of the nipples within her pouch or marsupium; by some equally unknown process, the little creature becomes attached by its imperfectly formed mouth to the nipple, and there remains dangling for days, and even weeks, during which it gradually assumes the likeness and struc of its parents; at length it drops from this lacteal attachment into the pouch, re-attaches itself when hunger prompts it so to do, and as often again tumbles off when its wants have been supplied. It is scarcely necessary to say that, after gaining sufficient strength, it leaves this natural pocket of the mother, leaps into the open air and sports about the plains or the forest, as the case may be, and returns again to its warm home, until at length the wearied mother denies it this indulgence and proceeds again to comply with the law which governs all creatures, that of reproduction. This is a very low form of animal life, indeed the lowest among the Mammalia, and exhibits the first stage beyond the development of the bird.

This description has reference not only to the Kangaroos, which mostly have but one young at a time, but is equally descriptive of the other members of. this group, some of which have two, while others have three or four, and others, the Phascogalæ for instance, eight or nine at a birth; but in all cases, even with these large numbers, the young hang to the mammæ in the way I have described.

Independently of the low structure of the brain and the low form of reproduction of the Kangaroos, I ought to mention that two little bones have been expressly provided for the support of the marsupium; there is also a considerable difference in the dentition, as well as in the form of the lower jaw, by which this group of animals may at all times be distinguished. I have not failed to observe much disparity in size in the Marsupiata; they seem to be always growing; for the males get larger and still larger for years, even long after they have commenced the duty of reproduction, and hence individuals of all sizes occur, and occasionally one extraordinarily large may be met with. I have observed this in all the Marsupials, but particularly among the Kangaroos. The great herds of the grey species, Macropus major, are frequently headed by an enormous male, or Boomer as he is called. Like the "rogue Elephants" of Ceylon, these patriarchs are often solitary, and are generally very savage.

Commencing with the most lowly organized of the Australian mammals, I may state that the Ornithorhynchus has a very limited range, as is shown by its not being found either in Western or Northern Australia—the south-eastern portions of the continent and Van Diemen's Land being the localities to which it is confined.

The spiny Echidna hystrix has not yet been found to the northward of Moreton Bay on the east coast, and, except in New South Wales and the islands in Bass's Straits, it is very rare—so rare indeed, that I have never seen a specimen from South Australia; yet in all probability it will be found there, since Mr. Gilbert obtained an example at Swan River; this individual, however, did not come under my notice, and I am therefore unable to say if it were a true E. hystrix, or a western representative of that species.

The more hairy Echidna setosa is confined to Van Diemen's Land; but it is questionable whether it be really distinct from E. hystrix; the more southern position and colder climate of that island may have had the effect of giving it a warmer coat, whiter spines, and of altering its general appearance.

The single species representing the genus Myrmecobius (M. fasciatus) appears to be more plentiful in the Swan River Settlement than elsewhere; it nevertheless occurs in the Murray Scrub and other parts of South Australia, and from thence to the western coast it probably inhabits every locality suited to its habits and mode of life.

Like the Myrmecobius, the little honey-lapping Tarsipes rostratus stands quite alone—and a truly singular creature it is: to give the area over which it ranges is impossible, as we know far too little of these diminutive mammals to come to any positive conclusion on this point; at present, the neighbourhood of King George's Sound is one of the localities in which it has been seen in a state of nature.

Isolated in form and differing in the structure of its feet from every other known quadruped is the Chæropus, an animal which frequents the hard grounds of the interior, over which it is dispersed from New South Wales to Western Australia. The specific term of ecaudatus, first applied to this animal in consequence of the specimen characterized being destitute of the caudal appendage, must now sink into a synonym, that organ being as well developed in this as in any other of the smaller quadrupeds, the Perameles for instance, to which this singular animal is somewhat allied.

The root-feeding Dalgyte, or Peragalea lagotis, leads us still nearer to the genus Perameles: the fauna of Western Australia is greatly enriched by the addition of this beautiful species. I believe that South Australia may also lay claim to it; for I have seen a tail, said to have been obtained on the south coast, which greatly resembled that of the Swan River Peragalea; but it may have pertained to an allied animal with which we are not yet acquainted.

The members of the restricted genus Perameles are numerous in species, and universally dispersed over the whole of Australia and Van Diemen's Land; they also extend in a northerly direction to New Guinea and the adjacent islands. Of this genus there are two well-marked divisions: one distinguished by bands on their backs or crescentic markings across their rumps and by their diminutive tails, the other by a uniformity in their colouring. The species of the former division inhabit the hot stony ridges bordering the open plains; those of the latter the more humid forests, among grass and other dense vegetation. Figures of most of these Bandicoots, as they are called, and an account of the manners, habits, and economy of each, so far as known, will be found in their proper places in the body of the work.

The Phascogales, of which there are three, namely P. penicillata, P. calura, and P. lanigera, are all natives of the southern portions of Australia, from east to west; they are, however, rather denizens of the interior than of the provinces near the coast, but the P. penicillata is alike found in both. Their dentition indicates that they are sanguinary in their disposition,— a character which is confirmed by the P. penicillata, small as it comparatively is, being charged with killing fowls and other birds.

It might be thought that the Phascogalæ would naturally lead to the Antechini, but there is no real affinity between the two groups. I find it most difficult to arrange the Australian mammals in anything like a serial order; but the numerous species forming the genera Antechinus and Podabrus are, perhaps, as well placed here as elsewhere. Like the Peramelides, the members of those genera inhabit every part of Australia and the adjacent islands: the thick-tailed species, forming the genus Podabrus, frequent the interior rather than the coast; the Antechini, on the other hand, inhabit both districts; and wherever there are trees and shrubs, one or other of them may be found; some evince a partiality for the fallen boles lying on the ground, while others run over the branches of those that are still standing.

I now approach a better-defined section of the Australian Marsupiata than any of the preceding—the nocturnal Phalangers. These are divided into several genera—Phascolarctos, Petaurista, Belideus, Phalangista, Cuscus, Acrobates, and Dromicia. The extraordinary Koala is only found in the brushes of New South Wales. It stands quite alone—the solitary species of its genus, and it is well worth while to turn to my figures and description of this anomalous Sloth among the Marsupials. The Petauristæ are strictly brush-loving animals, and are almost entirely confined to New South Wales; some one or other of the Belidei, on the other hand, is found in all other parts of the Australian continent (except perhaps its western portion), wherever there are Eucalypti of sufficient magnitude for their branches to become hollow spouts wherein these nocturnes may sleep during the day. This form also occurs among the animals of the New Guinea group of islands. The little Opossum Mouse, Acrobates pygmæus, is a general favourite with the colonists; and well it may be so, for in its disposition it is as amiable as its form is elegant and its fur soft and beautiful: what the Dormouse is to the English boy, this little animal is to the juveniles of Australia. I have seen it kept as a pet, and its usual retreat in the day, while it sleeps, was a pill-box; as night approaches it becomes active, and then displays much elegance in its motions. The true Phalangista comprise many species; and are found in every colony, in Port Essington on the north, Swan River on the west, New South Wales and Queensland on the east, and Victoria and Van Diemen's Land on the south. They lead to the genus Cuscus, a form better represented in New Guinea and its islands than in Australia, where only one species has been discovered, in the neighbourhood of Cape York. Of the two fairy-like Dromiciæ, which live upon the stamens of flowers and the nectar of their corollas, one is found in Van Diemen's Land, the other in Western Australia. The description of a third species of this form has just been transmitted by Mr. Krefft to the Zoological Society; he states that it was taken from an example discovered by himself in New South Wales, and proposes to call it D. unicolor.