A check-list of the mammals recorded from Australia

Abstract

More than three centuries have passed away since Pelsart in 1629 provided the first known description of an Australian pouched animal, and, although over 400 species and subspecies of mammals, marsupial and otherwise, have since been described, the present work is the first to assemble in a. comprehensive taxonomic list the mammalian orders indigenous to Australia and the adjacent seas. Much care has been devoted to supplying the original references to species, thus avoiding the reiteration of extensive synonymic lists, while the essential generic references are quoted in a manner adequately stabilising the name to be accepted. A feature especially helpful to fellow-workers is the listing of authentic type localities, as those of many of the earlier species have hitherto been either overlooked or misquoted, and wrong conclusions have resulted therefrom. A very natural result of the early recognition of the extraordinary interest of the Australian fauna was that collections made by explorer-naturalists, officials, and settlers went overseas to be described and stored away for all time. Until recently, therefore, much of the mammalian research has been carried out abroad, and Australian, workers have been troubled by the fact that many species are known only by meagre descriptions of material which is rarely illustrated and mostly unrepresented in their collections. Further confusion arose from the fact that for many years no attempt was made accurately to localise individual discoveries, so that a vast amount of field-work must be carried out in order to check not only the identity but the actual survival and present range of many species. No student of Australian mammalogy, however, can fail to be impressed by the magnitude of the work accomplished by John Gould, and the wide knowledge he gained in the early days of various parts of the continent and the habits of its quaint denizens, which led to the preparation of the three wonderful volumes of "The Mammals of Australia." The authors also pay tribute to those past and present workers who have devoted much ability and energy to furthering a knowledge of the fascinating mammalian fauna. Amongst the earlier workers were Gerard Krefft and Dr. B. Pierson Ramsay, past Curators of the Australian Museum. In the nineties J. Douglas Ogilby was engaged by the Museum Trustees to prepare a "Catalogue of Australian Mammals," published in 1892, a compilation which, though providing a useful basis, suffered from the author's lack of experience of the subject, and his failure to consult the important collections already available in the Museum. While a member of the Museum staff, Edgar R. Waite contributed some important work upon the mammals, notably in association with Professor Baldwin Spencer, who also named some important discoveries, on the collections of the Horn Expedition to Central Australia. The "Catalogue of Marsupialia and Monotremata" by Oldfield Thomas, of the British Museum, will, of course, provide a basis of study for all time. Since its publication in 1888, however, its author has described not only a great number of marsupials, but rodents and bats as well, so that his acitivities alone provided urgent need for the compilation of a check-list. Of the more recent comprehensive works, the "List of Australasian and Austro-Pacific Murid," published by Heber A. Longman in 1916, is invaluable when studying the indigenous rodent fauna, but many forms have since been described, while the nomenclature has been subjected to considerable revision. Finally, there is the splendid handbook to "The Mammals of South Australia," 1923-1925, prepared and illustrated with so much care and originality by Professor F. Wood Jones while occupying the Chair of Anatomy at the University of Adelaide. Workers in mammalogy owe a debt of gratitude to the author of this handbook, which, though restricted as to the range of actual forms, really provides a complete introduction to the study of the mammalian fauna of Australia. Concerning the major classification of Marsupialia, it has seemed advisable to follow the older and more familiar one used in the "Catalogue" by Thomas rather than that adopted by Wood Jones in his Handbook, though close analysis of the latter classification must prove very instructive to students of mammalogy. All references to scientific names have been checked by consultation of Palmer's "Index Generum Mammalium" and Sherborn's "Index Animalium." The accuracy of both of these compilers is, of course, beyond comparison, and the satisfactory compilation of this List has been greatly facilitated by the assistance of these standard works. Throughout this work, the provision of vernacular names for all forms, many of which were met with in the wild state only by the collector, has often proved a more difficult task than that of establishing the priority of scientific names. The aboriginal names, which may vary with local tribes, or those used by settlers in various districts or States, for instance, are hardly applicable to single species which may occur in several mainland States and on islands as well. The law of priority has invariably been followed in the acceptance of scientific names and, although the inevitable and sometimes drastic changes may be regretted, adoption of the earliest valid name provides the sole means of reaching finality, and also avoids the lasting confusion which results from conserving here and rejecting there. At the present time there is definite evidence of a revival of interest in mammalian research within the Commonwealth, and it is the authors' hope that this List will not only enable workers to designate genera and species with certainty, but also assist ia creating a universal understanding of our faunal problems and the urgent need for the conservation of existing species