AUSTRALIA’S ANCIENT ANIMALS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 70, 15 December 1928, Page 26

AUSTRALIA’S ANCIENT ANIMALS

A WONDERFUL SERIES

We have fairly reliable evidence in one way and another that Tasmania was once connected with Australia, and that native animals were at liberty to roam from one part of Australia to the other by means of the so-called “landbridge” in the area now occupied by Bass Strait (states the “Melbourne Argus”). Geologists tell us that this hind connection with Tasmania survived until comparatively recently, but we are familiar with the trifling wayin which they deal with time, and a study of the animal life of Australia, particularly the present distribution of this life, discloses that it must have been many millions of years since animals had access from Tasmania to the remainder of the continent. Before the subsidence occurred which formed Bass Strait the animals of Australia Were probably much different from what they are to-day, not so much, perhaps, in variety as in size. We have evidence in fossils that the land was overrun by gigantic carnivorous and herbivorous forms which would astound us if we saw them now. There was a large size in kangaroos, an enormous wombat, and a marsupial rhinoceros, as well as a pouched “lion”—for want of a better name—a giant devil (Sarcophllis), and many other creatures now extinct. Remains of them are still to be found in limestone caves throughout Australia and in sedimentary deposits in swamps or faces of cliffs. They serve to convey an idea of what the fauna of this continent was like in those early days. The fine eaves at Wellington (N.S.W.), nearly 300 miles west of Sydney, in the valley of the Macquarie River, contain definite evidence of an ' early gigantic fauna, and proof has been found of the fact that there was once a laud connection between the mainland and Tasmania. Not only have the bones of existing Tasmanian animals been found there, but the deposits have revealed remains of creatures which were previously believed never to have frequented this part of the world. Many hundreds of tons of fossil bones have been taken from the caves, from which early faunal types

have been reconstructed, and many thousands of tons await examination. The Wellington Caves are prettily situated in a shallow valley surrounded by basalt hills and thick pine forests. Although close to the Macquarie, they are on the edge of the Bell River. Part of this river runs through them and joins the Macquarie about two miles down tlie valley, near the town, of Wellington. There is nothing conspicuous about the entrance. There is no formation so remarkable as the approach to the Jenolan Caves, a few hundred miles away. One would be unaware of the proximity of the caves were it not for wire-netting guards and a small elec-tric-light plant which have been erected over the holes in the centre of a stony field. Once inside the caves, however, their beauty is revealed. Tlie formations of limestone, Hie stalagmites, “shaws,” ami "mystery”.'displays, with wonderful colouring, rival those of the best caves of the world. The “boile’i caves, long since exposed to air and containing no delicate formations, are a little distance from the show eaves usually inspected by visitors, and there is a long tunnel leading to them under , the hill. The walls of the bone caves are eoniposed of a red formation resembling clay, which breaks under pressure of the hand. In this the bones are embedded. As one glances round one can see by the aid of an electric torch or lantern layers and layers of this bone formation, like strata in sedimentary rock, indicating that in the past disaster must have overtaken many millions of animals, leaving their remains to be preserved underground. For tlie most past the bones are broken into small pieces, though here and there a little excavation with a spade or a pick will reveal one larger J

than the rest, and even perhaps a complete bone. There must be thousands of tons of this bone material still to be revealed, for in the excavations which have been carried out merely the fringe of tlie deposits lias been touched. No one can determine the nature of the catastrophe which overtook these animals in tlie past, but it is thought to have had its origin in a volcano or an earth-movement which exterminated all creatures within a certain range. Their remains were subsequently washed down the valley by the river, now dwindled to little more than a creek known as the Bell, and deposited on the site of the caves. It is astounding to observe the quantity and the variety of bones which rest there.

An examination of a representative collection of bones from the Wellington Caves reveals much that is interesting. The physical features of the country at the time of the supposed disaster were about the same as now, though here and there a few changes must have taken place. Rivers have vanished and new ones have occurred. There was infinitely more rain in those early days and a greater luxuriance of vegetation. An inspection of the bones discloses that there were about twenty more species of kangaroo than now. One stood at least Bft. high and weighed about 5001 b. This large creature, however. was surpassed in size and weight by the diprotodon, a large herbivorous quadruped, which, together with the marsupial rhinoceros, has also b. m found in Victoria and Tasmania. Some of tlie oones indicate, also the existence of a wombat as large as a bear: and there were seven others now i extinct, including one tlie size of a guinea-pig, Tlie. living._.fori.ns to-day, therefore, are a. mere remnant of What was once a large and prosperous family. Of flesh-eater; there are traces of native cats, and the interesting striped wolf (thylaeine) or “tiger” which survives now only in Tasmania. The Tasmanian devil was on the mainland as well. He undoubtedly was then a power in the land. Jaws, claws, teeth, and skulls show ‘hat he reached a much greater size and was far more powerful in build than those found alive to-day. He had at least the size and strength of a leopard, and with his ferocity, which lie still retains, he must have been a foe to be reckoned with.

This evidence serves definitely to show that tlie southern animals, including those of Tasmania, were free to roam at least the eastern cost of Australia, hampered by no water boundaries. Tlie Tasmanian animals are extinct in Victoria now, as the result, it is considered, of the depredations of tlie dingoes, which are supposed to have penetrated from the north ami driven the less specialised animals farther and farther south. The subsidence of tlie land-bridge connecting Victoria with Tasmania was (he salvation of the marsupial wolf and the devil. While it isolated them from the remainder of the tribe, it protected them from the dingo invasion, for the dingo was unable to reach that part of the country which was now an island. It was not until the arrival of the white mail with his flocks that these native animals were in danger. Since then they have been persistently persecuted and hunted, and to-day they are rarely seen outside captivity. Little is known of the marsupial “lion,” though traces of it have been recovered from more than one locality. There does not seem to be sufficient material available to allow of an adequate reconstruction, but further investigations may supply the missing parts. We are afforded by fossil discoveries in such isolated places as the Wellington Caves and other limestone deposits a good idea of how the fauna of Australia has changed, and we can appreciate the action of Nature in ridding tlie world of gigantic carnivorous creatures in order to make way for her new creation.