Figure 4 - uploaded by Ingereth Macfarlane
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Summed probability plot of 14 C age frequencies for the Simpson Desert (n=15 radiocarbon ages). Occupation of the 'lost' mikiri coincides with an apparent peak in occupation of the dune field during the last millennium.
Source publication
This paper describes a previously unknown mikiri well in the Simpson dune field. This site was abandoned about 500-600 years ago and does not feature in ethnographic records for this region. We argue that its abandonment was most likely due to failure of the well caused by a fall in the local watertable. The Simpson Desert is one of the major sand-...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... summed probability plot of all available radiocarbon dates (n=15) for the Simpson dune field (Figure 4) shows that occupation of this mikiri occurred during a widespread increase in use of the dune field during the last millennium, at about the time the people in the dune field were becoming linguistically distinct from the Arabana to the west (Hercus 1994). ANU-63309 (1028-1259 cal BP) indicates that people were visiting this locality around 1200 years ago. ...
Context 2
... summed probability plot of all available radiocarbon dates (n=15) for the Simpson dune field (Figure 4) shows that occupation of this mikiri occurred during a widespread increase in use of the dune field during the last millennium, at about the time the people in the dune field were becoming linguistically distinct from the Arabana to the west (Hercus 1994). ANU-63309 (1028-1259 cal BP) indicates that people were visiting this locality around 1200 years ago. ...
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Citations
... Australia's museum collections are a repository of Australia's unique biodiversity [19][20][21], revealing changes in species distribution and abundance in natural communities, the forces shaping those communities, and the effects of modern landscape management, as well as fundamental biological data [22]. The collections also highlight the structure and diversity of Australia's geology and physical environment [23,24], as well as the history and culture of First Nations Australians [25,26]. All these topics can be considered locally or regionally [27,28], or globally [29][30][31]. ...
As a case study of the responses of natural history museums to changing scientific and funding environments, we analysed research publications of Australia’s Natural History Museums (ANHMs) 1981–2020. Using Scopus, 9,923 relevant documents 1981–2020 were identified, mainly research papers but with a growing proportion of reviews. The number of documents published increased over tenfold from 39 (1981) to 553 (2020), likely driven by collaborations (rising from 28.5% of documents 1981–1985 to 87.2% of documents 2016–2020), contributions from retired staff, and volunteer support. The mean length of documents (pages) ranged from a low of 15.3 in 2001–2005 to a high of 17.4 in 1991–1995, but this statistically significant result was trivial in practical terms. The sources (i.e., journals, book titles, conference proceedings) in which ANHM authors published changed over time, with growing proportions of publications in journals covering molecular ecology/phylogenetics and biological conservation. We identified the major areas of study canvassed within the corpus of publications by developing structural topic models based on patterns of word use in document titles, abstracts and keyword lists. The topics discovered included study subjects traditional for natural history museums (new taxa, phylogeny, systematics, animal morphology, palaeontology, minerals), new directions (molecular genetics, ecology, biological conservation) and marine biology (probably reflecting Australia’s large coastline). Most citations came from Australia, USA and UK, although in 2016–2020 only 27.9% of citing documents included an Australian author. Growth in numbers of documents and collaborations, as well as use of documents internationally over a period of great change in scientific and funding environments, indicate an enduring legacy of ANHM research, grounded on the intrinsic value of the collections.
... All three are now widespread and common mammals in Australia's arid zone (Dickman, 1996). Prior to the arrival of cats and foxes, the small predator guild was occupied by the western quoll (Dasyurus geoffroi) (Rowlands et al., 2020;Vernes et al., 2020) which is now extinct in central Australia. Previous studies of Australian deserts have indicated that dingoes typically take larger prey such as kangaroos, while cats and foxes prey on smaller mammals such as rodents, dasyurids, reptiles, birds and amphibians (Feit et al., 2019;Paltridge, 2002;Spencer et al., 2014Spencer et al., , 2017. ...
We studied diets of feral cats (Felis catus), dingoes (Canis familiaris) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in desert environments in north-eastern South Australia by analysing prey remains in opportunistically-collected scats. Four major landscapes were sampled (Simpson Desert, Sturt Stony Desert, Strzelecki Desert – Cooper Creek and Diamantina River) which yielded 238 cat scats, 298 dingo scats and ten fox scats. There was some overlap in prey eaten by cats and dingoes, but their diets were significantly different because cats typically ate small prey such as small mammals, small lizards and birds, while dingoes ate larger prey like domestic cattle, kangaroos and large reptiles. The few fox scats collected suggested fox diets were more similar to cat than dingo diets. Scat composition also differed significantly between landscapes irrespective of predator, with landscapes differing both in diversity and relative abundances of prey consumed. We detected several species in scats that are threatened with extinction either nationally (dusky hopping mouse, Notomys fuscus, and crest-tailed mulgara, Dasycercus cristicauda) or regionally (desert mouse, Pseudomys desertor, and long-haired rat, Rattus villosissimus), adding valuable knowledge to the distribution of these mammals and demonstrating the value of predator scat analyses in mammal surveys of Australian deserts.
