The animals of Australia : mammals, reptiles and amphibians / by A.H.S. Lucas ; assisted by W.H. Dudley Le Souëf.
- Arthur Henry Shakespeare Lucas
- Date:
- 1909
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The animals of Australia : mammals, reptiles and amphibians / by A.H.S. Lucas ; assisted by W.H. Dudley Le Souëf. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![Torres Strait to tlie roast of Queensland. AVliales and Seals travel far by watei', and with the <>reat Southern Ocean open to them dnrino' all Teidiary time it is not remarhahle that the early settlers found them in yi-eat ahnndance ai'onnd oni* shoiM's. Frnit-eatiiyy and insecdivorons Bats came across from iNTalaysia and Sonth'Kast Asia, and thonjili a difficidt rronj) to study, and onr hnowledr'Cof them is V(*i‘y incomjjlete, enonyh is loiown to show ns that they arc' widc'ly distiahnted and well established in ^Vnstralia. The Kodents pi'ohahly became denizens of the Continent in later Tertiary times. They too prol)ahly came in from Asia, for we have no yronps related to the ])eridiar yenera of South America, and the (hipe. Oni' Rodents all helon<i- to the widely distributed family of the Minidac. The most specialised genus is (^o)iihirus {IfapaJofis). (‘omprising gracefid little Rats which take' the ])lace of the lea])ing derhoas of Africa and Asia. Tlien came in the Dingo, a wolf fi-om Easteiai Asia. La.stly, introdncc'd direct fi’om Enro|)e. came a disastrous and ]:>rolific l^opnlation of the Bhudv and the? Bi'own Rats, the Common IMonse. the Rabbit and the flare, and. worst of all, the Fox. During the yc'ar 1908 no fewc'r than 18 millions rabbit-skins passed through the Sydney market, besides probably a nearly ecpial number through the IMelbourne markets, aud vast numbers of rabluts were exported iu cold storage, but these inroads produce little eft'ect in exterminating the pest. The Reptiles have been long in the land. The Crocodiles belong to the genus Crocodilus evolved in the Old World. Our two species are au advanced guard, or rather a i-econ- noitriug party, the peculiar ('. joli )isfoiiii having perhaps l)ecome ditferentiated in Australia. Idle Fi-eshwater Toi-toises have their nearest allies in South America. Snakes are numerous, venomous and non-venomous, in the ]-atio of about three to one of si)ccies. Curiously, only venomous snakes have reached Tasmania. The Pythons have an Asiatic facies. 'Idie venomous snakes are all Colubrine, and have not the deadly character of some of the Vipers. While a bite of the larger species on the bare skin may ])rove fatal, limbs protected with clothing are in general secure. The burroAving Blind Snakes are perfectly harmless and beautifully adapted to their under- ground life, and are useful to mankind because they live on the destructive Avhite ants. iMost, if not all, of our snakes have ditferentiated in Australia.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28108759_0020.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
