Human Pleistocene adaptations in the tropical island Pacific: recent evidence from New Ireland, a Greater Australian outlier

Antiquity ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 63 (240) ◽  
pp. 548-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Allen ◽  
Chris Gosden ◽  
J. Peter White

The late Pleistocene colonization of Greater Australia by humans by c. 40,0130 b.p. is now generally accepted. This landmass, which comprised at periods of lower sea levels Tasmania, Australia and Papua New Guinea, has now produced sites with rich and diverse sequences extending towards or now mainly beyond 30,000 b.p., in the present arid country of western New South Wales (Barbetti & Allen 1972), in southwest Western Australia (Pearce & Barbetti 1981), in the Papua New Guinea Highlands (Gillieson & Mountain 1983), and recently even in Tasmania (Cosgrove 1989).Prior to 1985, with the exception of an 11,000 b.p. date for occupation in Misisjl Cave on New Britain (Specht et al. 1981), the tropical lowlands of Papua New Guinea and its attendant nearer Melanesian island chain had remained a blank on the region’s map of Pleistocene human expansion.

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. R. Smales

This study documents the helminth assemblages of grassland melomys: Melomys burtoni (Ramsay, 1887), Melomys sp. cf. burtoni and Melomys lutillus (Thomas, 1913). In total, 22 helminth species comprising one cestode and 21 nematodes from 112 hosts were found. All the specimens of Physaloptera spp. examined proved to be Physaloptera banfieldi Johnston & Mawson, 1941 with P. troughtoni Johnston & Mawson, 1941 the junior synonym. The dominant helminth group was the trichostrongyloid nematodes including Odilia melomyos (Mawson, 1961) and O. mackerrasae (Mawson, 1961). The most prevalent, O. melomyos, occurred in each of the host species across all areas sampled (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea, Queensland and Western Australia). The helminth assemblage of M. burtoni from hosts from New South Wales and Queensland was the most diverse. The helminths of M. burtoni from the Northern Territory and of M. lutillus from Papua New Guinea were subsets of that assemblage. That of M. cf. burtoni from Western Australia, with only six helminth species, was not dominated by trichostrongyloids, three of the six species were not found in other localities, and, with Sorensen’s Indices of 18.2% when compared with the helminths from Papua New Guinea and the Northern Territory and 24% when compared with Queensland, was the least similar. No substantial differences were found between the helminth assemblages of the grassland melomys group, excluding M. cf. burtoni, and Melomys cervinipes (Gould, 1852), the fawn footed melomys. This was reflected in a Sorensen’s Index of 67.9%. The time between the arrival of Melomys into Australia during the Pleistocene and the present day suggests that the trichostrongyloids O. melomyos, O. mackerrasae and O. mawsonae (Durette-Desset, 1969) may have travelled with their rodent hosts from New Guinea to Australia and other helminths in the assemblage may have been acquired in Australia.


Author(s):  
D. W. Minter

Abstract C. uberata is described and illustrated. Information on hosts (Afrocarpus falcatus, A. gracilior, A. usambarensis, Falcatifolium falciforme, Nageia nagi, Podocarpus archboldii, P. costatus, P. elatus, P. elongatus, P. gracilis, P. henckelii, P. latifolius, P. longefoliatus [P. longifoliolatus], P. longifolius, P. madagascariensis, P. milanjianus, P. nekelii, P. neriifolius, P. rumphii, P. sylvestris, P. spinulosus and Podocarpus sp.), geographical distribution (Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, New South Wales, and Guangxi, China) and dispersal is provided.


Zootaxa ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1024 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PHILIP D. PERKINS

The Australian and Papua New Guinean species of the water beetle genus Gymnochthebius Orchymont, 1943, are revised, based on the study of 4,904 specimens. The genus is redescribed, and redescriptions are provided for G. australis (Blackburn), G. brisbanensis (Blackburn), G. clarki (Deane), G. levis (Deane), G. lividus (Deane), G. notalis (Deane), and G. tenebricosus (Deane). Lectotypes are designated for Ochthebius australis Blackburn, 1888, and Ochthebius tenebricosus Deane, 1931. Ochthebius fischeri Deane, 1931, and Ochthebius leai Deane, 1931, are synonymized with Ochthebius australis Blackburn, 1888; Ochthebius flavocinctus Deane 1933, is synonymized with Ochthebius lividus Deane, 1933; and Ochthebius angustipennis Deane, 1931, is synonymized with Ochthebius clarki Deane, 1931. Twenty-nine new species are described, and a key to the 36 species known from Australia and Papua New Guinea is given. High resolution digital images of all primary types are presented (online version in color), the male genitalia are illustrated, and Australian geographic distributions are mapped. Only one species, G. clarki, inhabits both Australia and Papua New Guinea; two species, G. bacchusi n. sp. and G. papua n. sp. are endemic to Papua New Guinea; 33 species are endemic to Australia. Members of Gymnochthebius are found at the gravelly/sandy/silty margins of flowing and standing water. A preliminary grouping of species according to microhabitat substrate is presented. Correspondences between ventral morphology and microhabitat preferences suggest that a few species are evolving toward humicolous habits. New species of Gymnochthebius are: G. angulonotus (Queensland, Tinaroo Creek Road via Mareeba), G. bacchusi (Papua New Guinea, Morobe District, c. 7 miles Lae Bulolo Road), G. benesculptus (South Australia, Warburton River, 1 km N White Bull Yard Kalamurina Stn.), G. coruscus (South Australia, Warburton River, 1 km N White Bull Yard Kalamurina Stn.), G. fontinalis (South Australia, Elizabeth (Mound) Springs, 7 km NW Coward Springs R.S.), G. fumosus (New South Wales, Sydney), G. hesperius (Western Australia, Lyndon River Bridge), G. inlineatus (Western Australia, Millstream, creek near Deep Reach), G. lustrosulcus (Queensland, Cloncurry), G. minipunctus (Northern Territory, Palm Valley), G. nanosetus (Northern Territory, Roderick Creek, Gregory National Park), G. nicki (Victoria, Possum Hollow falls, West branch Tarwin River, 5.6 km SSW Allambee), G. nigriceps (South Australia, Mound Spring near Coward Springs), G. papua (Papua New Guinea, Morobe District, ca. 10 km S Garaina Saureri), G. perpunctus (South Australia, Somme Creek, between Angaston and Sedan), G. pluvipennis (South Australia, Warburton


1960 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
IM Mackerras

The Australian Scionini belong to five subgenera of the genus Scaptia, namely: Scaptia, known from South America and Australia, with 28 Australian species; Pseudoscione, known from South America, Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand, with 25 Australian species; Myioscaptia (7 species), Plinthina (7 species), and Palimmecomyia (2 species), known only from Australia. Many of the species suck blood, but some appear to feed only on flowers, chiefly of Leptospermum. Larvae and pupae of one species each of the subgenera Scaptia, Pseudoscione, and Myioscaptia are known. The principal concentration of species is in eastern New South Wales, with radiation north end south, and subsidiary concentrations in north Queensland and south-western Western Australia. The subgenus Plinthina has developed mainly in Western Australia. The Pleistocene glacial cycles are believed to have had a profound effect on speciation in the genus. The following new species and subspecies are described in the respective subgenera : Scaptia: barbara, B @, N.S.W., S. Qld. ; norrisi, B @, N.S.W., N. Qld. ; aurinotum, @, N.S.W. ; minuscula, B @, W.A. ; auranticula, B @, W.A. ; orba, @, N.S.W. ; alpina alpina, B @, N.S.W., Vic. ; alpina hardyi, B @, N.S.W. ; similis, B @, N.S.W., Qld. Pseudoscione: orientalis, B @, N.S.W., Vic.; guttipennis occidentalis, B @, W.A.; calabyi, B @, W.A.; neoconcolor, B @, N.Qld.; anomala, B @, N.S.W., Vic. Myioscaptia: calliphora, B @, N.S.W.; nigrocincta, @, N. Qld.; nigroapicalis, B @, N.S.W. Plinthina: nigerrima, @, N.S.W. ; subcinerea, B @, W.A. Palimmecomyia: pictipennis, @, S. Aust., ? W.A. Scaptia (Scaptia) monticola, nom. nov., is proposed for montana Ricardo nec Hutton. Two species are added to the Pangoniini: Ectenopsis (Ectenopsis) erratica (Walk.), B, W.A., previously unrecognized; and Caenoprosopon dycei, sp, nov., B, N.S.W. Ommia prisca End. is transferred from the synonymy of Ectenopsis (Parasilvius) victoriensis Ferg. to the synonymy of Mesomyia (Lilaea) lurida (Walk.), Chrysopinae.


2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.E. Griffith ◽  
I. Beveridge ◽  
N.B. Chilton ◽  
P.M. Johnson

AbstractGastrointestinal helminths were collected from pademelons of the genus Thylogale (Marsupialia: Macropodidae) in eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Examined were 12 Thylogale stigmatica stigmatica and 13 T. s. wilcoxi, the latter subdivided into eight specimens from the northern limit of their distribution and five from southern areas, all from eastern Queensland, Australia, one T. s. oriomo from Papua New Guinea and ten T. thetis from southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. Six species of cestodes and 40 species of nematodes were found. The helminth community of T. s. stigmatica was similar to that found in northern specimens of T. s. wilcoxi, while differences from the helminth community present in southern T. s. wilcoxi could be accounted for by parasites acquired from sympatric T. thetis. Thylogale thetis harboured a community of helminths distinct from but related to that in T. stigmatica. The evidence suggests that all subspecies of T. stigmatica examined share a common helminth community, but that in areas of sympatry, T. stigmatica and T. thetis share some of their parasites.


Brunonia ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 247 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Lazarides

A taxonomic revision based on morphology is presented for 10 species constituting the genus Leptochloa in Australia (7 spp.) and Papua New Guinea (3 spp.). One species from Queensland, L. ligulata, is described as new. For the first time, L. chinensis (L.) Nees is reported from Papua New Guinea, and L. divaricatissima S. T. Blake from New South Wales. L. brownii C. E. Hubb., described from northern Australia, is considered to be conspecific with L. neesii (Thw.) Benth. from tropical Asia, and L. peacockii (Maid. & Betche) Domin described from New South Wales conspecific with L. decipiens (R. Br.) Stapf ex Maid, from Queensland.


Zootaxa ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4563 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
OWEN D. SEEMAN

The Australian Megisthanidae are revised, resulting in the description of five new species from passalid beetles (Coleoptera: Passalidae) in Queensland: M. manonae sp. nov. from Mastachilus australasicus; M. simoneae sp. nov. from Mastachilus polyphyllus; M. southcotti sp. nov. from Aulacocyclus fracticornis; M. womersleyi sp. nov. from Protomocoelus australis; and M. zachariei sp. nov. from Aulacocyclus kaupii. Megisthanus womersleyi is also based on material from Misima Island, Papua New Guinea, originally identified as Megisthanus doreianus Thorell, 1882. Megisthanus modestus Berlese, 1910, is redescribed based on material from Pharochilus spp. collected from Canberra, New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania. The Papua New Guinean species Mastachilus papuanus Womersley, 1937 is diagnosed and discussed in relation to the other species from New Guinea. Additional collections of Megisthanus leviathanicus Seeman, 2017 and M. thorelli Womersley, 1937 are also reported. A genus description and a key to the eight Australian species of Megisthanus are provided. 


Author(s):  

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Guignardia musae Racib. Host: Musa spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in AFRICA, Congo, Zambia, ASIA, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Mysore, Uttar Pradesh, Indonesia, Java, West Irian (Neth. New Guinea), Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, AUSTRALASIA & OCEANIA, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Fiji, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Am. & W., Solomon Islands, Tonga, CENTRAL AMERICA & WEST INDIES, Dominican Republic, Jamaica St., Lucia.


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