scholarly journals The Red Kangaroo in Central Australia: an early account by A. E. Newsome

2017 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 906-907
Author(s):  
Dick Macmillen
Keyword(s):  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Early Account

Reproduction in natural populations of the red kangaroo, Megaleia rufa (Desmarest), in central Australia.

1965 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 735 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Newsome
Keyword(s):  
Drought Index ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Late Pregnancy ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Summer Drought ◽  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Central Australia

Reproduction in the red kangaroo, Megaleia rufa (Desmarest), in the arid environment of central Australia is highly opportunistic, and depends on the weather through its control of the food supply for its success. This conclusion is based on the study of 460 males and 1610 females between the years 1958 and 1962. Males and females matured sexually at an average age of about 2.5 and 3 yr, respectively. Drought significantly retarded sexual maturity in females by 6.24� 1.26 months. All females bred when green herbage was abundant after good rains. However, when food was scarce during drought, many females entered anoestrus, the proportion doing so being a probit function of the severity of the drought (measured in units of "drought index" explained in the text). Half of them became anoestrous after 3-5 months of drought in summer. Drought on the more scantily grassed of the two areas studied (they were 15-20 miles apart) was 1.57 times more effective in inducing anoestrus than on the other. All pouch-young survived if good conditions held for about 8 months, but many died during drought, the proportion doing so being a probit function of the increase in severity of drought after they were born. Half of them perished after 1.5-2.5 months of drought in summer. Only 28.7% of all joeys born survived life in the pouch because of the prolonged dry weather. Pouch-young were significantly lighter, and joeys-at-heel were 13.5 � 1.9 days older during drought than at other times. The birth of twin joeys was associated with an abundance of food. During severe drought, many females showed signs of having produced in quick succession one or more joeys which did not live long. Many of these females were anoestrous and suckling a small joey. Since most if not all females which became anoestrous did so during late pregnancy without aborting and subsequently suckled their pouch-young, it is suggested that the adaptive significance of delayed implantation is to ensure that females which have lost a joey and which are about to become anoestrous produce one more joey each. These joeys will be born well into any drought and therefore will have to live for a shorter time than older joeys to survive the drought. The advantage to the species can be gauged from the fact that 50 out of 145 females with young surviving the drought were anoestrous. The ages of their joeys averaged 60.1 � 7.6 days.

Oestrus in the lactating red kangaroo.

1964 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
AE Newsome
Keyword(s):  
Corpus Luteum ◽  
Reproductive Cycle ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Similar Case ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Reproductive Condition ◽  
Pregnant Females ◽  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Poor Nutrition

The reproductive condition of 18 female red kangaroos, Megaleia rufa (Desmarest), collected in central Australia and found to be suckling sizeable pouch young (average age about 54 days), is described. They were either approaching, undergoing, or had just undergone oestrus. None had a mature corpus luteum of lactation in either ovary. No similar case was found in many hundreds of females suckling sizeable pouch young which had a mature corpus luteum of lactation in one of their ovaries. It is concluded that the presence of a functional corpus luteum of lactation or of pregnancy in the ovary may be the only inhibitor of ovulation in the mature Megaleia, provided that environmental conditions are suitable. Some kangaroos during severe drought miss the customary oestrus following birth of a young because the pregnant females do not undergo the reproductive changes necessary for it. Despite this disruption of the reproductive cycle the young are born and suckled normally, but the females cannot, therefore, have a corpus luteum of lactation. The 18 females described in this paper must have belonged to this class of animals during the drought, their condition having been brought on presumably by poor nutrition. The unusual features of reproduction in Megaleia are hard to reconcile with the assumptions that pregnancy in marsupials depends on the hormones of the normal oestrous cycle, and that reproduction in marsupials is controlled by the same kinds of hormones found in eutherian mammals; doubt is, therefore, thrown on the validity of these assumptions. Megaleia has a remarkable ability to care for its young during severe drought, and a method of overcoming the effects of the drought on its reproductive cycle when the drought breaks, with the result that the production of young is not impaired. Both these features must aid the chance of the species to survive in the arid parts of Australia.

Makings of Icons: Alan Newsome, the Red Kangaroo and the Dingo

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Newsome
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Western Science ◽  
Popular Imagination ◽  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
Macropus Rufus ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Management And Conservation

The red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) and the dingo (Canis dingo) are two of Australia's iconic mammals. Both are ingrained in the national psyche and well known internationally. For the red kangaroo, recognition has come despite the fact that the highest densities of the species occur well away from most of the human population. The dingo has achieved its status despite being present on the continent for perhaps as little as 3,000 years. This article considers the question of how, and why, these two animals became so elevated in the popular imagination and the scientific literature. It is a story of both the integers and consequences of scientific research, a story best told with a particular focus on the contribution made by one individual. Alan Newsome changed our understanding of the interactions between agriculture, introduced species and native wildlife, and was one of the first to understand the possibilities of enriching western science with Indigenous knowledge. He was a pioneer in explaining—particularly by reference to the red kangaroo in central Australia—the remarkable story of how Australian wildlife has adapted to survive some of the harshest conditions on the planet. His work across the landscape of the arid zone has had profound implications for management and conservation in Australia. This, then, is the story of three icons: the red kangaroo, the dingo and Alan Newsome.

Red Kangaroo in Central Australia

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Newsome ◽  
Alan Newsome
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Western Science ◽  
Ecological Identity ◽  
Red Kangaroo ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Land Mammal ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Flying Fox

The red kangaroo is at the heart of Australia's ecological identity. It is Australia's largest terrestrial land mammal, the largest extant marsupial, and the only kangaroo truly restricted to Australia's arid interior. Almost nothing was known about the ecology of the red kangaroo when Alan Newsome began to study it in 1957. He discovered how droughts affect reproduction, why red kangaroos favour different habitats during droughts from those after rains, and that unprecedented explosions in red kangaroo numbers were caused by changes to the landscape wrought by graziers. Most importantly, he realised the possibilities of enriching western science with Indigenous knowledge, a feat recognised today as one of the greatest achievements of his career. First drafted in 1975 and now revised and prepared for publication by his son, The Red Kangaroo in Central Australia captures Alan's thoughts as a young ecologist working in Central Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. It will inspire a new generation of scientists to explore Australia's vast interior and study the extraordinary adaptations of its endemic mammals. It will also appeal to readers of other classics of Australian natural history, such as Francis Ratcliffe's Flying Fox and Drifting Sand and Harry Frith's The Mallee Fowl, The Bird that Builds an Incubator. Recipient of a 2017 Whitley Awards Certificate of Commendation for Pioneering Zoology

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