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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 32(2)

Natural Resource Management implications of the pre-European non-volant mammal fauna of the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula, South Australia

Matthew C. McDowell A B C and Graham C. Medlin A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Mammal Section, South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

B School of Biological Science, Flinders University of South Australia, PO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: matthew.mcdowell@flinders.edu.au

Australian Mammalogy 32(2) 87-93 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM09020
Submitted: 5 August 2009  Accepted: 7 April 2010   Published: 26 July 2010

Abstract

Sinkholes and coastal caves located in, around and between the Coffin Bay and Lincoln National Parks were surveyed for pre-European fossils, which were collected from or just below the sediment surface. Twenty-four pre-European fossil samples, including eight already in the collections of the South Australian Museum, were analysed and 25 native and five introduced species of non-volant mammal were identified. Native and introduced species were often found together, indicating that the sites have accumulated mammal remains in both pre- and post-European times. Only four of the non-volant native mammals recovered are known to be extant in the study area today: Lasiorhinus latifrons, Macropus fuliginosus, Cercartetus concinnus and Rattus fuscipes. In contrast, 20 native species recorded have been extirpated and one (Potorous platyops) is now extinct. C. concinnus was recorded from only one of the fossil assemblages but is known to be widespread in the study area today. This may indicate recent vegetation change related to European land management practices and have implications for natural resource management in the area.

Additional keywords: Holocene fossil, mammal decline, subfossil.


Acknowledgements

This research was funded by an Ark on Eyre grant. Many people have provided assistance in the completion of this research. Chief among these are the staff of the Department for Environment and Heritage, Eyre Peninsula, who provided their time, vehicles and knowledge to help us locate most of the sinkholes surveyed. We also thank SA Water for allowing access to the Southern Basin Prescribed Wells Area. We thank Tom Bott, Rhonda Ogilvie, and the Puckridge family for allowing us access to private property and helping us find sinkholes. The ‘Friends of Parks’ volunteers and Green Corps were a huge help in excavating SAW 1. We are grateful to Catherine Kemper (Curator of Mammals) and David Stemmer (Collection Manager, Mammals), South Australian Museum, who provided access to the reference collection in their care as well as data on modern mammals that have been collected in the study area. Finally, two South Australian Museum volunteers, Brian Ross and Zbigniew Rudnicki, deserve our deepest thanks for providing tireless aid in sorting the diagnostic elements from most of the sieve concentrates that we collected. We are also grateful to Alex Baynes, Mark Eldridge and an anonymous reviewer for constructive criticism that has greatly enhanced the quality of this paper.


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