Australia’s dasyurid marsupials comprise an ecologically diverse radiation of predators whose variation in body size, habitat use, diet and life-history strategies has made them powerful model systems for ecological research. Over more than four decades, Chris Dickman used dasyurids to address fundamental questions concerning competition, species coexistence, population dynamics and resource limitation, reproductive strategies, community assembly and environmental variability. His early research on Antechinus transformed Australian mammal ecology beyond descriptive natural history. He used manipulative field experiments to demonstrate asymmetric interspecific competition and identify behavioural interference, food limitation and resource partitioning as mechanisms promoting coexistence. Subsequent studies linked photoperiodic regulation of reproduction, multiple paternity and sexual selection to the evolution of male semelparity, while ecological and genetic studies revealed previously unrecognised biodiversity, culminating in the description of Antechinus agilis. Chris later expanded the spatial and conceptual scale of his research from interactions between closely related species to the organisation of whole communities and predator guilds. Comparative studies of arid-zone dasyurids demonstrated species-specific responses to habitat and climatic gradients, while long-term monitoring in the Simpson Desert revealed contrasting demographic responses to rainfall, temperature and vegetation across successive boom-and-bust cycles. The work using the Simpson Desert system ultimately extended ecological theory beyond mammalian interactions to competition between dasyurids and insectivorous reptiles. Collectively, Chris’ research established dasyurids as internationally important model systems and demonstrated how rigorous field experimentation, comparative ecology and long-term ecological monitoring can link natural history with ecological theory across multiple spatial and temporal scales. His work continues to provide an enduring conceptual framework for understanding ecological processes and conserving Australia’s unique carnivorous marsupials in a rapidly changing environment.
The marsupial genus Burramys (Burramyidae: Diprotodontia) was established by Robert Broom in 1895 from fossil material recovered near Wombeyan Caves, New South Wales, Australia. Broom stated that Burramys was formed from ‘Burra’, ‘the Aboriginal name for the district’ where the fossils were found. Decades later, Troughton asserted that ‘Burra Burra’ meant a place of ‘many very large stones’, an interpretation subsequently repeated in popular and scientific accounts of the Mountain Pygmy-possum Burramys parvus. Historical review identified no primary linguistic or locally attributable evidence supporting this meaning for the Wombeyan–Taralga district. Broom’s original explanation is best understood as geographical rather than descriptive, while the later ‘very large stones’ interpretation appears to have entered the literature through repetition rather than primary linguistic verification.
Australia, covering almost 7.7 million km2 (3 million mi2), is a mega-biodiverse region with 19 recognised families, 164 genera, six subgenera, 1152 species, and 60 subspecies of reptiles. This study resolves the etymologies of their scientific names (nomina). Most generic and subgeneric names (69%) are derived from Greek, while half (50%) of species and subspecies originate from Latin. Greek-derived names are more often composites than Latin-derived ones. We identified 344 eponyms (named after people) (13 genera, 311 species, and 20 subspecies) and 199 toponyms (named after places) (nine genera, 182 species, and eight subspecies). Nearly all species eponyms use the Latin genitive case. Men are overwhelmingly honoured in eponyms (90%). More than half (55%) commemorate individuals involved in a taxon’s discovery, while 32% honour fellow herpetologists. Among the species toponyms, 57% used place names adjectivally, about half of these with the suffix -ensis. Of those using place names as nouns, 29% are unmodified, 22% derive from unmodified First Nation words, and 28% use the genitive form of locality names. Comparatively few taxa were named after other sources, including Indigenous languages (40), mythological figures (27), ships (five), astronomical features (five), and companies (two). This study also examines names with uncertain etymologies and proposes plausible hypotheses about their origins. Although reptile taxonomy in Australia has involved many contributors, the 10 most prolific authors coined more than half of all taxon names, demonstrating their disproportionate influence on the nomenclature of Australia’s reptiles.
Sexual size dimorphism is widespread in mammals, often reflecting the influence of sexual selection and/or varied ecological pressures. In this study, we investigated the patterns and extent of sexual dimorphism in craniodental traits among adult dasyurid marsupials, with a primary focus on species in the subfamily Dasyurinae. This group spans a wide range of body sizes and ecological niches. Our research aimed to determine whether allometric scaling of cranial measurements differed between sexes and to assess the relationship between dimorphic traits and body size. We also explored whether sexual size dimorphism was associated with shape difference that might indicate complex functional adaptations. We analysed craniodental data to evaluate the predictive value of specific measurements for sex determination using a comparative approach across multiple dasyurid species. Our findings revealed that while sexual dimorphism was prevalent, particularly for larger species, it was not strictly correlated with body size. Shape dimorphism suggested the involvement of diet as a selective pressure, independent of size. We found that craniodental measurements could be used to discriminate between males and females for many, although not all, species but that the discriminating traits varied considerably between species. These results further our understanding of the interactions between morphology, sexual selection, and ecological roles in dasyurids, and provide important insights for interpreting the biology of both living and extinct mammalian carnivores.
Thermal drone technology is transforming wildlife monitoring, yet applications have focused almost exclusively on endothermic species. The capacity of thermal sensors to detect ectothermic reptiles in forest canopies remains largely untested. Here, we report multiple drone-based detections of arboreal snakes across three forest systems in eastern Australia: (1) tropical rainforest in the Wet Tropics of Queensland; (2) subtropical rainforest in northern New South Wales; and (3) sclerophyll forest in the south-east forests of NSW. Across all sites, a total of 20 detections of Morelia spilota (carpet pythons) and Dendrelaphis punctulatus (green tree snakes) were recorded. Detection success was strongly influenced by environmental conditions, while canopy occlusion and behavioural traits likely biased detections towards larger-bodied individuals. This study provides the first evidence that thermal drones can effectively detect arboreal snakes in forest canopies, demonstrating substantial potential for advancing our understanding of arboreal reptile ecology in structurally complex canopy environments and expanding the range of canopy-dwelling taxa identifiable using thermal drones.
