The palaeoecology of the Vombatidae: Did giant wombats burrow?

Mammal Review

Volumn 31, Issue 1, 2001, Pages 33-45

  Woolnough, Andrew P ^a,c   Steele, Vernon R ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA   (South Africa)

^b MONASH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

^c NONE   (Australia)

Author keywords

Burrowing; Phascolonus; Vombatidae; Vombatus; Wombat

Indexed keywords

BURROWING; MARSUPIAL; PALEOECOLOGY;

PHASCOLONUS GIGAS; VOMBATIDAE;

EID: 0035021928     PISSN: 03051838     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2907.2001.00077.x     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. Anderson, J., Hall‐Martin, A., Russell, D. (1985) Long bone circumference and weight in mammals, birds and dinosaurs. Journal of Zoology, 297, 53–61.
2. Archer, M. (1984) The Australian marsupial radiation. In: Vertebrate Zoogeography and Evolution in Australasia (Animals in Space and Time) (Ed. by M. Archer & G. Clayton), pp. 633–807. Hesperian Press, Carlisle, Western Australia.
3. Barboza, P.S. (1993) Digestive strategies of the wombats: feed intake, fibre digestion, and digesta passage in two grazing marsupials with hindgut fermentation. Physiological Zoology, 66, 983–999.
4. Barboza, P.S., Hume, I.D., Nolan, J.V. (1993) Nitrogen metabolism and requirements of nitrogen and energy in the wombats (Marsupialia: Vombatidae). Physiological Zoology, 66, 807–828.
5. Boggs, D.F., Kilgore, D.L. Jr, Birchard, G.F. (1984) Respiratory physiology of burrowing mammals and birds. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 77A, 1–7.
6. Brown, L.N. (1971) Breeding biology of the pocket gopher (Geomys pinetis) in south Florida. American Midland Naturalist, 85, 45–53.
7. Brown, L.N. & Hickman, G.C. (1973) Tunnel system structure of the southeastern pocket gopher. Florida Scientist, 36 (2–4), 97–103.
8. Burrell, H. (1927). The Platypus. Angas and Robertson, Sydney.
9. Butynski, T.M. & Mattingly, R. (1979) Burrow structure and fossorial ecology of the springhare, Pedetes capensis, in Botswana. African Journal of Ecology, 17, 205–215.
10. Cameron, G.N., Spencer, S.R., Eshelman, B.D., Williams, L.R., Gregory, M.J. (1988) Activity and burrow structure of Attwater's pocket gopher (Geomys attwateri). Journal of Mammalogy, 69, 667–677.
11. Contreras, L.C. & McNab, B.K. (1990) Thermoregulation and energetics of subterranean mammals. In: Evolution of Subterranean Mammals at the Organismal and Molecular Levels (Ed. by E. Nevo & O.A. Reig), pp. 231–250. Wiley‐Liss, New York.
12. Corbett, L.K. (1995). The Dingo in Australia and Asia. New South Wales University Press. Sydney.
13. Crossman, D.G. (1988) Population ecology and diet of the Northern Hairy‐nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii (Owen). Report to World Wildlife Fund, Australia.
14. Cummins, K.W. & Wuycheck, J.C. (1971) Caloric equivalents for investigations in ecological energetics. Internationale Vereinigung für Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie, 18, 1–158.
15. Davies, K.C. & Jarvis, J.U.M. (1986) The burrow systems and burrowing dynamics of the mole‐rats Bathyergus suillus and Cryptomys hottentotus in the fynbos of the south‐western Cape, South Africa. Journal of Zoology, 209, 125–147.
16. Davis, W.H. & Kalisz, P.J. (1992) Burrow systems of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster, in central Kentucky. Journal of Mammalogy, 73, 582–585.
17. Dawson, T.J. & Hulbert, A.J. (1970) Standard metabolism, body temperature, and surface areas of Australian marsupials. American Journal of Physiology, 218, 1233–1238.
18. De Graff, G. & Nel, J.A.J. (1965) On the tunnel system of Brant's Karoo rat, Parotomys brantsi, in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe, 8, 136–139.
19. Demment, M.W. & Van Soest, P.J. (1985) A nutritional explanation for body‐size patterns of ruminant and non‐ruminant herbivores. American Naturalist, 125, 641–672.
20. Ellison, G.T.H. (1993) Group size, burrow structure and hoarding activity of pouched mice (Saccostomus campestris: Cricetidae) in southern Africa. African Journal of Ecology, 31, 135–155.
21. Flannery, T.F. (1994). The Future Eaters: an Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People. Reed Books. Australia.
22. Flannery, T.F. & Pledge, N.S. (1987) Specimens of Warendja wakefieldi (Vombatidae: Marsupialia) from the Pleistocene of South Australia. In: Possums and Opossums: Studies in Evolution (Ed. by M. Archer), pp. 365–368. Surrey Beatty & Sons and the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Sydney.
23. Garland, T., Harvey, P.H., Ives, A.R. (1992) Procedures for the analysis of comparative data using phylogenetically independent contrasts. Systematic Biology, 41, 18–32.
24. Hickman, G.C. (1977) Burrow system structure of Pappogeomys castanops (Geomyidae) in Lubbock County, Texas. American Midland Naturalist, 97, 50–58.
25. Hickman, G.C. (1983) Influence of the semi‐aquatic habit in determining burrow structure of the star‐nosed mole (Condylura cristata). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 61, 1688–1692.
26. Hume, I.D. (1982) Digestive Physiology and Nutrition of Marsupials. Cambridge University Press, New York.
27. Janis, C. (1976) The evolutionary strategy of the Equidae and the origins of rumen and cecal digestion. Evolution, 30, 757–774.
28. Jarvis, J.U.M. & Sale, J.B. (1971) Burrowing patterns of East African mole‐rats Tachyoryctes, Heliophobius and Heterocephalus. Journal of Zoology, 163, 451–479.
29. Jerison, J. (1973). Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence. Academic Press, New York.
30. Johnson, C.N. (1991) Utilisation of habitat by the northern hairy‐nosed wombat, Lasiorhinus krefftii. Journal of Zoology, 225, 495–507.
31. Johnson, C.N. (1998) The evolutionary ecology of wombats. In: Wombats (Ed. by R.T. Wells & P.A. Pridmore), pp. 34–41. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, Sydney.
32. Klob, H.H. (1985) The burrow structure of the European rabbit (Oryctolgus cuniculus L.). Journal of Zoology, 206, 253–262.
33. Kruuk, H. (1972). The Spotted Hyena. A Study of Predation and Social Behaviour. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
34. Lee, A.K. & Martin, R.W. (1988). The Koala–a Natural History. New South Wales University Press. Sydney.
35. Lovegrove, B.G. (1989) The cost of burrowing by the social mole rats (Bathyergidae) Cryptomys damarensis and Heterocephalus glaber: The role of soil moisture. Physiological Zoology, 62, 449–469.
36. Maclean, G.S. (1981) Factors influencing the composition of respiratory gases in mammal burrows. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 69, 373–380.
37. McIlroy, J.C. (1973) Aspects of the ecology of the common wombat, Vombatus ursinus (Shaw 1800). PhD Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.
38. McIlroy, J.C., Cooper, R.J., Gifford, E.J. (1981) Inside the burrow of the common wombat, Vombatus ursinus (Shaw 1800). Victorian Naturalist, 98, 60–64.
39. McNab, B.K. (1979) The influence of body size on the energetics and distribution of fossorial and burrowing mammals. Ecology, 60, 1010–1021.
40. McNab, B.K. (1992) A statistical analysis of mammalian rates of metabolism. Functional Ecology, 6, 672– 679.
41. Murray, P.F. (1991) The Pleistocene megafauna. In: Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia (Ed. by P. Vickers‐Rich, J.M. Monaghan, R.F. Baird & T.H. Rich), pp. 1079–1159. Pioneer Design Studio and Monash University Publications Committee, Melbourne.
42. Murray, P.F. (1998) Palaeontology and palaeobiology of wombats. In: Wombats (Ed. by R.T. Wells & P.A. Pridmore), pp. 1–33. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, Sydney.
43. Nel, J.A.J. (1967) Burrow systems of Desmodillus auricularis in the Kalahari National Park. Koedoe, 10, 118–121.
44. Nowak, R.M. (1991) Walker's Mammals of the World. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
45. Owens, D.D. & Owens, M.J. (1979) Communal denning and clan associations in brown hyenas (Hyaena brunnea, Thunberg) of the central Kalahari Desert. African Journal of Ecology, 17, 35–44.
46. Pearson, O., Binsztein, N., Boiry, L., Busch, C., Di Pace, M., Galopin, G., Penchaszadeh, Y., Piantanida, M. (1968) Estructura social, distribution espacial y composicion por edades un a poblacion de tuco‐tucos (Ctenomys talarum). Investigaciones Zoológicas Chilenas, 13, 47–80.
47. Pledge, N.S. (1992) The Curramulka Local Fauna: a late Tertiary fossil assemblage from Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Beagle, Records of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, 9, 115–142.
48. Predavec, M. & Dickman, C.R. (1994) Population dynamics and habitat use of the long‐haired rat (Rattus villosissimus) in South‐western Queensland. Wildlife Research, 21, 1–10.
49. Reichman, O.J. & Smith, S.C. (1990) Burrows and burrowing behaviour by mammals. In: Current Mammalogy, Vol. 2 (Ed. by H.H. Genoways), pp. 197–244. Plenum Press, New York.
50. Rham, U. (1980). Die Afrikanische Wurzelratte Tachyorcytes. Wittenberg Lutherstadt. A. Ziemsen‐Verlag.
51. Rich, T. (1984) Australia's largest marsupial, Diprotodon: its ancestry, palaeobiology and extinction. In: Vertebrate Zoogeography and Evolution in Australasia (Animals in Space and Time) (Ed. by M.Archer & G. Clayton), pp. 995–997. Hesperian Press, Carlisle, Western Australia.
52. Rich, T.H.V. & Archer, M. (1979) Namilamadeta snideri, a new diprotodontan (Marsupialia, Vombatoidea) from the medial Miocene of South Australia. Alcheringa, 3, 197–208.
53. Richardson, P.R.K. (1985) The social behaviour and ecology of the aardwolf, Proteles cristatus (Sparrman, 1783) in relation to its food resources. PhD Thesis, University of Oxford.
54. Roper, T.J. (1992) Badger Meles meles setts–architecture, internal environment and function. Mammal Review, 22, 43–53.
55. Ryon, C.J. (1977) Den digging and related behaviour in a captive timber wolf pack. Journal of Mammalogy, 58, 87–89.
56. Ryon, J. (1986) Den digging and pup care in captive coyotes (Canis latrans). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 64, 1582–1585.
57. Silva, M. & Downing, J.A. (1995). CRC Handbook of Mammalian Body Masses. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
58. Skinner, J.D. & Smithers, R.H.N. (1990) The mammals of the southern African subregion. University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
59. Steele, V.R. & Temple‐Smith, P.D. (1998) Physical structure of warrens of a small colony of southern hairy‐nosed wombats Lasiorhinus latifrons. In: Wombats (Ed. by R.T. Wells & P.A. Pridmore), pp. 113–124. Surrey Beatty & Sons, Chipping Norton, Sydney.
60. Stirling, E. (1913) On the identity of Phascolomys (Phascolonus) gigas Owen and Sceparnodon ramsayi Owen with a description of some parts of its skeleton. Memoirs of the Royal Society of South Australia, 1, 127–178.
61. Stirling, E.C. & Zietz, A.H.C. (1899) Preliminary notes on Phascolonus gigas, Owen [ Phascolomys (Phascolonus) gigas, Owen], and its identity with Sceparnodon ramsayi, Owen. Records of the South Australian Museum, 23, 123–135.
62. Taylor, A.C. (1995) Molecular ecology of the endangered Northern Hairy‐nosed Wombat Lasiorhinus krefftii, and application to conservation and management. PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney.
63. Thomas, K.R. (1974) Burrow systems of the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus pipilans Lowery) in Louisiana. Journal of Mammalogy, 55, 445–459.
64. Thorne, D.H. & Andersen, D.C. (1990) Long‐term soil‐disturbance pattern by a pocket gopher, Geomys bursarius. Journal of Mammalogy, 71, 84–89.
65. Triggs, B. (1988). The Wombat–Common Wombats in Australia. New South Wales University Press, Sydney.
66. Troughton, E.G. (1941). Furred Animals of Australia. Angus and Robertson, Sydney.
67. Vleck, D. (1979) The energy cost of burrowing by the pocket gopher Thomomys bottae. Physiological Zoology, 52, 122–135.
68. Vogel, S., Ellington, C.P. Jr, Kilgore, D.L. Jr (1973) Wind‐induced ventilation of the burrow of the Prairie‐Dog, Cynomys ludovicianus. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 85, 1–14.
69. Wells, R.T. (1973) Physiological and behavioural adaptations of the Hairy‐nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons Owen) to its arid environment. PhD Thesis, University of Adelaide.
70. Wells, R.T. (1978) Thermoregulation and activity rhythms in the Hairy‐nosed Wombat Lasiorhinus latifrons (Owen) (Vombatidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 26, 639–651.
71. Wells, R.T. (1989) Vombatidae. In: Fauna of Australia. Mammalia, Vol. 1B (Ed. by D.W. Walton & B.J. Richardson), pp. 755–768. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
72. Wilson, K.J. & Ellington, C.P., Jr (1978) The effects of location and design on the diffusion of respiratory gases in mammal burrows. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 71, 73–101.
73. Withers, P.C. (1978) Models of diffusion‐mediated gas exchange in animal burrows. American Naturalist, 112, 1101–1112.
74. Yalden, D.W. (1975) Some observations on the giant mole‐rat Tachyoryctes macrocephalus (Rüppell, 1842) (Mammalia, Rhizomyidae) of Ethiopia. Monitore Zoologico Italiano (NS) (Supplemento), 6 (15), 275–303.