Old writer on the block: An Echidna Bibliography, part 1 of 2

Echidna-related references

This is a list of the works that I (at the very least) looked at and found interesting, and/or thought readers would find interesting, while I was writing two works on echidnas, one for adults who know their science, and one for general and younger readers. Two dated publications got me started, the works of Calaby and Whitley, both listed here. The rest of the sources came from me following my nose, and here, I bring C & W up to date.

Why are the references on the web? Well, in June 2022, I realised that this list was 15% of the general work and 8% of the serious work, a bit of an overload, so I wanted to cut this portion out. On the other hand readers might really want to track some of the references down, so I decided to put them up on the web as a PDF, and also as two blog entries, of which this is the first. While I feel no intimations of mortality, I am approaching advanced middle age, and I want this list to be available after I tumble off my perch.

Each of the sources will be identified in the book(s) when I find a publisher or publishers. I will keep you posted on any progress there.

You can find part 2 here. You can find the PDF version here.

Mainstream sources

Abensperg-Traun, M. and De Boer, E.S. The foraging ecology of a termite- and ant-eating specialist, the echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus. Journal of Zoology, London 226 (1992): 243–257.

Abensperg-Traun. M. Blindness and survival in free-ranging echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Australian Mammalogy 17 (1994): 11 7– 119.

Abensperg-Traun, M.; Dickman, C.R. and De Boer, E.S. Patch use and prey defence in a mammalian myrmecophage, the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) a test of foraging efficiency in captive and free-ranging animals. Journal of Zoology, London 225 (1991): 481–493.

Abensperg-Traun, M. Food preference of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. Australian Mammalogy 11 (1988): 117 – 123.

Abensperg-Traun, M. Survival strategies of the echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus. Biological Conservation 58 (1991): 317–328.

Abensperg-Traun. A study of home range, movements and shelter use in adult and juvenile echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus, in Western Australian wheatbelt reserves. Australian Mammalogy 14 (1991): 13–21.

Akerman K. and Willing T. An ancient rock painting of a marsupial lion, Thylacaleo carnifex, from the Kimberley, Western Australia. Antiquity 83 (2009).

Akerman K. Interaction between humans and megafauna depicted in Australian rock art’ Antiquity 83 (2009).

Alam, Shayer Mahmood Ibney; Stephen D. Sarre; Dianne Gleeson; Arthur Georges and Tariq Ezaz. Did Lizards Follow Unique Pathways in Sex Chromosome Evolution? Genes, 9 (2018), 239;.

Alexander, W. B., Alexander Collie, Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 1 (1916), 139; 3 (1918), 37.

Allison, T. and Goff, W.R. Electrophysiological studies of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus III.– sensory and interhemispheric evoked responses, Archives Italiennes de Biologie 110 (1972): 195–216.

Allison, T. and Van Twyver, H. Electrophysiological studies of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus II.– dormancy and hibernation. Arch. ital. Biol. 110 (1972): 185–94.

Allison, T.; Van Twyver, H. and Goff, W.R. Electrophysiological studies of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus I.–waking and sleep. Archives Italiennes de Biologie 110 (1972): 145–84.

Anonymous, A Visit to Australia and Its Gold Regions. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1853.

Anonymous. ‘The Platypus, Caution to Bathers’. Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 18 March 1869, 2.

Anonymous. ‘The Acclimatisation Dinner’, Argus, 16 October 1861, 5.

Anonymous. London Letter. Science, VII (176) (1886), 546.

Anonymous. Proceedings of the Section of Biology. Science, IV (84) (1884), 261.

Anonymous. Selected publications involving Riversleigh fossils and their significance. Riversleigh Notes No. 5: 4 unnumbered pages. 1989

Anonymous. Selected publications involving Riversleigh fossils and their significance. Additions to the list published in Riversleigh Notes Issue 5, April 1989. Riversleigh Notes No 7: 3, 1989.

Archer, M.; Godthelp, H.; Hand, S.J. and Megirian, D. Fossil mammals of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland: Preliminary overview of biostratigraphy, correlation and environmental change. Australian Zoologist 25 (1989): 29–65.

Archer, M.; Hand. S. and Godthelp, H. Ghosts from green gardens. Preliminary hypotheses about changes in Australia’s rainforest mammals through time based on evidence from Riversleigh. Riversleigh Notes No 7: 4–7, 1989.

Archer, M. Mammals eggstraordinaire. Natural History 103 (1994): 48–49.

Ashwell, Ken W. S., Development of the Olfactory Pathways in Platypus and Echidna. Brain Behavior and Evolution, 79 (2012) 45 – 56.

Ashwell, Ken W.S.; Craig D. Hardman and Peter Giere. Distinct Development of Peripheral Trigeminal Pathways in the Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) and Short-Beaked Echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus). Brain Behavior and Evolution, 79 (2012) 113 – 127.

Aubrey, John. Brief Lives. London: Folio Society, 1975.

Augee, M. L., and E. H. M. Ealey. 1968. Torpor in the Echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Journal of Mammalogy, 49 (1968), 446-454.

Augee, M.L. and Gooden, B.A. Evidence for electroreception from field studies of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Pp. 211–215 in Augee, M.L. (ed.) Platypus and echidnas. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Mosman, N.S.W., 1992.

Augee, M.L. and Gooden, B.A. Monotreme hibernation — some afterthoughts. Pp. 174 - 176 in Augee, M.L. (ed.) Platypus and echidnas. Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales: Mosman, N.S.W., 1992.

Augee, Michael; Brett Gooden & Anne Musser. Echidna: extraordinary egg-laying mammal. Collingwood: CSIRO Publishing, 2006.

Australian Geographic. ‘Have you ever seen an echidna’s penis?’. 28 April, 2022, https://www.facebook.com/ausgeo/posts/10158869200833339 (worth reading for the comments).

Balter, Michael. 2014. ‘Dinosaur metabolism neither hot nor cold, but just right’. Science, New Series, 344 (6189) (13 June 2014), 1216-1217.

Banfield, J.F. Tick bites in man. Medical Journal of Australia 53rd year, 2(13) (1966): 660 – 1.

Banks, Banks Papers, 1768 — 1771. Held at the State Library of NSW.

Banks, Joseph, The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks, 1768-1771. Prepared from the manuscript The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph.

Barker, J. M.; C. E. Cooper, P. C. Withers, and S. C. Nicol.. Reexamining echidna physiology: the big picture for Tachyglossus aculeatus acanthion. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 89 (2016): 169–181.

Barrington George, The history of New South Wales, including Botany Bay, Port Jackson, Parramatta, Sydney, and all its dependancies, from the original discovery of the island: with the customs and manners of the natives: and an account of the English colony from its foundation to the present time. London: M. Jones, 1802.

Barrow L.; Parr C. L. and Kohen J. L. Biogeography and diversity of ants in Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park and Conservation Reserve, Western Australia. Australian Journal of Zoology 54 (2006): 123–136.

Baudin, Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes. Paris: De l’Imprimerie Impériale, 1807, Vol.1., 1807.

Bednarik, Robert G. Megafauna Depictions in Australian Rock Art. Rock Art Research 30 (2) (2013), 197 – 215.

Bennett, George, Gatherings of a Naturalist in Australasia, London, John Van Voorst, 1860.

Beveridge, I. Echidnotaenia tachyglossi (Johnston) gen. et comb. nov. (Anoplocephalata: Linstowiidae) from the monotreme Tachyglossus aculeatus Shaw in Australia. Journal of Helminthology 54 (1980): 129–134.

Beveridge, I. The genus Linstowia Zschokke, 1899 (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae) in Australian mammals with the description of a new species, L. macrouri. Systematic Parasitology 5 (1983): 291–304.

Bick, Y.A.E. and Jackson, W.D. A mammalian X–O sex–chromosome system in the monotreme Tachyglossus aculeatus determined from leucocyte cultures – and testicular preparations. American Naturalist 101 (1967): 79–86.

Bick, Y.A.E. and W.D. Jackson. Karyotype of the monotremes Ornithorhynchus anatinus (platypus) and Tachyglossus aculeatus (echidna). Nature 1967, 214 (1967): 600–601.

Bick, Y.A.E.; Murtagh, C. and Sharman, G.B. The chromosomes of an egg-laying mammal Tachyglossus aculeatus (the echidna). Cytobios 7 (1973): 233–43.

Binetruy, Florian; Stéphane Garnier; Nathalie Boulanger; Émilie Talagrand-Reboul; Etienne Loire; Bruno Faivre; Valérie Noël; Marie Buysse and Olivier Duron. A novel Borrelia species, intermediate between Lyme disease and relapsing fever groups, in neotropical passerine-associated ticks. Nature Scientific Reports, published online 30 June 2020.

Bourliere, F. The Lesueur pictures of Australian mammals 1801–1803. Wildlife Australia 22 (1985): 8–11.

Branagan, David. Richard Owen in the Antipodean context [A review]. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales 125 (1992): 95–102.

Brandl, E. J. Australian Aboriginal paintings in western and central Arnhem Land. Australian Aboriginal Studies No. 52. (Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies), 1973.

Brattstrom, B.H. Social behaviour of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus: an energetic and evolutionary perspective. Australian Zoologist 20 (1978): 255–56.

Brattstrom, Bayard H. Social and Maintenance Behavior of the Echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Journal of Mammalogy, 54(1973), 50-70.

Broom, R. Note on the period of gestation in echidna. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 10 (1895): 576–577.

Brunner, H. and Coman, B.J. The identification of mammalian hair. Melbourne: Inkata Press, 1974.

Brunner, H. and Wallis, L.R. Roles of predator scat analysis in Australian mammal research. Victorian Naturalist 103 (1986): 79-87.

Buchmann, O. L. K. and J. Rhodes. Instrumental learning in echidnas. Australian Zoologist 20 (1978):131–145.

Burke, Darren; Cherice Cieplucha; John Cass;·Fiona Russell and Gary Fry. Win-shift and win-stay learning in the short-beaked echidna

Burton, Adrian. The echidna enigma. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14 (3) (April 2016), 172.

Calaby, J. H. Calaby’s Monotreme Literature.

Caldwell, W. H., The Embryology of Monotremata and Marsupialia. Part I. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B 178, (1887) 463 – 486.

Camens, A. B. Were early tertiary monotremes really all aquatic? Inferring paleobiology and phylogeny from a depauperate fossil record. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107 (2010).

Carpenter, William, and Abbot, Gorham D. Scripture Natural History: Containing a Descriptive Account of the Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Insects, Reptiles Serpents, Plants, Trees, Minerals, Gems, and Precious Stones Mentioned in the Bible. Boston:, Lincoln, Edmands & Co., 1833.

Carrick, F.N. and Hughes, R.L. Reproduction in male monotremes. Australian Zoologist 20 (1978): 211–31.

Chaloupka, G. and Murray, P. (1986). Dreamtime or reality? reply to Lewis. Archaeology in Oceania 21: 145-l47

Chessell, Gwen, Alexander Collie: colonial surgeon, naturalist and explorer, Crawley, W.A.: UWA Press, 2008.

Collie, Alexander. On some particulars connected with the Natural History of the Kangaroo. The Zoological Journal, 5, 238–241.

Collignon, Peter J.; Gary D Lum and Jennifer MB Robson. Does Lyme disease exist in Australia? Med J Aust 2016; 205 (9): 413-417.

Collins, David. An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, vol 1. London: Cadell and Davies, 1798.

Collins, David. An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, vol 2. London: Cadell and Davies, 1802.

Coman, B.J. Helminth parasites of the dingo and feral dog in Victoria with some notes on the diet of the host. Australian Veterinary Journal 48 (1972): 456–461.

Comettant, Oscar, In the Land of Kangaroos and Gold Mines, translated by Judith Armstrong. Adelaide: Rigby, 1980, originally published as Au Pays des Kangourous et des Mines d’or. Paris: Librairie Fischbacher, 1890.

Coote, Anne. “Pray Write Me a List of Species... That Will Pay Me Best”, The Business and Culture of Natural History Collecting in South Wales. History Australia 11(2014) 80 – 100.

Corbett, L.K. Dingoes, feral dogs and crossbreeds in Victoria. Australian Mammalogy 1 (1974): 303 – 04.

Dakin, W. J. General description of the Coral Islands forming the Houtman Abrolhos Group. The Journal of the Linnean Society, Vol XXXIV, 1919, 127 – 180.

Dampier, William, A Voyage to New Holland and the Adjacent Islands, 1699-1700. London: James Knapton, 1703.

Darwin, Charles. The Descent of Man, London: John Murray, 1875.

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of Species. London: John Murray, 1859.

Darwin, Erasmus. Zoonomia. London: J. Johnson, 1796.

Dawson, Terence John. Monotremes and Marsupials: the Other Animals. London: Edward Arnold, 1983.

Debenham, John J.; Robert Johnson; Larry Vogelnest; David N. Phalen; Richard Whittington and Jan Šlapeta. Year-long presence of Eimeria echidnae and absence of Eimeria tachyglossi in captive short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus). The Journal of Parasitology, 98 (30) 543 – 549.

Dickens, Charles. Bleak House. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1853.

Domrow, R. New records and species of Austromalayan laelapid mites. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 88 (1963): 199–220.

Doran, G. A. The lingual musculature of the echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Anatomischer Anzeiger. 133 (1973): 468–76.

Dyce, A. L. An observation of mosquitoes biting an echidna. Journal of the Entomological Society of Queensland 3: 83, 1964

Eldridge, David John, Dig this: a tiny echidna moves 8 trailer-loads of soil a year, helping tackle climate change. The Conversation, 5 March 2021, https://theconversation.com/dig-this-a-tiny-echidna-moves-8-trailer-loads-of-soil-a-year-helping-tackle-climate-change-155947

Embling, Thomas. ‘The Acclimatisation Dinner’, Argus, 21 October 1861, 7.

Fedak, M.A. and Seeherman, H.J. Reappraisal of energetics of locomotion shows identical cost in bipeds and quadrupeds including ostrich and horse. Nature 282 (1979): 713 – 16.

Fenelon J. C.; McElrea C.; Shaw G.; Evans A.R.; Pyne M.; Johnston S.D. and Renfree M.B. The Unique Penile Morphology of the Short-Beaked Echidna, Tachyglossus aculeatus. Sexual Development, pp. 10 DOI: 10.1159/000515145.

Fenner, P. J.; Williamson, J.A. and Myers, D. Platypus envenomation – a painful learning experience. Medical Journal of Australia 157 (1992): 829–832.

Field, Barron, Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales. London: John Murray, 1825.

Flannery T. F. and C. P. Groves. A revision of the genus Zaglossus with description of new species and subspecies. Mammalia 62 (1998): 367–396.

Flannery, Tim, and Luigi Boitani. Europe: A Natural History. Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2018.

Flannery, Timothy F.; Michael Archer; Thomas H. Rich and Robert Jones. A new family of monotremes from the Cretaceous of Australia. Nature 377 (1995), 417 – 419.

Flannery, Timothy F.; Thomas H. Rich; Patricia Vickers-Rich; Tim Ziegler; E. Grace Veatch and Kristofer M. Helgen. A review of monotreme (Monotremata) evolution. Alcheringa: 2022, Ahead-Of-Print, 1-18, https://doi.org/10.1080/03115518.2022.2025900.

Folger, Tim. ‘A platypus in Patagonia’. Discover, 14 (1993), 66.

Ford, Sir Edward. Some Early Australian Medical Publications. Medical History, 16 (1972), 205 – 225.

Gardiner, B.G. Tetrapod classification. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 74 (1982): 207–32.

Gates, G.R. Vision in the monotreme echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus), Australian Zoologist 20 (1978): 147–69.

Geiser, Fritz; Clare Stawski; Chris B. Wacker and Julia Nowack. Phoenix from the Ashes: Fire, Torpor and the evolution of mammalian endothermy. Frontiers in Physiology, published 2 November 2017.

Geoffroy, Étienne. [Collection of articles extracted from Annales des sciences naturelles], France?: s.n. 1829.

Giles, Ernest, Australia Twice Traversed The Romance of Exploration, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1889.

Gould, John, Gould’s Australia: selections from Mammals of Australia, vols I, II and III. South Melbourne: Macmillan, 1984.

Grady, John M.; Brian J. Enquist; Eva Dettweiler-Robinson; Natalie A. Wright and Felisa A. Smith. 2014. ‘Evidence for mesothermy in dinosaurs. Science, New Series, 344 (2014 no. 6189), 1268-1272.

Graves, J.A.M. and Watson, J.M. Mammalian sex chromosomes – evolution of organization and function. Chromosoma 101 (1991): 63–68.

Graves, J.A.M. How Australian mammals contributed to our understanding of sex determination and sex chromosomes. Australian Journal of Zoology, 64(2016):267-276.

Graves, J.A.M. Organisation and evolution of the mammalian genome: comparative cytology and gene mapping in marsupials and monotremes. Pp. 327–329 in Graves, J.A.M. Hope, R.M. and Cooper, D.W. (eds) Mammals from pouches and eggs: genetics, breeding and evolution of marsupials and monotremes. Australian Journal of Zoology 37(2–4). CSIRO: Melbourne, 1990.

Graves, J.A.M. Did sex drive mammal evolution? How one species can become two. The Conversation, 26 July 2016, https://theconversation.com/did-sex-drive-mammal-evolution-how-one-species-can-become-two-62535

Graves, J.A.M. Sex chromosome function in marsupials and monotremes. Pp. 409–410 in Graves, J.A.M. Hope, R.M. and Cooper, D.W. (eds) Mammals from pouches and eggs: genetics, breeding and evolution of marsupials and monotremes. Australian Journal of Zoology 37(2–4). CSIRO: Melbourne, 1990.

Graves, J.A.M. The evolution of mammalian sex chromosomes and dosage compensation: clues from marsupials and monotremes. Trends in Genetics 3 (1987): 252–256.

Green, R.H. The ectoparasitic mites of Tasmanian vertebrate animals. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum, Launceston No 98: 1–25, 1989.

Green, R.H. The fauna of Tasmania: mammals. Potoroo Publishing: Launceston, Tasmania, 1993.

Gregory, J.E.; Iggo, A.; McIntyre, A.K. and Proske, U. Responses of electroreceptors in the snout of the echidna. Journal of Physiology 414 (1989): 521–538.

Griffiths, M.; Kristo, F.; Green, B.; Fogerty, A.C. and Newgrain, K. Observations on free-living lactating echidnas, Tachyglossus aculeatus and sucklings. Australian Mammalogy 11 (1988): 135–143.

Griffiths, M. Tachyglossidae. Pp 407–435 in Walton, D.W. and Richardson, B.J. (eds) Fauna of Australia Vol. IB Mammalia. Australian Government Publishing Service: Canberra, 1989.

Griffiths, M. The biology of the monotremes. Academic Press: New York, 1978.

Griffiths, M.; Wells, R.T.; Barrie, D.J. Observations on the skulls of fossil and extant echidnas. Australian Mammalogy. 14 (1991): 87–101

Griffiths, M.E. The life of the echidna. Australian Natural History 17 (1972), 222–2.

Griffiths, Mervyn; P.J.M. Greenslade, L.; Miller and J.A. Kerle, The diet of the spiny anteater Tachyglossus aculeatus acanthion in tropical habitats in the Northern Territory. The Beagle, Records of the Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences. 1990, 7.

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Gruber, J. W. Does the platypus lay eggs? The history of an event in science. Archives of Natural History 18 (1991): 51–123.

Gruber, J.W. What is it? The echidna comes to England. Archives of Natural History 11 (1982): 1–15.

Haacke, W. On the marsupial ovum, the mammary pouch and the male milk gland in Echidna hystrix. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 38 (1885): 72–74,

Harris, G. P. Description of two new species of Didelphis from Van Diemen’s land; communicated by Sir Joseph Banks, read April 21, 1807. London: R. Taylor, 1808.

Hawke, Tahneal; Gilad Bino and Richard T. Kingsford. A silent demise: Historical insights into population changes of the iconic platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Global Ecology and Conservation, (20), October 2019, e00720.

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Heckenberg, Kerry. Thomas Mitchell and the Wellington Caves: The Relationship among Science, Religion, and Aesthetics in Early-Nineteenth-Century Australia. Victorian Literature and Culture, 33(1) (2005), 203 – 218.

Helgen, Kristofer M; Roberto Portela Miguez; Kohen, James; Helgen, Lauren. Twentieth century occurrence of the Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus bruijnii in the Kimberley region of Australia. ZooKeys; 255, (2012): 103-132.

Higashiyama, Hiroki; Daisuke Koyabu; Tatsuya Hirasawa; Ingmar Werneburg; Shigeru Kuratani; and Hiroki Kurihara. Mammalian face as an evolutionary novelty. PNAS, October 29, 2021, 118 (44) e2111876118 | https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111876118

Hill, J. P. (James Peter), The early development of the marsupialia, with special reference to the native cat (Dasyurus viverrinus). Reprinted from The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, 56(1910).

Hill, J.P. & de Beer, G.R. The development of the Monotremata. VII. The development and structure of the egg-tooth and caruncle in the monotremes and on the occurrence of vestiges of the egg-tooth and caruncle in marsupials. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 26 (1949): 503–544,

Hill, J.P. & Gatenby, J.B. The corpus luteum of the Monotremata. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 47 (1926): 715–763,

Hill, J.P. (1910). Contributions to the embryology of the Marsupialia. IV. The early development of the Marsupialia with special reference to the native cat (Dasyurus viverrinus). Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 56: 1–134.

Hill, J.P. Contributions to the embryology of the Marsupialia. IV. The early development of the Marsupialia with special reference to the native cat (Dasyurus viverrinus). Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science 56 (1910): 1–134,

Hill, J.P. The development of the Monotremata. II. The structure of the egg-shell. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 21 (1933): 443–476.

Hobbins, Peter. A Spur to Atavism: Placing Platypus Poison. Journal of the History of Biology , 48(4) (Winter 2015) 499-537.

Home, E. A description of the anatomy of the Ornithorhynchus paradoxus. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 1802: 67–84.

Home, E. Description of the anatomy of the Ornithorhynchus hystrix. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London 1802: 348–364.

Home, Everard An Account of some Peculiarities in the anatomical structure of the Wombat, with Observations on the female Organs of Generation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London, 98 (1808).