The terrestrial vertebrates of Norfolk Island: Results of the Australian Museum Expedition, October 2022
Abstract
The Australian Museum Research Institute Terrestrial Vertebrates team was on the Norfolk Island Group from 23 to 30 October 2022. The aims were to improve the Museum’s specimen and tissue collection of native and introduced birds, mammals and reptiles from the Island Group and to search for evidence of the presence of microbats. Samples were collected from 97 individuals of 28 species of birds from the Norfolk Island Group. Blood and/or feather samples were collected from 32 individuals of eight native bird species that were subsequently released, including representatives of six endemic taxa. An additional 65 specimens of 20 bird species (10 native, 10 introduced), mostly either found dead by Island residents or obtained from pest management operations, were transported back to the Museum for curation as skins, skeletons and tissues. Samples were collected from 39 individuals of six species of reptiles and amphibians, including representatives of the two endemic taxa. A survey of Phillip Island resulted in tail-tip samples being collected from 29 individuals of the native skink, Oligosoma lichenigerum and gecko, Christinus guentheri. Two voucher specimens with genetic samples of each species were retained. No evidence of native lizards was found on Norfolk Island itself. Vouchers and tissue samples from three species of introduced herpetofauna were collected: Asian House Gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus (n = 3), Beach Scaly-toed Gecko, Lepidodactylus pantai (n = 1), and a Green Tree Frog, Litoria caerulea (n = 1). Significantly, the Lepidodactylus specimen is a new species record for Australia and its territories. A rehabilitating Green Sea Turtle, Chelonia mydas (n = 1) was also sampled. No acoustic evidence for the presence of any microbat species on Norfolk or Phillip Islands was detected during the survey, suggesting that the endemic population of Gould’s Wattled Bat, Chalinolobus cf. gouldii is now extinct. Specimens and tissue samples were collected from all four of the island’s introduced mammal species; House Mouse, Mus musculus (n = 1), Pacific Rat, Rattus exulans (n = 5), Black Rat, Rattus rattus (n = 3) and feral Cat, Felis catus (n = 7). These specimens and samples will provide a valuable record of the introduced mammals of Norfolk Island and enable future genetic studies. Tissue samples were also obtained from a Blainville’s Beaked Whale, Mesoplodon densirostris that stranded at Kingston in April 2016, the first recorded stranding of that species on Norfolk Island. Overall, these new specimens and tissue samples will significantly enhance the Australian Museum’s collection and provide documentation of the contemporary bird, reptile and mammal fauna of Norfolk Island, as well as supporting current and future research projects.
