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THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL Ul\:lVERSITY

Professor

Readers

Senior Lecturers

Lecturers

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY

ANNUAL REPORT 1971

1. Staff

S.A. Barnett, M.A. (Oxon.)

W.L. Nicholas, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Liv.)

C.H. Tyndale-Biscoe, M.Sc. (N.Z.), Ph.D. (W. Aust.)

A.H. Weatherley, B.Sc. (Syd.), M.Sc. (Tas.), Ph.D. (Glas.)

R.E. Barwick, M.Sc. (N.Z.), Ph. D. (ANU)

C. Bryant, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Lond.)

0 . R . By rn e , B . S c . ( Q ' 1 d ) , B . S c . , Ph. D . ( Ade l. )

V.A.P. Harris, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Lond.)

P.A. Janssens, B.Sc., Ph.D. (Sheff.)

J.R.T. Short, B.Sc. (W. Aust. ), D. Phil. (Oxon.), D.Sc. (Aberd.)

M.J. Howell, B.Sc. (N.Z.), M.Sc. (Well.), Ph. D. (ANU)

T.G. Marples, M.Sc. (N.Z.), Ph.D. (Georgia)

Senior Demonstrators J. Carstairs, B.A. (Mod.) (Dubl.), Ph. D. ( Mon . )

Demonstrator

Research Assistants

Museum Assistant

1 vacancy

Ruth H. Prowse, B.Sc. (ANU)

Josephine Bancroft, B.Sc., M.Sc. (ANU)

Amanda Corry, B.A. (Cantab.), M.Sc. (Lond.)

Sumati Viswanathan, B.Sc. (Poona)

C. Tidemann, B.Sc. (Adel.)

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2. Introduction

Zoology includes every aspect of the scientific study of animals, from the single-celled Protozoa to man. This was reflected in the department's teaching. Courses included 'classical' zoology, in which the animal kingdom is systematically surveyed; and also analytical subjects, from cell physiology to ecology and behaviour. Zoology prepares graduates, not only for academic research and for teaching in schools and universities, but also for a variety of non-academic careers. These include work in three major fields: (i) food production (including fishery research) and food protection against pests and diseases; (ii) medical or veterinary research (including parasitology); and (iii) special aspects of the human environment, such as the control of pollution and the conservation of natural resources.

Enrolments in the first-year classes were higher, by about 40%, than in 1970. There was little change in numbers in second- and third-year courses, but a marked shift towards ecology and animal behaviour. This perhaps reflects the prominence of these subjects in public di&cussion, and also the interest of students in applied biology. A semester course in theoretical zoology continued to prosper. Of seven undergraduates taking honours, four were put in the first class.

3. Undergraduate Teaching

In the teaching of undergraduates, emphasis continued to be laid on experimental practical work, problem-solving and the writing of reports on both descriptive and experimental projects . Tutorial groups were held even for the first year; they were certainly valuable, but put a heavy strain on teaching resources. Field work was arranged, whenever practicable, in subjects which required it. A study of the fauna of Lake Burley Griffin was begun in conjunction with the course on animal ecology. A group of staff and undergraduates visited Booligal, in western New South Wales, to continue studies of arid zone biology.

Practical ability was usually judged by continuous assessment, rather than formal practical examinations. Work for honours consisted largely of carrying out an exacting research project and writing a thesis on it.

4. Research

The research by staff and graduate students continued to be both energetic and diverse. Cell physiology. was represented by studies of the regulation of enzyme expression in lower vertebrates. The biochemical pathways of the metabolism of intestinal parasites were also investigated; this fundamental research could have practical

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importance for preventing or curing infection. Work on the immunological responses of sheep to parasites has direct practical significance.

Studies were continued on the reproductive physiology of marsupials, and have led to novel hypotheses on the relationship between mother and foetus. New methods for studying the hormonal control of pregnancy have been developed.

Work on bioenergetics forms an important part of the ecological research in the department: a variety of animals are being studied from this point of view, including spiders, scorpions, reptiles, and aquatic invertebrates and vertebrates.

A very promising development, of several years' standing, is the design and use of apparatus for biotelemetry. This method has been used in a number of researches; they include recording conditions in the intestines of unrestrained mammals harbouring gut parasites, and following the movements of land vertebrates living in natural conditions.

At the end of the year new laboratories were set up, from university funds, for study of the behaviour and ecology of small mammals.

Research was also supported by generous grants from The Australian Meat Research Committee, The Australian Universities Research Grants Committee, The Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization and The Rural Credits Development Fund.

5. Other Activities

J.R.T. Short spent the first half of the year on study leave at Oxford, where he began a fundamental revision of the structure and classification of the larvae of the Ichneumonidae. C.H. Tyndale-Biscoe was on study leave in Columbia from March to mid-November 1971; he worked at the Universidad del Vall~ at Cali, but also travelled extensively, collecting specimens in Columbia and Venezuela.

A.H. Weatherley continued as a member of The Great Barrier Reef Committee.

C. Bryant went to Brussels for three weeks in August to attend an international conference on the comparative biochemistry of parasites. R.E . Barwick went to New Zealand early in the year to study the Tuatara, a rare reptile. He also took part in a conference on biotelemetry in Melbourne in October.

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I n Novembe r W. L. Nicholas visited the Department of Biology , Univers ity of Papua & New Guinea, as External Consultant.

A.H. Weatherley and T.G. Marples contributed to a new work, 'Conservation', which reviews for a wide public the problems of the human environment in Australia.

In May Marilyn Renfree was awarded the Bolliger Award of the Australian Mammal Society for a paper on the maternal-foetal relationships of the tammar wallaby. This was part of her research for the degree of Ph.D.

6 . Appointments and Visitors

S.A. Barnett joined the department as Professor and Head in August. Other new arrivals were:

J. Carstairs (Senior Demonstrator) Amanda Carry (Research Assistant) C. Tidemann (Museum Assistant)

Dr R.S. Wilcox, as a Fulbright Scholar studying the behaviour of insects, continued to play an active part in the work of the department.

In November Dr Nicholai N. Drozdov, a zo~geographer from the Moscow State University, began a very welcome visit. He started work at once, and has tak~n part in a visit to Kangaroo Island, South Australia, where members of the department were collecting wallabies.

7. Publications

BRANCH S.I.* & NICHOLAS W.L. 1971 The infection of Musca vetusti s sima (Diptera: Muscidae) by Heterotylenchus sp. (Sphaerulari idae). Nematologica, 16; 547-555 .

BRYANT C. 1970 Electron transport in parasitic helminths and Protozoa. In: Advances in Parasitology. Edited: B. Dawes, Academic Press, N.Y. and London. Vol. 8; 139-172.

BRYANT C. 1971 The Biology of Respiration . Edward Arnold, London. 65 pp.

BUNDE SE N P.G.* & JANSSENS P.A. 1971 Biochemical tracing of parasitic infections - I . Fasciola hepatica L. in mice - a qualitative s tudy. International Journal for Parasitology, 1; 7-14.

*Former member. :· Based on work done while a me mber of the department ..

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BUNDESEN P.G.* & JANSSENS P.A. 1971 Biochemical tracing of parasitic infections - II. Taenia pisiformis in rabbits - a quantitative study. International Journal for Parasitology, 1; 15-20.

COSTIN A. B.t & MARPLES T.G. 1971 The nature and quality of resources In: Conservation. Edited: A.B. Costin & H.J. Frith, Penguin, Victorla. 11-42.

DOMM Alison J.* & JANSSENS P.A. 1971 Nitrogen metabolism during development in the corroboree frog, Pseudophryne corroboree Moore. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, 38A; 163-173.

HEATH D.D. 1971 The migration of oncospheres of Taenia pisiformis, T. serialis and Echinococcus granulosus within the intermediate host. International Journal for Parasitology, 1; 145-152.

HEATH D.D. & SMYTH J.D.* 1970 In vitro cultivation of Echinococcus granulosus, Taenia hydatigena, T. ovis, T. pisiformis and T. serialis from oncosphere to cystic larva. Parasitology, 61; 329-343.

JANSSENS P.A. 1970 The evolution of corticosteroid function. Steroidologia, 1; 308-320.

JHA, Raj K.* & SMYTH J . D.* 1971 Ultrastructure of the rostellar tegument of Echinococcus granulosus with special reference to biogenesis of mitochondria. International Journal for Parasitology, 1; 169-177.

NICHOLAS W.L. 1971 The evolutionary origins of the Acanthocephala. Journal of Parasitology, 57; 84-87.

PALTRIDGE R.W.* & JANSSENS P.A . 1971 A reinvestigation of the status of the ornithine-urea cycle in adult Ascaris lumbricoides . .. Compar~tive Biochemistry and Physiology, 40B; 503-513.

SHORT J.R.T. 1970 On the classification of the final instar larvae of the Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera) Supplement. Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London, 112; 185-210.

* Former member. Based on work done while a member of the department.

tNot a member of this University.

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SHORT J.R.T. 1971 Some relationships between the final-instar larvae and imagines in the Ichneumonidae. Proceedings of the XIII International Congress of Entomology in Moscow, 1; 199-200.

WEATHERLEY A.H. 1971 Fish and fisheries. In: Conservation. Edited: A.B . Costin & H.J. Frith, Penguin, Victoria. 154-189 .