Hunting for pygmy things in Tassie

The story goes that once on the Bass Strait Islands there once existed a Pygmy Wombat and apparently Pygmy Emus too. We already know quite a bit about big/giant Tiger Snakes on the Furneaux Is. Islands do tend provide the circumstances for such aberrations(?) - giants and pygmies. Somehow the story of "the governor's wombat' has become linked to this hunt.

Reportedly, the hunt is also on right now for evidence of Pygmy Emus that it is believed/imagined once existed on the islands. Curious and possibly plausible stuff. More on this as the story unfolds.

The QVMAG'S David Maynard tells us that while "there is a Bass Strait Island wombat that is a subspecies. Its distribution has declined by half since European settlement. There is no evidence that it was a dwarf form." ... SEE MORE HERE

He goes on to say "Basically, there are not enough skeletal remains to conduct age-length analysis on. QVM holds at least one skull, possibly two, and a few other bones but little can be determined from this small sample size. There may be some remains in the palaeo collection, but without a specialist on staff we cannot tell anything."

"Perhaps the 'dwarf' specimens can be put down to harvest strategy - kill the larger ones first (they are easy prey with a good recovery rate) and as the big ones disappear then target the next size down. Continue until you have a phenomena called recruitment overharvesting (juveniles never survive long enough to breed). Fisheries example below."

There is this tale of a wombat: a journey from Australia to Newcastle upon Tyne where there is a wombat in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was the first of its kind to leave Australia, setting sail (pickled in spirits) in August 1798.  The Guardian story can be accessed here.

Interestingly, John Hawkins, now living in Tasmania, has apparently written quite extensively on the 'Governor's Wombat'. PONNRABBEL hopes to be able to say more about John Hawkin's writing and observations of this specimen/artifact.

Islands are great places to undertake research. "Some of these species on them are descended from mainland ancestors, after the land they inhabited drifted away from the main continent as the Earth’s tectonic plates moved, while others colonised newly formed land which had emerged from the sea bed. Over time these isolated species developed adaptations to suit their habitat, distinguishing them from their mainland counterparts, and they ultimately evolved into separate species ... Remote islands often provide important habitats for migratory species, some of which, such as the Chatham albatross, may only breed on a single island. Island biodiversity isn’t just restricted to the land either. Over half of the world’s marine biodiversity is found in the waters surrounding islands, including some of the world’s most spectacular coral reefs" SEE THIS LINK