3 H
A. R. MAIN
the deserts. Should the deaerts be young then frogs may be surviving
in wetter minor habitats which have persisted while the general area
became drier. On the other hand, the deserts may be so old that the
frog fauna has had both time and opportunity to evolve a complex set
of adaptations to what may be regarded as typical desert conditions.
In. the event that tire deserts are old it is unlikely that their climate or
size have remained constant throughout their existenoe. Fluctuation
in size or intensity would have had an influence not only on the fauna
of the true desert but also on the fauna of the peripheral semi-arid and
seasonally mid areas. Viewed in this light, the age and climatic variations in the deserts during the past are likely to have had widespread
effects on fhe whole fauna. Interpretation of the ecology of the present
fauna will be facilitated if the age of the deserts can be established and
if the faunas have been affected or unaffected by selection for survive1
under arici conditions recognised.
If diverse faunas with different histories can be recognised it seems
likely that a comparative approach to ecology would lead to the fullest
understanding of the differences observed. However, meaningful comparisons are only possible if the entities being compared are clearly
defined and this impliea adequate systematic knowledge. In this study,
begun in 7952, systematic and ecological work have had to proceed
concurrently. The various publications listed by the author have given
emphasis to peculiarities of distribution, life history, and ecology of
species in terms of their evolutionary history. Much ecological information htia been collected in the course of these studies which is published for the first time in this review. Most of the work has been done in
Western Australia but there are sufficient data from several visits to
eastern 4ustralia to suggest t h a t the findings, though b a d on Western
material, will have a broad application to Australian frogs in general.
11. E C O L O G Y
A. G E N E R A L
Environmentally Australia is characterised by a central desert which
with the adjacent semi-arid areas accounts for about 70% of the area
of the continent. Relatively well-watered areas occur only in the southwest, sorrth-east, east and north.
Since Main et al. (1969, Table I, Fig. 1) listed the genera and specie4
of Australian frogs three more genera have been recognised in the fauna,
viz. Nyctimystes (Tyler, 1964) Family Hylidw and the Leptodactylida
Kyarruma (Moore, 1958) and Tuuductylu8 (Straughan and Lee, 1966).
Thus the number of native genera is now 22 (Table I).
A. R. MAIN
the deserts. Should the deaerts be young then frogs may be surviving
in wetter minor habitats which have persisted while the general area
became drier. On the other hand, the deserts may be so old that the
frog fauna has had both time and opportunity to evolve a complex set
of adaptations to what may be regarded as typical desert conditions.
In. the event that tire deserts are old it is unlikely that their climate or
size have remained constant throughout their existenoe. Fluctuation
in size or intensity would have had an influence not only on the fauna
of the true desert but also on the fauna of the peripheral semi-arid and
seasonally mid areas. Viewed in this light, the age and climatic variations in the deserts during the past are likely to have had widespread
effects on fhe whole fauna. Interpretation of the ecology of the present
fauna will be facilitated if the age of the deserts can be established and
if the faunas have been affected or unaffected by selection for survive1
under arici conditions recognised.
If diverse faunas with different histories can be recognised it seems
likely that a comparative approach to ecology would lead to the fullest
understanding of the differences observed. However, meaningful comparisons are only possible if the entities being compared are clearly
defined and this impliea adequate systematic knowledge. In this study,
begun in 7952, systematic and ecological work have had to proceed
concurrently. The various publications listed by the author have given
emphasis to peculiarities of distribution, life history, and ecology of
species in terms of their evolutionary history. Much ecological information htia been collected in the course of these studies which is published for the first time in this review. Most of the work has been done in
Western Australia but there are sufficient data from several visits to
eastern 4ustralia to suggest t h a t the findings, though b a d on Western
material, will have a broad application to Australian frogs in general.
11. E C O L O G Y
A. G E N E R A L
Environmentally Australia is characterised by a central desert which
with the adjacent semi-arid areas accounts for about 70% of the area
of the continent. Relatively well-watered areas occur only in the southwest, sorrth-east, east and north.
Since Main et al. (1969, Table I, Fig. 1) listed the genera and specie4
of Australian frogs three more genera have been recognised in the fauna,
viz. Nyctimystes (Tyler, 1964) Family Hylidw and the Leptodactylida
Kyarruma (Moore, 1958) and Tuuductylu8 (Straughan and Lee, 1966).
Thus the number of native genera is now 22 (Table I).