Post by another specialist on Jun 20, 2005 6:51:07 GMT
In the 1890's, a population of wombats was observed bear to the town of Deniliquin, in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. They seemed to represent a species unknown to science, but before they could be investigated they disappeared, never to be seen alive again.
In 1985, however, George G Scott, a researcher with a special interest in wombat taxonomy, working at Canberra's Australia National Museum, learnt that just 2 years earlier a picnicker had reputedly seen a wombat in the Riverina area, a locality not frequented by common wombats. Investigating this claim, local naturalists discovered some wombat burrows there, which appeared to be freshly made, but they did not spot any wombats. Other burrows have since been found, some containing hairs that have been shown to match very closely those from a recently uncovered taxiderm specimen prepared from a wombat now known to have been collected at Deniliquin prior to the 1890's. searches are continuing in the hope that these marsupial denizens of Deniliquin do survive....
The Lost Ark
By Dr Karl Shuker
In 1985, however, George G Scott, a researcher with a special interest in wombat taxonomy, working at Canberra's Australia National Museum, learnt that just 2 years earlier a picnicker had reputedly seen a wombat in the Riverina area, a locality not frequented by common wombats. Investigating this claim, local naturalists discovered some wombat burrows there, which appeared to be freshly made, but they did not spot any wombats. Other burrows have since been found, some containing hairs that have been shown to match very closely those from a recently uncovered taxiderm specimen prepared from a wombat now known to have been collected at Deniliquin prior to the 1890's. searches are continuing in the hope that these marsupial denizens of Deniliquin do survive....
The Lost Ark
By Dr Karl Shuker
