Adaptation and conservation insights from the koala genome

The koala, the only extant species of the marsupial family Phascolarctidae, is classified as ‘vulnerable’ due to habitat loss and widespread disease. We sequenced the koala genome, producing a complete and contiguous marsupial reference genome, including centromeres. We reveal that the koala’s ability to detoxify eucalypt foliage may be due to expansions within a cytochrome P450 gene family, and its ability to smell, taste and moderate ingestion of plant secondary metabolites may be due to expansions in the vomeronasal and taste receptors. We characterized novel lactation proteins that protect young in the pouch and annotated immune genes important for response to chlamydial disease. Historical demography showed a substantial population crash coincident with the decline of Australian megafauna, while contemporary populations had biogeographic boundaries and increased inbreeding in populations affected by historic translocations. We identified genetically diverse populations that require habitat corridors and instituting of translocation programs to aid the koala’s survival in the wild

Geological sources and chronological change in ground-edged artefacts of the Hawkesbury region, the Sydney Basin: A Macdonald River case study

Evaluating temporal changes in exchange systems and social networks in pre-contact Aboriginal societies remains a major challenge for Australian archaeology. As part of a larger research program identifying exchange systems and social networks in the Sydney Basin, several excavated sites were selected to identify changes over time in the relationship between ground-edged artefacts and sources of rock used. Portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) instrumentation was used to non-destructively elementally characterise and compare excavated stone artefacts and source rocks in a geological reference collection. For one of the sites on the NSW Central Coast - Macdonald River rockshelter (MR/1), in the lower reaches of the Macdonald River close to its junction with the Hawkesbury River - 86 stone artefacts derive from the production and/or repair of ground-edged artefacts. A large proportion of these artefacts match basalts from a local source at Peats Ridge–Popran Creek in the adjacent Mangrove Creek Valley. Other artefacts match hornfels and quartzite cobbles from the Nepean–Hawkesbury or Hunter Rivers. Peats Ridge–Popran Creek basalt was present throughout the final 3000 years of the MR/1 archaeological record, though it decreased relative to hornfels from between 1700 and 1150 years ago until contact. The sequence at MR/1 shows historically-reported exchange routes may have a time-depth of at least 3000 years

Testing predictions for symmetry, variability and chronology of backed artefact production in Australia\u27s Western Desert

The Backed Artefact Symmetry Index (BASI) provides a measure with which to describe geometric variation in Australian backed artefacts, and Peter Hiscock has suggested that desert versions of this artefact type will be more symmetrical than their coastal counterparts. The re-excavated Serpent\u27s Glen (Karnatukul) site and nearby site of Wirrili have produced a large assemblage of backed artefacts. These Western Desert assemblages allow for the testing of BASI. The backed artefacts demonstrate significantly more variability than predicted, demonstrating that all technological debates benefit from larger well-dated assemblages. The signalling information observed in these sites\u27 pigment art repertoires, combined with this versatility in the toolkits, increases our understanding of the complexity of middle and late Holocene highly mobile foragers in the Australian arid zone