It is very easy to distinguish the skull of an antechinus from the skull of a rodent. For a start the teeth are very different. As in it doesn’t really need
an expert. Apart from that we can distinguish the skull of all marsupials (as a group) from the skull of all eutherians (placental mammals). The part I remember is that the bone on the nose goes from wide to narrow towards the front and in the other group
the opposite, also the bulla bone (near the ear) is quite different between marsupials and eutherians.
At least most of the small marsupials in the area then, still exist (not extinct) as in several species of genus Antechinus and Sminthopsis. I’m not sure that
this picture on screen is big enough. Plus there are several species of native small rodents, which would be challenging to distinguish from the skull of the introduced rodents (especially in this artwork). It does not look like a bat’s skull.
Philip.
From: Canberrabirds [
On Behalf Of Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds
Sent: Wednesday, 19 November, 2025 8:43 AM
To: 'Rob Geraghty'; 'ben milbourne'
Cc: 'Canberra birds'
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Bowerbird obsession with blue?
Relevant evidence is provided by Gould’s Birds of Australia (1848), lithograph by J & E Gould. Gould refers to ‘blue tail feathers of the Rose-hill and Pennantian Parrakeets, bleached bones, the shells of
snails, & c.’. Gould shows the skull of a small animal. Perhaps an antechinus? An expert might be able to identify it from the dentition, and tell us if it is one of the small mammals that have become extinct since European occupation of the continent
or, disappointingly, merely an arrival with the First Fleet.
From: Canberrabirds <>
On Behalf Of Rob Geraghty via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 18 November 2025 9:45 PM
To: ben milbourne <>
Cc: Canberra birds <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Bowerbird obsession with blue?
I saw a bower in the Brisbane Ranges years ago which was a long way from people. It was decorated with snail shells, rocks and blue native tobacco flowers.
On Tue, 18 Nov 2025, 19:54 ben milbourne via Canberrabirds, <> wrote:
Curious ... What did bowerbirds collect prior to the availability of blue manmade objects?
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